The following is part one of Maker’s new three-part Informed Voting series covering the tools available to best assist MakerDAO governance community voting.

Dai’s stability depends on the resilience and security of two Maker ecosystem pillars: the Maker Protocol and MakerDAO’s decentralized governance community.

The Protocol, a blockchain-based system of smart contracts and decentralized price feeds, is designed to ensure that all Dai in existence is adequately collateralized at all times. MakerDAO’s governance community is responsible for setting the parameters by which the Protocol operates, including the Stability Fees charged to Maker Vault owners, collateral asset debt ceilings, and Liquidation Ratios for each asset. Governance also debates and ultimately votes on the addition of new collateral assets plus all changes and upgrades to the Protocol and the DAO itself.

Maker voters look to a wide range of factual and data-driven resources to inform their decision-making. These resources include websites and documentation covering all major aspects of the Protocol and the DAO, such as governance tools that have been created by the MakerDAO community. 

Below, we review three tools that provide data points on Dai and the Maker Protocol to assist MKR holders in voting, and one new resource that enables users to view more extensive data regarding recent and historical governance vote results. Subsequent posts in this series will review tools that provide insights into Dai markets and the Liquidations system. 

1. @MakerDaiBot

One succinct source of Maker Protocol information is MakerDaiBot. In addition to providing information on large Maker Vaults (e.g., creation and liquidation info), this Twitter bot also tweets useful summaries of Protocol changes, helping voters track potentially significant developments.

2. DaiStats

DaiStats offers a fairly detailed view of the Maker Protocol and Dai supply. The site provides select statistics, including debt ceilings for every collateral asset and the amount of Dai generated against each. For additional information, read the Guide to Dai Stats. 

3. Catflip

Catflip is a tool still under development that comprehensively lists the metrics for major Maker Protocol system parameters, from Stability Fees to auction types and durations, and makes it simple for MKR voters (and parties interested in the Protocol’s day-to-day function) to cross-reference data across multiple collateral types. 

4. The MCD Voting Tracker

The three tools listed above provide a mosaic of information on the Protocol’s health and overall performance. However, to gain granular insights on historical voting trends, users can access the MCD Voting Tracker. The Tracker delivers analyzed blockchain data to users via APIs or easy-to-use interfaces, and anyone can browse and analyze the status of current Governance Polls and Executive Votes, as well as the complete history of governance activities.

As noted in the MCD Voting Tracker announcement, while the data provided by the Tracker is available on the public Ethereum blockchain, this product removes the complexity of self-retrieval and self-processing, and delivers it neatly to the user. That convenience enables simplified transparency. 

The MCD Voting Tracker’s homepage presents a summary of Maker governance voting statistics, including data behind every address that has ever voted, such as MKR stake of each address and any Executive Votes currently supported.

Links in each section allow users to drill down to obtain detailed information for each address, Executive Vote, and Governance Poll. (Less information is provided for Governance Polls, because Polls do not result in Protocol changes.) Moreover, every page can be searched, and its data downloaded as a .CSV file.

The video below illustrates how a user might explore an Executive Vote, open the Voting History panel, and then click on an Ethereum address to review how and when one MKR holder voted in a particular Vote. 

Anyone can interact with the MCD Voting Tracker to gain insight into the voting habits of MKR token holders. Learn much more about the Tracker in this Forum post and dive into the public MCD Voting Tracker documentation.    

Better Data for Better Thinking

Having access to both up-to-date and historical data on Dai, the Maker Protocol, and MKR voting is important for informed decision-making. With additional, easy-to-use resources at their disposal, MKR holders can better understand the context of each Executive Vote and Governance Poll.

Stay tuned for part two of this series, which will explore resources for better analyzing Dai markets, and part three, which will review tools for unpacking the Protocol’s Liquidations system. In the meantime, get involved with MakerDAO’s open governance process on the MakerDAO forum and get acquainted with the recently redesigned and voting portal.