Author: David C, Bankless, Twitter @MakerDAO; Compiler: Deng Tong, Golden Finance
MakerDAO is a DeFi giant established in 2014 and is responsible for the stable currency DAI. For most of the past year Over time, it has worked to simplify its vision and elevate its ambitions.
The plan is called "Endgame".
Founder Rune Christensen said:
Endgame is a major update to MakerDAO designed to increase efficiency, resiliency, and participation by creating a strong governance balance as the cornerstone of SubDAO to parallel growth and product innovation in an emerging community-driven ecosystem.
At its core, Endgame is about attracting new users by expanding use cases and expanding incentives. Users and funds join the protocol. The move is intended to elevate DAI’s status in the industry and increase its market share with centralized stablecoins such as USDT and USDC, while reducing reliance on centralized collateral.
Maker sees this as an effort to make saving money more fun by providing users with a more diverse incentive structure within the Maker ecosystem.
Endgame is an ambitious endeavor that will likely take years to complete and has a lot of moving parts to keep track of. Christensen recently laid out an updated schedule, so let's see what's in the plans for Endgame?
Get ready for Endgame’s launch season.
A new version of the Endgame plan has been released @RuneKek on the Maker Forum.
Endgame goes into further detail, outlining fundamental changes to MakerDAO to increase growth, resiliency, and accessibility.
Here’s how Endgame will achieve its ultimate goal of expanding the DAI supply to 100 billion:
The final Endgame roadmap is described by 4 major phases.
1) Launch season;
2) Scaling up;
3) New blockchain;
4) The endgame.
Phase 1: Launch Season
During Launch Season, all of Endgame’s major features will be released in rapid succession. This phase is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2024 and will include the following releases:
New Brand Revealed:
The first release is the reveal of MakerDAO’s new brand .
The new brand aims to convey the core pillars of the project: making stablecoin savings fun and easy, and providing easy access to new tokens.
The launch of this new brand will be accompanied by a promotional website where early adopters will sign up and receive bonuses that will increase their earnings when new tokens become available.
New Token Launch:
One month after the new brand presentation, two new tokens will be launched: NewStable and NewGovToken (the actual names will be Brand display revealed).
NewStable, a new version of Dai:
NewStable will be open to new users, and existing Dai users will be able to upgrade at will. NewStable users are also free to convert their NewStable to Dai.
NewStable will be able to stake NewGovToken from launch.
US residents and VPN users will not be able to participate.
NewGovToken, a new version of MKR:
MKR holders will be able to upgrade their MKR to NewGovToken, and NewGovToken can also be converted back to MKR.
NewGovToken supply repriced: 1 MKR upgraded to 24,000 NewGovToken. This means that each MKR holder has the option to receive 24,000 NewGovTokens for each MKR they upgrade.
Lockstake Engine Launch:
After the launch of the new token, the Lockstake Engine (LSE) will be launched with the aim of aligning stakeholder interests with the protocol Be consistent with your success and encourage long-term governance engagement.
Through the London Stock Exchange, MKR and NewGovToken holders will be able to lock their tokens interchangeably, with 1 MKR equivalent to 24,000 NewGovTokens.
Users who lock their tokens can generate NewStable from protocol surplus and upcoming SubDAO tokens, including SPK.
A 15% exit fee on withdrawals from the London Stock Exchange will encourage long-term commitment and governance participation.
LSE will not be available to US residents or VPN users.
NewGovToken airdrop launch:
Early adopters will receive NewGovToken through the promotional website and unlock it during the launch airdrop when LSE launches. This provides immediate access to the benefits of the London Stock Exchange.
NewBridge Launch:
After the LSE launch, NewBridge will be launched to connect NewStable, NewGovToken and other tokens from the Maker ecosystem from Ethereum to Main L2. The official name of NewBridge will be announced during the brand launch event.
SparkDAO Launch:
The highlight of launch season is the long-awaited launch of SparkDAO, the SPK token and SPK.
Spark offers innovative lending and DeFi products that leverage the economic power of MakerDAO.
With this release, SPK tokens will be available for NewStable users to use for yield farming on Ethereum mainnet and primary L2. With this launch, LSE users will also be able to obtain SPK.
SPK tokens will be able to mine NewGovToken immediately. This opportunity will be available on Ethereum mainnet and primary L2.
SPK liquidity mining will not be available to US residents and VPN users.
SPK tokens will be available for claim when SparkDAO launches.
Phase 2: Scaling
Phase 2 focuses on scaling Endgame’s basic primitives.
This means more SubDAOs will be created, such as RWA-focused or gaming-focused SubDAOs. A total of 6 SubDAOs will be launched in the second phase.
Each SubDAO will cater to different market segments and community interests.
Finally, SubDAO will have complete autonomy over its own activities within the scope set by MakerDAO.
The implementation of SubDAO governance will be complemented by an effective user interface and artificial intelligence-driven tools to facilitate and simplify governance decisions.
The third phase: NewChain
In the third phase, NewChain will be launched as an independent L1 blockchain.
It will serve as the host for the core token economics and governance mechanisms of Maker Core and SubDAO.
In addition, it will serve as a hub for bridging between RWA, DeFi and blockchain through the NewBridge system.
NewChain is an extension of the Maker ecosystem. Its launch does not indicate that Maker plans to leave Ethereum. All user-facing products currently existing on Ethereum will be retained, and new products will be launched.
Once NewChain is up and running, the SubDAO ecosystem will be able to scale infinitely, creating greater numbers of SubDAOs at a faster rate.
Phase 4: Final Endgame
With the activation of Final Endgame, Maker Core’s basic governance mechanism will be permanently locked.
This will realize Endgame’s ultimate vision: to create a vibrant and growing ecosystem based on reliable and immutable, sustainable financial infrastructure.
Summary
MakerDAO’s Endgame strategy represents an undeniably ambitious vision to expand a solid and diverse financial ecosystem for DAI.
Given that the various stages of Endgame span years and contain as many subplots as an Avengers movie, it's almost certain that some elements of this vision will change and evolve. Over the next few months, several significant governance changes will be introduced to prepare for this transformation.
In general, Endgame not only laid the foundation for DeFi, but also laid the foundation for DAO, potentially reshaping the governance model.
There is still a long road ahead, but as one of the most basic DeFi protocols, Maker evolves into a more sustainable entity that aims to provide a permissionless foundation for DeFi, which should be a must for everyone in the industry. Efforts that individuals co-shape and participate in.