Scope of DAI Use Cases are Exponentially Widening

A recent report from MakerDAO digs into the growing adoption of the DAI stablecoin. Issuance of DAI may be done through Maker debt contracts, but usage is being leveraged across the Ethereum dApp ecosystem, June 8, 2019.

DAI Use Case Bolsters Ethereum DeFi

As a landmark year for cryptocurrency development so far, 2019 has been incredible for the Ethereum network as well as the various projects run on it. MakerDAO, in particular has picked up significant traction, growing at an estimated 20 percent on a monthly basis. This is no easy feat, but Maker has consistently tweaked their stability fee this year to make sure DAI’s peg to the USD stays intact – an important factor to widespread adoption of the stablecoin.

14,400 different addresses hold a significant amount of DAI, while 16,300 addresses were involved in sending and receiving the stablecoin – more than double the activity recorded in January 2019. The stability fee saga was a key reason for supply shrinking from 95 million DAI to 83 million DAI. The greatest use case as of now is using it as a hedge against crypto volatility. But DAI is slowly gaining traction with other projects on the Ethereum blockchain.

GetNuo, Compound, dYdX, and Dharma account for 13 percent of total DAI transaction volume. June 2019 saw an ATH in the amount of DAI held in dApps, not necessarily locked up. Till date, 325 million DAI have been issued through the Maker loan protocol, of which 243 million has been repaid. The outstanding 82 million DAI that make up the current circulating supply is collateralized by $433 million worth of Ethereum – essentially putting their backing at $5.3 per DAI, assuming a stable one USD DAI price.

Promise for the Future

Watching the accelerated adoption of DAI is a joy for proponents of decentralized systems, as it shows that users find the stablecoin to be reliable. Centralized stablecoins have been the craze lately, with investors preferring to hedge using Tether, TrueUSD, or USD Coin.

DAI’s availability in the market is boosted by the recent listing on Coinbase, allowing users to now use a more reliable stablecoin without a single point of failure. Despite community complaints and uncertainties regarding stability fee hikes, COO Steven Becker and the rest of the Maker team are focusing on rectifying the misconceptions around the project and helping build a more inclusive financial system.