Maker Large Holders Accumulate, MKR Rally To Continue?

On-chain data shows large Maker holders have accumulated recently, a sign that the rally could extend soon.

Maker Large Holders Have Continued To Expand Their Holdings Recently

According to data from the market intelligence platform IntoTheBlock, inflows to the wallets of the large MKR investors have been taking place for a while now. The “large holders” here refer to those investors who hold at least 0.1% of the cryptocurrency’s circulating supply.

In Maker’s case, this value would equal about $1.2 million. Thus, the only holders who would clear these criteria would be the sharks and whales, the largest entities on the network.

These investors generally hold some influence in the market, as they can move many tokens at once. Thus, the behavior of this cohort could be worth watching, as it may reveal answers about where the asset might be heading next.

One way to track the behavior of these humongous holders is through the “netflow” metric, which measures the net amount of MKR that these large investors are adding into or moving out of their combined holdings right now.

When the value of this metric is positive, it means that a net number of coins is entering into the supply of these investors currently, suggesting that they are participating in buying.

On the other hand, negative values could imply that this group may be selling as its members are transferring a net amount of the asset away from their wallets.

Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Maker large holders netflow over the last few months:

Maker (MKR) Large Holders Netflow

The above graph shows that the Maker large holders’ netflow has been almost entirely positive during the past few months. There were a few dips into the negative territory, but the net outflows weren’t significant in scale then.

In the past few weeks, there haven’t been any drops below the zero mark, suggesting that the large holders have only continued accumulating more MKR recently.

Something to note here is that a positive netflow doesn’t mean that there isn’t any selling taking place at all. Instead, it simply suggests that the accumulation is enough to cancel any distribution.

In the past couple of months, the cryptocurrency has seen an overall uptrend, which could be a consequence of the net buying these investors have been participating in.

Since this month has started, though, the asset has declined. Nonetheless, as the netflows have only remained positive throughout this decline, the large holders have been buying regardless.

This conviction from these large holders can naturally be a positive sign for Maker, as the asset could potentially continue its rally soon.

MKR Price

At the time of writing, Maker is trading around $1,200, up 4% in the last week.

Maker Price Chart

MakerDAO Debates New EDSR Optimization Plan As MKR Bears Retain Market Control

MakerDAO has been in the headlines recently following a boost in the maximum Dai Savings Rate (DSR) from 3.19% to 8% on Sunday, August 6. This temporary increment termed the Enhanced Dai Savings Rate (EDSR), was designed to encourage more Dai (Maker’s stablecoin) holders to deposit their tokens on the Maker protocol and earn interest.

Following the implementation of EDSR, the Dai token has experienced some traction, with its market cap rising by over $570 million since Sunday, according to data from CoinMarketCap

In addition, data from the Makerburn dashboard shows the number of DAI in the DSR program has surged, moving 396.8 million on August 6 to its current value of 906.7 million. 

However, amidst the massive success of the EDSR, MakerDAO co-founder Christen Rune has proposed to adjust this incentive plan “based on observed data.” 

MakerDAO Co-Founder Proposes EDSR Optimization Plan To Curb ETH Whale Dominance 

On August 8, Rune submitted a governance proposal on the MakerDAO forum to optimize the Enhanced Dai Savings Rate citing an ongoing ETH whale dominance over regular Dai holders in terms of the program’s benefits. 

Related Reading: Maker (MKR) Signals Bullish Price Formation – Is $1.300 Around The Corner?

According to Rune, offering yields on Dai that are higher than the cost of borrowing Dai has led to certain borrowing activity known as “borrow arbitrage,” whereby traders borrow Dai at 3.19% and deposit in the EDSR program for 8% profit.

Rune noted that this was not the intended purpose of the EDSR plan. He stated that this investment strategy was mainly practiced by ETH and staked ETH whales, who now receive a higher yield at the expense of regular Dai holders,  the primary target of the EDSR program.

To counter this unforeseen circumstance, Christen Rune proposed to reduce the maximum EDSR interest rate from 8% to 5%. Furthermore, the MakerDAO cofounder proposes an increment in the DAI borrowing rate to be equivalent to the EDSR rate at a minimum of 5%, thus halting the ongoing large-scale “borrow arbitrage” activities.

The proposal also states that MakerDAO should extend Tier 1 EDSR to cover a utilization range of 0-40% and introduce a Tier 2 EDSR for utilization between 40-55% with the aim of making the EDSR plan sustainable. 

For context, utilization refers to the portion of the total capacity of the EDSR system that is in use. Currently, data from Makerburn states that the EDSR has an 18% utilization rate. 

