How MakerDAO flourished amid a market lull

• Amidst a DeFi market slowdown, MakerDAO stood out with a 148.2% fee surge.
• The price of MKR continued to decline despite a spike in velocity.

In the DeFi landscape that has witnessed sluggish growth in recent months, MakerDAO[MKR] emerged as a notable exception, showcasing remarkable progress on multiple fronts.

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Massive surge in fees

One standout factor contributing to MakerDAO’s success was the substantial increase in fees generated by the protocol. Token Terminal’s data revealed a remarkable 148.2% surge in fees over the last week.

This surge signified heightened usage and activity within the MakerDAO ecosystem. It also reflected the protocol’s growing appeal in the sector.

To harness this increased usage, MakerDAO has proactively pursued updates to enhance its protocol. An indicator of this commitment is the 4.3% growth in the number of core developers within the network over the past week.

This demonstrates a dedicated effort to continually refine and improve the protocol.

Source: token terminal

Additionally, MakerDAO’s governance was also actively working to improve the platform.

It has recently announced a proposal to adjust Spark Protocol D3M Parameters, backed by 93,036 MKR tokens. This proposal involves increasing the DIRECT-SPARK-DAI Maximum Debt Ceiling from 200 million DAI to 400 million DAI and extending the DIRECT-SPARK-DAI Ceiling Increase Cooldown from 8 to 12 hours.

In simpler terms, this adjustment aims to expand the borrowing capacity within the protocol, allowing for more flexibility and utilization of assets.

No impact on MKR

While MakerDAO made significant strides, its token’s price movement experienced a downturn over the past month. This decline was characterized by multiple lower lows and lower highs, indicative of a bearish trend.

Simultaneously, the network growth of the token substantially fell, signaling a reduced influx of new addresses. However, the protocol has seen a surge in token velocity, a metric that measures how quickly tokens change hands within the ecosystem.

Realistic or not, here’s MKR’s market cap in BTC terms

This increase in velocity signifies heightened activity and circulation of MakerDAO tokens, which can have various implications for the protocol’s overall health and usage. At press time, MKR was trading at $1116.4.

Source: Santiment

In a bid to further elevate its profile, MakerDAO was exploring the possibility of becoming the first WEB3 platform to introduce tokenized treasury bills. Reports suggest that the DeFi protocol is in discussions regarding an experimental project involving tokenized treasury bills, with a significant investment of $100 million on the horizon.