Making Maker: September 2020

October 1, 2020

September saw a series of increases in the Dai debt ceiling, as the amount of Dai generated continues to climb closer to a major milestone of 1 billion! Additionally, the Liquidations system of the Maker Protocol was upgraded (1.2), new collateral types were onboarded, we learned how and why the digital art market is embracing Dai, and more.

A lot has happened since the August Making Maker, and it’s all here. But first, let’s look at the numbers from daistats.com as of September 30, 2020, 12:15pm PT. 

Total Dai: 894,136,646.63

Dai from ETH: 353,517,087.65 (39.54%)

Dai from BAT: 4,043,000.61 (0.45%)

Dai from USDC-A: 369,854,665.66 (41.36%

Dai from WBTC: 83,955,940.9 (9.39%)

Dai from USDC B: 5,310.28 (0%)

Dai from TUSD: 49,647,513.68 (5.55%)

Dai from KNC: 59,005.48 (0.01%)

Dai from ZRX: 89,755.85 (0.01%)

Dai from MANA: 326,468.03 (0.04%)

Dai from PAX: 29,739,231.73 (3.33%)

Dai from USDT: 427.89 (0%)

ETH Stability Fee: 2.25%

BAT Stability Fee: 4.25%

USDC-A Stability Fee: 4.25% 

WBTC Stability Fee: 4.25%

USDC-B Stability Fee: 50.25%

TUSD Stability Fee: 4.25%

KNC Stability Fee: 4.25%

ZRX Stability Fee: 4.25%

MANA Stability Fee: 12.25%  

PAX Stability Fee: 4.25%

USDT Stability Fee: 8.25%

Dai Savings Rate: 0%

Dai in DSR: 283,750,700.54

Vaults Opened: 15,364

Blog Round-up

How Dai Is Becoming the Currency of the NFT Digital Art and Culture Market

Discover below how platforms and artists are using NFT technology and Dai integration to reimagine the art market, making it not only more accessible but more innovative than ever before.

How Ethereum Smart Contracts Power Dai, the Maker Protocol, and DeFi

Ethereum’s smart contracts underpin all of the decentralized tokens, applications, and protocols, including Dai and the Maker Protocol, that run on the Ethereum blockchain. Simply put, smart contracts are essential to decentralized finance (DeFi) and make it possible for MakerDAO to operate in a decentralized way. 

Meet Sandy Khaund, the Maker Foundation’s Newest Board Member

On August 10, the Maker Foundation Board appointed Sandy Khaund, Vice President of Blockchain Products at Ticketmaster, as a non-Foundation Executive director. Sandy joins non-executive directors Tonya M. Evans and Shefali Roy, who were appointed in April, and Foundation directors Rune Christensen and Steven Becker, and Cayman Island directors, Eduardo Silva and David van Dunyhoven.

The Maker Protocol’s Liquidations System Upgrade 1.2 Is Live

The redesign of the Liquidations system should increase community participation in collateral auctions, thereby improving decentralization while helping to maintain Dai’s peg to the dollar. 

Worth Repeating

The Vital Role of the Dai Debt Ceiling in the Maker Protocol

The last couple of months have proved remarkable for DeFi and the Maker ecosystem, spurring an unprecedented level of debt ceiling activity. Learn what the Dai debt ceiling is and why it’s essential to the entire Maker ecosystem.


Dai stands out in a crowd of currencies.

Who Uses the Maker Protocol and Dai, and Why?

The Maker Protocol provides a robust set of financial tools, while Dai unlocks the value inherent in those tools. Together, they fuel a large and growing ecosystem of DeFi projects that benefits users in numerous ways.

Developer Resources

Maker Protocol Technical Documentation

Everything—everything— you need to know about the upgraded Maker Protocol now exists in (highly technical) documentation. Get your geek on!

Developer Guides

MakerDAO’s Developer Guides help anyone integrate with Maker’s smart contracts, SDKs, APIs, products, and partners. Bookmark the guides and review them anytime.

Governance Updates

Miss This? Maker Governance Review: August 2020.

Governance Polls and Executive Votes in September:

To stay current on governance, risk, and community issues, bookmark the MakerDAO Public Events Calendar. Newcomers to Maker might want to review our series of posts on the MakerDAO Governance Risk Framework.

Rune Radio 

On September 10, Rune joined a Binance summit titled “The World of DeFi.” He and other key figures in the space discussed the early days of DeFi and its growth, blockchain interoperability, anonymity in building projects, and more.  

Mid-month, Rune participated in a virtual panel discussion with representatives from Hive Online, Binance, and Bakari during Copenhagen Fintech Week 2020, the largest fintech conference in the Nordics. This year’s focus was on sustainability, specifically the UN’s sustainable development goals, and its impact on businesses and society. Rune shared his insights and vision for the tokenization, democratization, and transparency of the blockchain, with a geographic focus on Africa.

Rune talks blockchain tech during Copenhagen Fintech Week 2020.