Originally, the EDSR maximum yield was meant to drop to 5.8% once utilization surged to 20%, albeit that would not occur upon approval of Rune’s latest proposal. 

Maker (MKR) Maintains Bearish Form Amidst ESDR Success

In other news, MKR, the native token of the MakerDAO lending protocol, has seen its market price fall in recent days despite the massive boost in DAI’s market shares. 

According to data from CoinMarketCap, MKR’s price is down by 0.84% in the last 24 hours. This price drop adds to the token’s prolonged bearish state, whereby it has lost over 8.26% of its market value in the last seven days. 

Related Reading: Record-Breaking $10 Billion Open Interest Fuels Bullish Speculation For Bitcoin Reversal

During this period, MKR’s price declined from $1,339.22 on Aug.3 to as low as $1,187.66 on Aug.7. However, most MKR investors still likely retain faith in the DeFi token, which boasts of a positive monthly performance gaining by 32.30% in the last 30 days.

At the time of writing, MKR is trading at $1,214.28, with a 0.39% loss in the last hour. With a market cap of $1.18 billion, the token is ranked as the 42nd largest cryptocurrency in the market.

MakerDAO

Maker (MKR) Signals Bullish Price Formation – Is $1.300 Around The Corner?

Maker (MKR), one of the prominent players in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, has experienced a remarkable 11% price surge in the past seven days. Despite a slight drop in the last hour, the token’s performance remains impressive. 

Maker (MKR) Bullish Price Sentiment

Maker’s recent price performance has been noteworthy, with a solid 11% increase over the past week. The token also recorded a 4.21% price increase in the last 24 hours, indicating strong momentum in the short term. However, a minor correction of 0.81% in the past hour highlights the market’s volatility.

Currently trading at $1,220.43 per MKR, the token remains 80.75% below its all-time high of $6,339.02. While the recent price surge is encouraging, it is essential to consider the historical context and the factors influencing the crypto market’s dynamics.

Maker (MKR) is up 11% in the past week: Source @Tradingview

The MakerDAO community recently voted in favor of a temporary increase to the interest rate paid to holders of the protocol’s decentralized stablecoin, DAI. This proposal introduced the Enhanced Dai Savings Rate (EDSR), a mechanism to temporarily boost the Dai Savings Rate (DSR) to users during periods of low utilization.

Proposed by Maker founder Rune Christensen, the EDSR could increase the effective DSR to 8% when the utilization ranges from 0% to 20%. The mechanism is designed to decrease the DSR as utilization increases gradually.

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This isn’t the first time Maker has adjusted the DSR. In the past few months, the protocol has raised the DSR thrice: first to 1% in November, then to 3.3% in May, and finally incorporating a marginal increase to 3.49% in June. The latest EDSR proposal aims to incentivize DAI holders and stimulate demand for the stablecoin.

Stimulating Demand For DAI

Despite the recent increase in the DSR, data from Dai Stats shows that investors have only deposited $307 million in the DSR, representing a modest 6.7% of the total supply of DAI. The amount of DAI in circulation decreased to $4.6 billion from over $6.9 billion in the previous year.

In response to the declining circulation of Maker’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, the protocol is taking proactive steps to spur demand for DAI. By enhancing the interest rate DAI holders can earn, the protocol aims to attract more users and create a favorable ecosystem for DAI utilization.

Related Reading: Tether (USDT) Market Cap Reaches New Peak, Edges Toward $84 Billion Mark

The broader stablecoin market has also experienced a downtrend, with the total market capitalization sinking to $127 billion from nearly $160 billion a year ago. The introduction of EDSR is seen as a strategic move to increase the appeal of DAI and strengthen its position in the competitive stablecoin landscape.

What’s Next For Maker (MKR)?

As Maker continues improving the DAI ecosystem, investors closely monitor its governance decisions and the market’s response to the enhanced interest rate mechanism. The success of the EDSR proposal could drive further adoption of DAI and contribute to its overall liquidity in the market.

Moreover, the broader crypto market’s performance and regulatory developments will determine Maker’s future trajectory. If the bullish sentiments continue, Maker could surpass the $1,300 resistance point but if the opposite occurs the next support levels are $1,200 and $1,180. 

(This site’s content should not be construed as investment advice. Investing involves risk. When you invest, your capital is subject to risk).

Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView

MakerDAO Passes Proposal To Deploy $100 Million USDC In Yearn Finance Vault

In the hopes of generating yield while offering users what its best known for, MakerDAO, the issuer of the Ethereum-based stablecoin, DAI, has approved a proposal to deploy $100 million of Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) in a Yearn Finance yield-generating account called a “vault.”

