How to buy DAI (DAI) Guide

What is MakerDAO Stablecoin (DAI)?

MakerDAO is one of the backbone projects of Decentralized Finance (DeFi), first introduced in 2015 after the launch of Ethereum’s first mainnet. It took the developer team two years to build the architecture that enables the creation of DAI Stablecoin. DAI Stablecoin is not just another stablecoin. DAI is governed by the first well-respected Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), which in turn assures its decentralized nature and unbiasedness.

MakerDAO also laid the foundation for lending and borrowing activities on the Ethereum blockchain. The idea behind DAI Stablecoin and MakerDAO is to reduce involvement of financial middlemen and facilitate access to loans.

Backed By Cryptocurrencies

Even though DAI Stablecoin’s value is pegged to the US-Dollar at the 1:1 ratio, its design does not require physical reserve like USDT or USDC. MakerDAO allows borrowers to generate DAI, i.e. borrow stable digital money, upon depositing collaterals. According to MakerDAO’s Oasis app, the four types of collaterals supported include Ethereum (ETH), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), ETH-Staked ETH Liquidity Pair on Curve v1 (CRVV1ETHSTETH), Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) and more than 10 other cryptocurrencies.

Algorithmic Stablecoin

DAI Stablecoin is the only stablecoin able to maintain its US1.00 valuation throughout the course of its existence. The smart contract design of MakerDAO decides which collaterals to be accepted, the corresponding collateral ratio, and the burn (destroying) of DAI when loans are repaid, hence the control of DAI circulating supply and its value.

Secured Lending

Default risk is the major concern of lenders. The key element in DAI Stablecoin design is the overcollateralization, meaning the ratio between collaterals and the amount of DAI to be issued must always be higher than 100%. That requirement directly targets the volatility of cryptocurrencies’ value, hence maintaining the peg between DAI and USD as well as ensuring the value of lenders’ assets.

How MakerDAO Stablecoin (DAI) Works

1. Taking out a loan:

Here is the DAI issuance process, simplified: Borrower deposits collateral, activating the minting of new DAI Stablecoins. When borrower returns the original amount of DAI (please note here that due to potential arbitraging activities, borrower may have earned more DAI than the original amount and will obviously have the right to keep the difference), collaterals will be returned to the borrower and the returned DAI will be destroyed to avoid excessive circulating tokens.

2. Liquidation:

In the case that borrower is unable to pay back the loan (in DAI) or the collateralization ratio falls below the required level, liquidation will take place. The overcollateralization rule says that the ratio between collateral and DAI must always be higher than 100%, for example 175% for wBTC. That means if you deposit US$175 in Bitcoin, you’ll receive a loan of US$100 in DAI, and the remaining US$75 is reserved for the extreme cases mentioned above. Anyone may trigger the liquidation function on the contract in order to protect the system from an impaired loan, and receive a percentage of the balance as a reward.

How Many DAI Tokens Are in Circulation?

According to CoinGecko, the current amount of DAI in circulation is 6,475,887,830 DAI (as of September 23, 2022). What is worth noting here is the maximum supply is also 6,475,887,830 DAI - that is, there is no fixed supply of DAI but DAI issuance and burn will depend on the lending activities. The excessive amount of DAI can be deliberately traded on centralized and decentralized exchanges.

How to Buy MakerDAO Stablecoin (DAI)

Consider selling or investing in MakerDAO Stablecoin (DAI)? It only takes 2 minutes to create an account on Bitget and start trading DAI.

Check out the available DAI trading pairs on Bitget!

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MakerDAO (DAI) Resources

Whitepaper

Official MakerDAO Website