The Latest Integrations

The Maker Foundation has again partnered with Pundi X, this time to support the Dai-Agent network in the West African nation of Ghana. The network enables merchants to accept Dai payments quickly, easily, and securely for various goods and services.

Polyient Games has integrated Dai.

Dai is the first crypto-asset in GoodDollar’s monetary reserve. GoodDollar is a coin and wallet that allows anyone to receive basic income via a mobile phone!

An exclusive limited edition Dai card is coming to the popular blockchain-based game Spells of Genesis on Oct. 6! Get the details.

Community Highlights 

MakerDAO’s Community Development team seeks contributors to produce quality summaries of important public calls, such as Governance and Risk meetings, Collateral Onboarding calls, Emergency Governance Calls, and more. Learn more.

Event Recaps

Gustav Arentoft, the Maker Foundation’s Business Development Associate in Europe, introduced DeFi and Maker to attendees of the September 1 virtual meet-up of the Swedish Blockchain Association. Watch his presentation below.

Two days later, Gustav joined representatives from Balancer, Ren, MyEtherWallet, and Polymarket for a panel discussion on DeFi scaling and its disruptive potential as an alternative financial system. The virtual event was moderated by Iconic Holding. See what he had to say below.

On September 4, Maria Magenes, the Maker Foundation’s Community Lead in Europe and Africa, welcomed Charles St Louis, Maker’s Decentralized Governance Architect, to the fourth FriDAI brunch. Charles explained how decentralized governance works and why it’s crucial to the success of the MakerDAO project. After the talk, he gave viewers a fun quiz, and each winner received a cool pair of Dai-branded socks.

Charles provides the group with the answers to his quiz questions.

On September 6, Maker Foundation President and COO Steven Becker was a guest on the Bad Crypto Podcast. He talked about how cryptocurrencies like Dai power DeFi and help pave the way for a more inclusive financial system.  

On September 9. Kathleen Chu, the Maker Foundation’s Community Lead in Japan, hosted the 11th meet-up of Yasashi DeFi. The discussion focused on yield (or liquidity) farming—how it works and the risks associated with it. Case studies of several protocols that have recently introduced yield farming were also presented.

On September 14, Doo Wan Nam, the Maker Foundation’s Business Development Associate in the Asia-Pacific region, introduced the Maker Protocol to attendees of Block Live Asia (BLA) 2020. BLA offers a series of digital events focused on DeFi education 

Doo Wan Nam talks about the decentralized Maker protocol at BLA2020.

Also on September 14, Wil Barnes of the Maker Foundation’s Smart Contracts team joined the NYC Blockchain Devs virtual meet-up. He introduced the Maker Protocol, Dai, and DeFi to the group of fellow devs, blockchain enthusiasts, venture capitalists, and investment officers. Wil’s discussion followed an introductory talk on the history of money. Watch the conversation. 

After participating in Dapper Labs’ blockchain bootcamps earlier in the year to discuss decentralized governance and DeFi, we were invited back on September 24 to talk about NFTs at the crossroad of DeFi. The Maker Foundation’s Cryptovoxels OG Vamsi Raju joined panelists from Axie, Aavegotchi, and Blockade Games. Watch the session, which was part of the Open World Summit 2020. 

As we write this, Cryptoplaza is hosting the “Semana de MakerDAO,” nearly a week (Sept. 28-Oct.1) of conversations dedicated to educating and explaining MakerDAO, the Maker Protocol, and Dai to the Spanish-speaking Cryptoplaza audience. On September 28, Mariano Di Pietrantonio, Maker’s Community Lead in South America, was interviewed by Jesus Perez of Digital Assets Institute. Nadia Alvarez, the Maker Foundation’s Business Development Associate in South America, will participate in a Q&A session on October 1.

Maker’s Mariano Di Pietrantonio discusses Maker and Dai with Jesus Perez of Digital Assets Institute.

To stay current on Maker Community meetings, bookmark our Community Playlist on YouTube.

Upcoming Events

Oct 1: Blockchain Education in Africa (virtual)

Oct. 6-7: LA Blockchain Summit #7 (virtual)

Oct. 13: 2020 BlahBlock Seminar (virtual)

Oct. 14: Coindesk’s invest: ethereum economy (virtual)

Oct. 16: DeFi Madrid Presentation Discussions (virtual) 

Oct. 16-20: Liquidity 2020 Summit

Nov. 16-20: 2020 Global Blockchain Policy Forum

Dec. 9-10: Paris Blockchain Week Summit

To see more events we sponsor, participate in, or plan to attend, head to our Events page, and bookmark it!

Reminder: If you’re organizing a small event that incorporates Maker or Dai—whether it's a meet-up, panel, talk, or workshop—we want to support you! Learn more about our global meet-ups and micro-grants initiative. 

The Maker Foundation Is Hiring!

The Maker Foundation is looking for awesome people to join our growing, hard-working, and overall badass team. Check out our open roles and reach out if you’re interested!

Learn more about MakerDAO:

Website: https://makerdao.com/

Blog: https://blog.makerdao.com

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/MakerDAO/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/makerdao

October 1, 2020

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