The proposal, submitted on January 9, aims to look for a way MakerDAO could split its treasury allocations and earn yield.

MakerDAO To Generate Yields From Yearn Finance Vault

Following the approval of the MIP92 (Maker Improvement Proposal 92), MakerDAO plans to begin depositing $100 million USDC to the Yearn finance vault to earn a 2% yield annually, approximately $2 million every year on its YearnFi investment. 

Founded by prominent DeFi developer Andre Cronje, Yearn finance is a yield aggregator built on the Ethereum blockchain, allowing users to deposit crypto assets in the service in exchange for yield or interest over some time. 

With a total of 95,666.284 of Maker’s native token, MKR cast in the vote, approximately 68,462 MKR, which accounts for 71.56%, voted in favor of deploying USDC in Yearn Finance, while 27,204 MKR, which accounts for 28.44% voted out the whole idea and 0.0% voted “abstain.”

Though the MIP92 has been passed, the proposal still has to go through an executive vote for the concept to be implemented.

MakerDAO Attraction To USDC

Before the MIP92 submission, MakerDAO had already demonstrated interest in Circle’s dollar-backed token, USDC. Late last year, the DAI stablecoin operator invested a hefty amount alongside collaboration with Coinbase to become the largest stakeholder in USDC.

As reported by NewsBTC, MakerDAO and Coinbase Prime have a total of USD 1.6 billion in custody, allowing both partners to earn 1.5% returns from the deposited assets. Notably, stablecoins have seen rapid growth in recognition in recent years. As a result, investors now rely on these assets to protect the value of their investments.

Unlike traditional cryptocurrencies, which fluctuate now and then, stablecoins are tied to the value of an underlying asset, like the U.S. dollar. Due to the nature of stablecoins, many investors have found them enticing, especially as a vital part of future finance.

With the USDC still lagging behind USDT in adoption, the goal has always been to surpass the latter and become number one in the market cap.

MKRUSDT price chart on TradingView

Veering back to MakerDAO, the protocol’s native token, MKR, has also been thriving to cover the gaps between its current price and its all-time high. Over the past 30 days, MKR has surged more than 20% and currently trades above $650 with a 24-hour trading volume of $22.3 million.

Maker (MKR) Records 13% Gains Undeterred By Market Downtrends

MKR, the native token of the Maker Protocol, has recorded substantial gains despite the most recent market downturn. After news of FTX’s liquidity crisis rocked the crypto market, several coins have struggled to bag daily gains to no avail. However, MakerDAO’s governance token has experienced an impressive surge today. Specifically, MKR trades at $873 press time, gaining over 26% on the day.

Despite the huge jump in the day, Maker still hasn’t recovered its weekly losses. However, if its bullish trend continues, it might fully recover in a short time.

MKR Surges As Bullish Momentum Kicks In

After a steep drop and sell-off over the last day, bulls have succeeded in turning around the Maker’s (MKR) negative trend. MKR’s price increased by $177.40, or 13.64 percent, to $840 during this recovery. The main catalyst for the price surge is an increase in 1-day trading activities and market cap. Specifically, MKR saw a 27.26% increase in its market capitalization and a 15.37% surge in trading volume.

MKR’s gains were most felt in the DeFi sector of the Maker Protocol. According to a Token Terminal Intern on Twitter, the DeFi sector lost around 20% of its total value locked in the last 24 hours. This is unsurprising and expected due to FTX’s controversy. However, despite the downturn, Maker recorded an increase in its TVL. Precisely, Maker saw a TVL increase of 28% over the same period. 

This increase results from the recent surge in borrowing activities on the platform. As per the thread, Token Terminal Intern noted that the top-three lending protocols, including Maker, facilitated $27B worth of trading volume. The account mentioned that the increase resulted from traders fleeing centralized exchanges due to the FTX collapse.

MKRUSD

MKR’s price is currently hovering at $875. | Source: MKRUSD price chart from TradingView.com

What The Charts Say About MKR’s Movement

The intersection of the upper and lower Bollinger Bands is located at 780 and 615, respectively. The widening of the bands indicates a rise in trading activity, which may lead to a price breakthrough.

Since the market has broken out above the upper range, bulls appear to be in control, and this upward trend might continue for a while. The RSI is currently at 57.45, which has been quite constant over the past few hours. As a result, the MKR market shows signs of balance between buyers and sellers, suggesting the positive trend will continue.

The MACD line is still negative at -8. However, it has crossed over the signal line and is trending upward into positive territory. The histogram is trending upwards, supporting the current bullish pattern. As the MACD line rises above the EMA line, we may be certain that the MKR market will continue to rise. 

