DeFi-ing Tradition: How MakerDAO Helps Cultivate the DeFi Ecosystem

May 23, 2019

Last week, crypto organizations and enthusiasts descended upon New York City for Blockchain Week presentations, panels, and events. Discussions covered a wide range of topics, but a recurring theme throughout the week was decentralized finance (DeFi). And it’s easy to understand why: DeFi’s value proposition is strong.

Decentralized finance has enormous potential to transform the global financial landscape, bringing transparency, speed, and accessibility to an industry that has traditionally been slow-moving and opaque. To be clear, DeFi does not aim to replace the current system; rather, its focus is on innovation and extension of value, helping organizations and users benefit from improved efficiency and new use-cases that only exist on the blockchain.

Maker Inspires Solutions for the Growing DeFi Ecosystem

As a decentralized organization with a popular stablecoin and lending platform on the Ethereum blockchain, MakerDAO is part of a movement helping to inspire the amazing and ever-growing DeFi ecosystem. In fact, more than 85% of all DeFi projects are built upon Dai. As of this writing, Defipulse shows that Maker has $433M in total value locked in DeFI projects.

Here are just a few of the many cool projects offering solutions for Dai users:

Airtm, a platform that helps people all over the world access dollars and protect their savings from devaluation, has included Dai as a peer-to-peer payment method. Over the coming months, they will be adding Dai in-wallet balances and Dai direct transfers to Airtm wallets, tightening the connection between Dai, banks, e-money, and other widely used value networks across Latin America.

Ripio offers an on/off ramp from fiat to Dai, allowing people in Latin America—including the unbanked—access to crypto. South America is a natural and strong fit for Dai, as it can help protect savings against the volatility of the peso.

CoinDirect offers support for Dai in on- and off-ramps between Africa and Europe, allowing projects to easily bridge the regions via Dai for stability.

Wirex allows people to spend Dai via a debit card. Users can spend crypto anywhere Visa is accepted. The company offers both personal and business accounts.

The Maker ecosystem is designed as a perfect solution for projects enabling decentralized finance. The more projects that integrate Dai, the sooner we will be able to deliver on our promise of enabling equal access to high-quality financial services for all.

DeFi Project Solutions for CDP Holders

Every week, new DeFi innovations emerge from startups offering new utility and user experiences for Dai borrowers.

For Maker CDP (Collateral Debt Position) holders, the DeFi ecosystem offers solutions to high Stability Fees in the short term, and allows users to generate Dai with assets other than ETH. For example, at the time of this writing, CDP holders can turn to Compound, Dharma, DyDx, and similar projects to refinance CDPs at lower rates. Loanscan is a great resource offering real-time interest rates to borrow and lend Dai and other cryptocurrencies.

DeFi Project Solutions for Dai Savers

The platforms noted directly above, as well as some others, can also be used to earn a return on held Dai, as they use deposits from Dai holders to finance the CDPs they provide. On this front, Loanscan presents the different platforms where Dai can be deposited, and the rates that they offer.

We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what’s possible with Dai and DeFi. The DeFi ecosystem will only grow, and we look forward to the ways in which it will continue to inspire cross-pollination of projects and accessibility and financial inclusion for all.

If you’re a DeFi developer with a great idea for a project and would like to apply for a grant through the MakerDAO Community Development Grants Program, please review this brief introduction to the program. Interested applicants should send a clearly written, detailed, one- or two-page explanation outlining exactly what their project does, the problem it solves, and why it will benefit the MakerDAO ecosystem to Richard Brown, Head of Community Development.