On March 28, Tron (TRX) founder Justin Sun tweeted to announce the release of Djed, a system for collateralized loans he described as “something new.” The platform was immediately criticized as many see it as a plagiarized version of MakerDAO (MKR). Sun teased the launch on Jan. 16 when Sun let his fans choose the name of a planned decentralized stablecoin that was initially to be backed by TRX and BitTorrent Token (BTT). Self-described TRX whale and Tron fan Mike McCarthy was the one who proposed the name Djed, just one hour and a half after Sun’s initial tweet. The …

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is certainly the buzz-phrase in the cryptocurrency world right now. But although we are hearing more and more about the potential of this technological breakthrough to revolutionize the world of traditional finance, many are still unsure of what DeFi actually involves. CoinGecko has just released its very first book, called ‘How to DeFi’. This book aims to provide an easy entry point for those wanting to learn about the subject. Why to DeFi After an obligatory slew of quotes from industry figures, recommending the book as the ideal starting point from which to enter the world of …

Bitcoin has continued its recovery. It’s up around 23 percent over the last week, even as the Bitcoin clock continues its countdown. We’re now entering the last 50 days of a 12.5 BTC reward. These are strange times for everyone but despite Bitcoin’s volatility, the digital coin seems to have held up. Marcel Pechman argues that Bitcoin was designed for a financial crisis and says that in the current pandemic, it’s working well. Cryptocurrencies could work even better though if politicians would get their act together. The economic stimulus bill originally contained a requirement to create a digital dollar, but …

On March 12, United States President Donald Trump gave a 10-minute speech on COVID-19 that, coupled with the World Health Organization’s official declaration the day before that the outbreak was now a pandemic, sparked panic across global markets. Investors rushed to the safety of cash, and no cryptocurrency was immune from the mass sell-off. The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency sector plummeted by over 25% in a span of hours. Bitcoin (BTC), despite its reputation as a safe haven, fell by 48% in a span of 24 hours. Ether’s (ETH) loss of 43% was its worst one-day performance. While …

The crypto industry is young, and in emerging tech, a handful of companies often lead the charge. For those holding equity in these companies, this is generally considered something to be encouraged. For everyone else, it is not. The recent rise of decentralized finance has been no different, and the company holding the torch is MakerDAO. When market conditions are favorable, these powerful companies can be trailblazers for the industry. However, if they face an existential threat, they can drag the entire sector down with them. To say that the COVID-19 pandemic is a black swan now seems like an …

The Maker Foundation has handed governance over the smart contract that underpins the MakerDAO (MKR) protocol to MKR token holders. Describing the move as the project’s “most significant step” toward decentralized governance, the foundation announced that a three month long transition of power to the community had been finalized. “The MKR token contract is now 100% in control of MKR holders,” the foundation said. The foundation urged the Maker community to “remain deeply engaged and continue to vote smartly and often”, warning that “voter apathy” could threaten the project: “While voter apathy can threaten any election process, it can do …

Blockchain analysis company Coin Metrics has found that while Bitcoin (BTC) was experiencing its biggest daily drop in the last seven years, stablecoins reaped the benefits. Coin Metrics, which conducts analysis of various aspects of cryptocurrency tokens, released their State of the Network report on March 23. The report focused on how the rest of the crypto market fared during the BTC crash two weeks ago. According to Coin Metrics data, stablecoins gained market share, spreads on spot and futures markets widened, and transfer fees spiked as people rushed to deposit coins. Crypto holders may have been turning to stablecoins …

Decentralized finance, more commonly known as DeFi, is quite complicated. Even the heads of DeFi companies seem unable to define the sector in a few sentences. So, here’s another attempt: DeFi is a financial ecosystem, in which it is possible to build tools, services and smart contracts and then bond them together on a blockchain, just like lego. It might not sound like fun, but it’s probably more useful. Lego might well be Denmark’s most famous export, but DeFi’s number one company, MakerDAO, is giving it a run for its money. Since the company was formed in 2015, it has …

The MakerDAO (MKR) auction to recover DAI collateral debt is almost complete, though the procedure suffered some technical setbacks. The community largely remains optimistic about Maker’s handling of the situation, as many took the opportunity to scrutinize and fix other potential issues. The auction started on March 19 at approximately 10:30 AM EST with a somewhat uneventful kick off. Some of the people who had tuned in expected it to finish quickly, but the specifics of the auction made it a very gradual process. One community member jokingly said, “I can't wait to tell my grandkids about this,” as only …

As the first MakerDAO debt auction draws to a close, March 23, a total of $4.3 million worth of undercollateralized Dai (DAI) has been bid across both phases, and will be burned. But those bidders who waited for the second phase bagged the best deals, with some winners paying 24% less per Maker (MKR) token than the highest bidders in phase one. Bargains to be had in the second phase of the auction Opening offers on each of the 86 total lots were to receive 250 Maker tokens for fixed bids of 50,000 Dai. Subsequent bids then reduced the amount …

MakerDAO (MKR) has denied accusations that the Maker Foundation placed the winning bids in all of its recent debt auctions. In a statement shared with Cointelegraph, the Maker Foundation states that it “is not purchasing MKR in the auctions.” Maker Foundation provides “limited technical assistance to some bidders” “Similar to how the Foundation created the Auction UI,” the foundation states that “it has offered limited technical assistance to some bidders on a first come, first serve basis to facilitate their timely and effective participation in the auctions.” The statement emphasizes that the assistance “in no way provides informational or any …

Bidders have already committed to buying Maker (MKR) tokens for a total of $2 million in Dai (DAI) as the first phase of the MakerDAO debt auction reaches its final stages. The majority of the current winning bids were placed at around 1:25 a.m. EST, March 20, so unless further bids come in, most of the lots will be sold at around 7:25 a.m. EST. Going once… In the first phase of the debt auction, 40 individual lots, valued at 50,000 DAI each, were released and have received bids, meaning that a total of $2 million will be wiped off …