Maker's Money Market
Top of Mind
DAI, MakerDAO's core product, is a stablecoin minted as debt. The success of DAI as a product depends on its widespread acceptance across various markets, such as decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap and money markets like Aave. However, Maker has little control over the downstream protocols that determine its native stablecoin’s success, making it subject to external incentives and strategies.
What if Maker was to release its own downstream market protocol? They would have complete jurisdiction over the protocol design, more effectively incentivize and control DAI’s usage, and offer new products, extending their reach throughout the DeFi ecosystem. This is precisely the motivation behind the pending launch of Maker's Spark lending protocol developed by Phoenix Labs.
Spark Protocol
Spark Lend, a lending platform forked from Aave V3, is the first product in a broader strategy to build vertically integrated markets for DAI.
Spark Lend Platform User Interface, Source: MakerDAO Forums
Ally is a Research Analyst on the Enterprise team at Messari. Prior to joining the team, Ally worked as a Structural Engineer at Magnusson Klemencic Associates. Ally graduated from the University of Illinois in 2018 with a master’s degree in Civil and Structural Engineering.