The decentralized stablecoin protocol MakerDAO has committed to converting $500 Million of its DAI reserves into bonds and U.S. treasuries. 

This marks the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)’s the first investment in high-quality government debt. 

  • As MakerDAO explained over Twitter, MKR holders voted to deploy its peg stability module’s USDC on liquid bonds, using its recently created real-world asset Maker Vault.
  • The allocation will consist of 20% investment-grade corporate bonds, and 80% U.S. treasuries. 
  • Only 1 million DAI worth of collateral has been deployed thus far, with the remainder requiring more executive votes to reach the newly established 500 million DAI debt ceiling. 
  • The move comes amid a broader effort among stablecoin issuers to prove their assets are backed by reliable reserves.
  • Tether – the world’s largest stablecoin issuer – has repeatedly decreased its exposure to commercial paper this year. Its latest update suggested its commercial paper is down to just $50 million, while U.S. Treasuries comprise 58.1% of its $68 billion portfolio.
  • Likewise, Circle and Paxos – custodians of USDC and BUSD respectively – revealed in July that their reserves are solely backed by either cash or U.S. government debt. 
  • Historically, MakerDAO has operated differently. In an effort to stay decentralized, its reserves have been backed by a basket of various cryptocurrencies. These have included other stablecoins like USDC, as well as volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. 
  • However, the DAO has been looking to become less dependent on USDC after Circle revealed its censorious hand in August – freezing USDC locked inside the privacy protocol TornadoCash. 
  • At the time, MakerDAO’s founder proposed moving the DAO’s USDC reserves entirely into Ethereum. 

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