MKR reacts as Vitalik Buterin sells his Maker holdings

• Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s significant MKR token sale raised questions about market sentiment.
• Rune Christensen’s proposal to use Solana’s codebase for MakerDAO’s NewChain marked a pivotal shift in DeFi.

MakerDAO [MKR], a prominent player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, has maintained a strong presence over the years. It has garnered trust and popularity for its governance token MKR and its stablecoin DAI. However, recent events involving Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, and MakerDAO’s ambitious “NewChain” project are reshaping its narrative.

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In an unexpected move that garnered significant attention, Vitalik Buterin made a substantial sale of his Maker holdings. This transaction involved the sale of 500 MKR tokens for 350 ETH and was executed via CoWswap.

Notably, this sale marked Vitalik’s first disposition of MKR in two years. Following the sale, the 350 ETH proceeds were transferred to the address 0x3F…2aEB. As of now, this address held assets valued at $1.09 million, including 415.76 ETH.

Impact on Market Sentiment and MKR’s Price

In response to these developments, the price of MKR experienced a noticeable decline, falling by 3.725% within a 24-hour period. The effects rippled through the market as the network growth of MKR saw a sharp reduction.

This decrease indicated a diminished interest from new addresses toward MKR trading. Moreover, the velocity of MKR, a metric representing its trading frequency, showed signs of slowing down.

Source: Santiment

New steps for MakerDAO

Beyond the ramifications of Vitalik’s MKR sale, MakerDAO was embarking on a significant journey with the development of “NewChain.” Rune Christensen, a co-founder of MakerDAO, stands as a key proponent of this initiative.

NewChain is a critical component of the overarching “Endgame” upgrade, a comprehensive project spanning three years. The project’s primary objective is the complete re-implementation of the Maker protocol within a new and independent blockchain ecosystem.

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Rune Christensen’s proposal introduces a paradigm shift for MakerDAO. He advocated for serious consideration of the Solana codebase as the foundational framework for NewChain. This strategic pivot away from MakerDAO’s Ethereum roots signifies the project’s commitment to exploring alternative blockchain solutions in pursuit of enhanced protocol capabilities.