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MakerDAO: From Single-Collateral Sai to Multi-Collateral DAI

How MakerDAO evolved a decentralized stablecoin from ETH-only to multi-asset collateral.

Sai, the first version

Single-collateral Dai (now called Sai) launched on December 18, 2017. Users locked ETH in a collateralized debt position and minted Dai at a minimum collateral ratio of 150 percent. MKR holders governed the stability fee and absorbed losses if collateral fell short.

Multi-collateral Dai

On November 18, 2019, Maker released multi-collateral Dai with the vault system, allowing BAT and later WBTC, USDC and other assets. It also added the Dai Savings Rate, which pays holders a rate funded by stability fees.

How minting works

For a vault with $15,000 of ETH and a 150 percent ratio, the maximum Dai is $10,000. If ETH falls such that collateral value divided by debt drops below 1.5, keepers can liquidate the vault, charging a liquidation penalty that was 13 percent on many vault types.

Real-world assets

From 2022 Maker allocated reserves to US Treasury bills via structures such as Monetalis Clydesdale and BlockTower Andromeda. By 2023 real-world assets produced a majority of protocol revenue, linking Dai's yield to the T-bill rate.

The Sky rebrand

In August 2024 Maker rebranded to Sky, introducing USDS and the SKY token at a rate of 24,000 SKY per MKR, while Dai and MKR remained supported. The change showed how a 2017 CDP experiment became one of DeFi's largest balance sheets.

By the numbers

For MakerDAO, the reference figures are sai launch of December 2017, mcd launch of November 18, 2019, original collateral of ETH only, peg tool of DAI Savings Rate. The comparison table below lines up version, launch, collateral — Sai: Dec 2017 / ETH only; MCD Dai: Nov 2019 / ETH, BAT, then WBTC, USDC, RWA; USDS (Sky): Aug 2024 / Same system, new token.

Modeling MakerDAO with the CDP Stablecoin Mint Collateral Calculator

The CDP Stablecoin Mint Collateral Calculator takes three inputs — Collateral ($), Min collateral ratio (%), Safety buffer (%). Mintable = collateral ÷ (min ratio + buffer). With its default inputs (Collateral ($) = 10000; Min collateral ratio (%) = 150; Safety buffer (%) = 20) it returns 5,882.35 $; swap in the figures from MakerDAO above to reproduce the scenario yourself.

Modeling MakerDAO with the Lending Health Factor Liquidation Calculator

The Lending Health Factor Liquidation Calculator takes three inputs — Collateral ($), Liq. threshold (%), Debt ($). Health factor = collateral × LT ÷ debt. With its default inputs (Collateral ($) = 10000; Liq. threshold (%) = 82; Debt ($) = 5000) it returns 1.64 HF; swap in the figures from MakerDAO above to reproduce the scenario yourself.

Data Table

For educational and informational purposes only. Not financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Figures are approximate and historical; crypto assets are volatile and you may lose capital. Do your own research.