Making Maker: March 2021

April 2, 2021

In March, the content spotlight was on DeFi and governance, beginning with a beautifully designed infographic illustrating the brief history of decentralized finance and ending with part one of a three-part blog series titled Informed Voting. Everything in between is also yours to discover, and it’s all here. But first, let’s take a look at the latest figures from daistats.com as of April 2, 2021, 8;30 a.m. PT. 

Blog Round-up

Infographic: A Brief History of Decentralized Finance

Explore the history and amazing trajectory of DeFi, and why many believe it’s important to the future of finance. 

What Are Blockchain Bridges, and Why are they Important for DeFi?

At a time when the Lego-like composability of DeFi applications is changing the face of financial services, it’s more important than ever for independent blockchains to “communicate” with another. Enter blockchain bridges.

Welcoming Minorities Into DeFi: A Conversation with Maker Board Chairperson Tonya Evans

Maker Foundation Board Chairperson Tonya M. Evans shares her passion for DeFi and its potential to welcome minorities and bring about financial inclusion for all. 

Worth Repeating

The Top 5 DeFi Developments to Watch In 2021

As the DeFi movement shows no signs of slowing down, several key trends have become fixed while others are worth watching as the space continues to develop throughout the year. Take a look at what they are and why they matter.

Four Ways DeFi Users Can Pay Less in Ethereum Gas Fees

The high cost of Ethereum gas is an issue that will ultimately be addressed with Ethereum 2.0. But that upgrade, which will roll out in stages and make wide-ranging improvements to the network, may take years to complete. In the meantime, there are several steps that users can take to pay less in gas fees. 

Developer Resources

Maker Protocol Technical Documentation

Everything—everything—you need to know about the Maker Protocol 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

Maker Governance Review: March 2021

Informed Voting: 4 Key Tools for Assisting MakerDAO Governance Decision-Making

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

Track All Maker Improvement Proposals In the New MIPs Portal

The new community-built MIPs Portal enables anyone to keep up with Protocol changes and developments and explore the progress of all MIPs, past and present. 

Governance Polls and Executive Votes in February 2021 

Miss This? Maker Governance Review: February 2021

The Maker community hosts weekly governance Q & A sessions. All are welcome to attend and learn more about how Maker governance works.

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.

Community Highlights 

The Maker Foundation Development Grants Program Sunsets

The Foundation Grants program has ended. Anyone interested in exploring how MakerDAO might cultivate a grants program of its own can propose ideas for review by the community in the Call for Proposals posted in the Maker Forum.   

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

Event Recaps

On March 5, Gustav Arentoft, a Maker Foundation Business Development Associate in Europe, joined representatives from B.Protocol, Kyber Network, and Matic to discuss what to expect in the DeFi space this year at Conferences.Exchanges’ DeFi.Edition_ event.

On March 12, Nik Kunkel, the Maker Foundation’s Head of Backend Services, participated in a webinar organized by Maker and the Smart Contract Assurance team at PricewaterhouseCoopers Switzerland. Edmund Edgar, creator of reality.eth and the world's first smart contract oracle in 2012, also spoke. The discussion focused on the role of oracles in DeFi.  Watch a recording of the event here.

Nik Kunkel describes the strategy behind Maker’s Oracle V2 architecture.

Monthly Events

Yasashi (Easy) DeFi: Kathleen Chu, the Maker Foundation’s Community Lead in Japan, co-hosts this friendly educational series of meetups focused on educating the Japanese community on the financial opportunities and services DeFi provides. Check the schedule for event dates and times. 

FriDai Brunch: Maria Magenes, Maker’s Community Lead for Europe and Africa, hosts this monthly meetup series that offers blockchain newbies and old-schoolers a welcoming space in which to learn about new projects and advancements in Web3. Join her and special guests on the first Friday of every month. The March 5 session featured an all-female panel discussing Web3 and blockchain adoption, and the challenges faced when educating the uninitiated.

Upcoming Events

See the Maker Events page for a list of the many events we sponsor, participate in, or plan to attend. 

Reminder: If you’re organizing a small event that incorporates Maker or Dai—whether it's a meetup, panel, talk, or workshop—we want to support you! Learn more about our global meetups 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

April 2, 2021

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