Moving averages for 5 and 20 days are 749 and 698, respectively. This uptrend is further backed by the rise of market prices above both moving averages. The Coppock curve, which has just climbed from the negative zone to a value of 8, also implies sustained growth in the MKR market. Overall, the market is expected to stay positive, and major technical signs point to more gains coming up soon.

Featured image from Pixabay and chart from TradingView.com

Here Are The Crypto That Kept Green During The Bloodbath

The crypto market is bouncing back from another sudden move into the lows with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies recording heavy losses. In this dangerous environment for risk, there are a select few tokens still in profit with the potential to continue swimming against the tide in the coming weeks.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is back in its range trading at $19,200 making a comeback after a quick revisit close to its yearly lows. Ethereum is following a similar trend but still maintains some losses in the last 24 hours with Cardano and Solana recording the worst performance.

On the higher timeframe, Cardano and Solana recorded a 14% and 12% loss over the past week, respectively. In particular, ADA has failed to fuel bullish momentum after the implementation of Hard Fork Combinator (HFC) “Vasil” which has led to a sustained negative price action below support previously established at around $0.40.

These Tokens Score Profits As Larger Crypto Trended Lower

Data from CoinGecko indicates that in a 7-day period, Huobi (HT), TerraClassicUSDC (USTC), Quant (QNT), and Maker (MKR) are the best-performing assets in the space. The first of these selected HT groups records a 74% profit over this period.

In the meantime, the algorithmic stablecoin of the failed Terra ecosystem experienced a 65% rally. While MKR and QNT have had modest gains north of 12% in the past week.

The former of these tokens, Huobi’s HT, is experiencing positive price performance due to a potential takeover from About Capital over the exchange’s assets. Speculators are jumping into the action based on the potential for the platform to see the implementation of the token in new use cases, and the onboarding of new users.

TRON Founder and diplomat Justin Sun, a member of the Houbi Global Advisory, hinted at this possibility via his official Twitter account. In that sense, and similar to USTC’s price action, these tokens are seeing positive price performance due to news-related events rather than fundamentals.

Of the crypto in the group above, MKR has the most potential to sustain its bullish momentum. The MakerDAO and the community of MKR holders have been implementing proposals, with the support of major names in the industry, to improve the platform and its treasury system.

Data from Material Indicators shows that almost every investor class bought into MKR’s price action during this trading session flash crash. This allowed the MKR price to bounce back from a low of $927 to its current level of $937.

However, the cryptocurrency needs support from larger investors to extend its current bullish momentum. If the crypto market can hold off the bears from taking over the action during the weekend, MKR might make a run to the $1,000 price point.

MKR’s price on a rally in the 4-hour chart. Source: MKRUSDT Tradingview

TOP 5 Cryptocurrencies To Watch This Week – BNB,BTC,ETH,MATIC,MKR

The crypto market saw prices move from key support across all boards, with the crypto marketcap finding some relief recently as it aims to reclaim its resistance of $1.2 trillion. This has led to market sentiments returning bullish, with many crypto assets rallying from the key support and producing double-digit gains. Let us focus on the top 5 cryptocurrencies you should pay attention to this week.

Disclaimer: The picks listed in this article should not be taken as investment advice. Always do your research and never invest more than what you can afford to lose.

TOP 5 Cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis 
Daily BTC Price Chart | Source: BTCUSDT On Tradingview.com

Daily BTC Price Chart | Source: BTCUSDT On Tradingview.comFrom the chart, the price of BTC was rejected from $20,400, with bulls trying to push the price above this region, acting as resistance for BTC price.

BTC is currently trading at $19,200 at the point of writing this article. The price of BTC could not break out of the ascending triangle it formed as the price continued to range in the triangle with the hopes of breaking out to the upside. The price of BTC at $18,800 continues to act as support for BTC price; a break below this price could see BTC retesting lower support of $17,700-$17,000.

A breakout above the ascending triangle could see the price rally to a high of $21,500-$22,000. 

Price Analysis Of Ethereum (ETH) On The Daily (1D) Chart
Daily ETH Price Chart | Source: ETHUSDT On Tradingview.com

Despite the price of Ethereum in recent weeks outperforming BTC after showing a bullish trend ahead of “The Merge,” the price has faced resistance to breaking above $1,400, with the next key support at $1,000 looking more likely for price. 

ETH price was rejected from $1,370 with what seems to be a resistance for ETH price to trend higher. The price saw a sell-off to a region of $1,250, with the price bouncing off this region to a high of $1,320. 

