Funding Will Support Maker Efforts to Bring DeFi to China and Other Asian Markets

The Maker Foundation announced today that venture capital funds Dragonfly Capital Partners and Paradigm have acquired $27.5 million worth of MKR, approximately 5.5% of the total MKR supply. Both will actively participate in the decentralized governance of the Maker Protocol.

Multi-Collateral Dai (MCD) represents the future of digital cash and paves the way for new collateral assets to be approved by Maker Governance to back Dai. With the new Dai Savings Rate (DSR) feature, Dai holders can earn savings automatically and natively by locking their Dai into the DSR contract. As Dai holders continue to take advantage of this earning opportunity,  the critical role of DSR will be secured within the underlying infrastructure of the entire decentralized finance space.

"MakerDAO represents the promise of decentralized finance. The mechanism is an innovation in enabling global, permissionless access to credit,” said Charlie Noyes, partner at Paradigm. “We look forward to participating in this community."

The joint purchase will support Maker’s efforts to increase adoption in Asia of Dai, the world’s first decentralized stablecoin built on the Ethereum blockchain and the leading stablecoin of decentralized finance (DeFi). It also gives Maker direct access to both Dragonfly’s and Paradigm’s expertise in the Asian market. 

“Dai continues to be the stablecoin of choice in all global markets for its decentralization and overall stability,” said Rune Christensen, CEO of the Maker Foundation. “The support and expertise of Dragonfly Partners and Paradigm will give Dai an unparalleled advantage in driving innovation and adoption in Asia.”

Alexander Pack, managing partner of Dragonfly Capital, said, “Asia is the most important market for crypto in general. It is also home to the largest concentration of the unbanked and underbanked around the globe, which we believe represents enormous pent-up demand for decentralized financial products. Dai has quickly become the market leader in decentralized finance and we look forward to helping it grow and extending its leadership in Asia and the rest of the world.”

The key to successful decentralized governance of MakerDAO is a strong community that’s driven to improve the system through consensus and encourage widespread adoption of Dai. To that end, both Dragonfly and Paradigm are eager to participate in executive voting.

Dai by the Numbers

• There are currently over 100 million Dai in circulation and over 16 million Dai locked in the DSR contract (at 4% as of this writing).
• The number of addresses holding Dai increases steadily, compounding by 27% per month on average.
• There are more than 400 active integration partners, ranging from global payments and remittance systems to esports and gaming platforms.

About MakerDAO

MakerDAO is a decentralized organization dedicated to bringing stability to the crypto economy. It powered the creation of software supporting Dai, the world’s first decentralized stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain. Dai eliminates volatility through an autonomous system of smart contracts, designed to respond to market dynamics. Launched in 2017, Dai has successfully maintained a soft peg to the U.S. dollar. With a presence on numerous cryptocurrency exchanges and active integrations with more than 350 projects, MakerDAO is unlocking the power of the blockchain and DeFi to deliver on the promise of economic empowerment today. Visit www.makerdao.com. 

About Dragonfly Capital

Dragonfly Capital is a global crypto venture fund based in the U.S. and Asia. Backed by some of the largest blockchain companies and early leaders of the largest technology companies around the world, Dragonfly invests in and connects the leading participants in the decentralized economy across East and West.

About Paradigm

Paradigm is a crypto-asset investment firm based in San Francisco. Paradigm invests globally across multiple stages of development, from teams in the earliest stages of idea formation to high growth businesses and cryptocurrencies.