MakerDAO Demos Tech to Back Stablecoin DAI With Any Crypto Asset

Borrowers of U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin DAI will soon be able to be back their loans in any number of cryptocurrencies, at least if a new web portal is ultimately implemented.

On a weekly community call organized by the MakerDAO Foundation – the non-profit entity that funds the development of the programmatic lending software that issues DAI tokens – product coordinator Chris Bradbury walked users through what the new web page will look like and how the tool will function for users.

At present, over $300 million worth of the cryptocurrency ether (ETH) is locked in smart contracts on ethereum to back DAI dollar valuation. This accounts for nearly 2 percent of all existing ETH in circulation.

The implication of the demo then is that instead of users staking only ETH, they will soon be able to stake virtually any other token or coin that's approved by MakerDAO token holders.

This list of acceptable DAI collateral like other decisions impacting the wider MakerDAO lending protocol will move through a voting process in coming months before the mainnet launch of multi-collateral DAI, as stated in a MakerDAO Foundation blog post. So, it's not clear at this time which assets will be approved.

Testing for the upgrade has been ongoing since September on the ethereum testnet Kovan. Now, work on a new web portal for users to loan out multi-collateral DAI is also underway.

This portal, like the one currently available for single-collateral DAI, will give users a simple interface to take out a DAI loan – also called a “Collateralized Debt Position” (CDP) – from the MakerDAO system.

It will also act as a dashboard for users to see what loans they have taken out from the MakerDAO system and what types of collateral have been staked.

CDP dashboard for new multi-collateral DAI web portal. Presented by Chris Bradbury.

Most notably, in the new CDP portal, any cryptocurrency wallet can be used to pay back loan debt. It does not have to be a specific user’s designated crypto wallet.

All CDPs, Bradbury explained, will have their own designated public webpage that anyone can connect to and pay down outstanding debt for. This will ensure that users no matter where they are or what wallets they have access to can still manage loan deposits from virtually anywhere in the world.

Bradbury added during today’s call that the CDP portal will also be “a lot more mobile-responsive than the previous [portal],” giving users the flexibility of managing or tracking their CDPs more easily on their cellular devices or smart phones.

“It’s still super early," said Bradbury during today's call. "We’ve only been working at this for about four to six weeks. We’re keen to get feedback.”

MakerDAO image via Twitter