The price of ETH at the point of writing is $1,325, trading below the 50 and 200 Exponential Moving Average (EMA) on the daily timeframe.

If the ETH price maintains its bearish structure, we could see the price retesting $1,200-$1,000 as a key support region with high demands. 

Price Analysis Of Binance Coin (BNB) On The Daily (1D) Chart
Daily BNB Price Chart | Source: BNBUSDT On Tradingview.com

The price of BNB was rejected from its resistance of $290 and is currently trading at $280.

BNB has failed to maintain its bullish structure, a break of about $270 could see the price of BNB retesting the region of $240 as support.

TOP 5 Cryptocurrencies – Price Analysis Of Maker DAO (MKR) On The Daily (1D) Chart
Daily MKR Price Chart | Source: MKRUSDT On Tradingview.com

The price of MKR has continued to show bullish trends holding well above the 8 and 20 EMA after a successful break out of the descending triangle creating a more bullish scenario. 

With the market looking more stable, we could see MKR retest the region of $1,200. If the price of MKR experiences a sell-off, we could see a price retest of $800 acting as a support area.

Price Analysis Of Polygon (MATIC) On The Daily (1D) Chart
Daily MATIC Price Chart | Source: MATICUSDT On Tradingview.com

The price of MATIC has formed a bullish pattern (ascending triangle) with a potential breakout to the upside; a breakout and close above the ascending triangle would mean the price rallying to a high of $1. 

Featured image from zipmex, Charts from TradingView.com 

MakerDAO Could Replace Governance Token, Will It Provide Enhanced Incentives?

According to a post on the MakerDAO Forum, the financial service protocol could replace its governance token MKR with a new token called stkMKR. The proposal was introduced to address the criticism around MKR’s tokenomics.

Related Reading | Will Ethereum Give In To Bears?

New MKR tokenomics could supplement and improve on previous benefits and incentives. The proposal emphasized that stkMKR will preserve MKR’s current burn mechanism and will allow users to claim their reinvest dividends and other payouts without spending funds on gas while keeping its tax efficiency.

On previous tradeoffs, stkMKR will attempt to attract more attention to the Maker and the MakerDAO by strengthening its narrative. This could potentially impact the price of its new governance token by attracting more users, and by updating some of its key components. The proposal claims:

A new token, stkMKR, will replace MKR as the core governance token of MakerDAO. stkMKR will be non-transferable, and represents MKR staked in governance. Staked tokenholders will receive a share of MKR tokens purchased through surplus auctions, so stkMKR will be backed by an increasing amount of MKR over time (automatically compounding like xSUSHI).

Moreover, the proposal claims the MakerDAO will become more resilient to potential bad actors and malicious proposals and improve incentives for investors. Currently, the protocol provides rewards to users via buybacks and burn returns, but the new proposal will try to create more incentives for those users “providing excess value”.

As the post claims, stkMKR and its mechanism were inspired by the Cosmos governance model, and by the tokenomics around tokens stkAAVE and xSUSHI. The proposal added:

Withdrawing from stkMKR requires waiting through a pre-set unbonding period, which improves protocol resilience and governance security (similar to Cosmos and stkAAVE).

In addition, the proposal contemplates a portion of MKR in the protocol would be diverted from the burning mechanism directly into stkMKR holders, and combine with another pool that would “smooth out yield volatility” and support Maker in difficult times, as seen below.

Source: MakerDAO Forum
MakerDAO And The New Tokenomics

A lot of protocols have been trying to update and improve their tokenomics and governance model. The DeFi sector has seen a surge in competitive environments. From Solana to Terra, Avalanche, Cosmos, and others, veteran protocols like Maker need to remain competitive.

The proposal seeks to motivate users to participate in the new governance model by improving staking rewards and delegation rates. Also, the proposal seeks to increase the MKR’s value with “concrete APR figures and supply restriction” and increase protection against volatile periods in the market while preventing credit losses.

If approved, the proposal will change the following components of the MakerDAO governance model: migration, which involves voting and contract delegation, conditional delegation, and disaster recovery. The proposal claims:

These changes will reduce the overall buyback yield attributable to all circulating MKR, while offering a new yield source specific to staked MKR. This should increase stkMKR effective yield at the expense of unstaked MKR.

The proposal is currently being discussed by the Maker community and will proceed to more formal voting if it receives positive feedback.

Related Reading | Cake DeFi Launches A $100 Million Investment Arm To Foster Web3 And Gaming Development

At the time of writing, MKR trades at $182 with a 2.23% profit on the daily chart.

MKR trends to the downside on the daily chart. Source: MKRUSDT Tradingview