What's next for MakerDAO?
Key Takeaways
MakerDAO’s MKR token has been on a bit of a bull run lately, as the platform’s token buyback scheme was followed by news that a stablecoin linked to it had utility on the AAVE lending platform. The buyback scheme, which went live on 19 July, sees excess MKR purchased with MakerDAO’s DAI stablecoin and then burned.
The scheme has been something of a success, with the price of MKR shooting up past $1,000 for the first time since August 2022 and, perhaps more importantly, staying there.
September’s news that the SparkLend facility could appear on the Maker-adjacent Gnosis chain helped maintain the price in the four-figure range.
Those pieces of news followed June’s announcement that the platform had purchased $700 million worth of US Treasury bonds in a bid to DAI stablecoin backed by real world assets.
But what is MakerDAO (MKR)? How does MakerDAO work? Let’s take a look and see what we can find out, and also examine some of the MakerDAO price predictions that were being made as of August 31 2023.
Let’s take a look at some of the MakerDAO price predictions that were being made as of August 31 2023.
It is important to remember that price forecasts, especially ones relating to something as volatile as crypto, are very often wrong. Also, we should point out that many long-term crypto price predictions are made using an algorithm, which means they can change at any time.
2023 | 2025 | 2030 | |
---|---|---|---|
Prediction #1 | $2,661.73 | $4,410.46 | $13,511 |
Prediction #2 | $1,968.79 | $4,593.83 | $11,156 |
Prediction #3 | $1,470.33 | $3,044.63 | $18,777 |
First, CoinCodex made a short-term MakerDAO price prediction which said MKR should rise and then fall back down over the coming weeks. It said it would reach $1,320.56 by September 26 and drop to $1,246.97 by October 21.
The site’s technical analysis was, perhaps surprisingly, bullish, with 24 indicators making encouraging signals and just eight making bearish ones.
DigitalCoinPrice was supremely optimistic, saying MKR would hit $2,661.73 this year. Bitnation also saw Maker continue to rise, reaching $1,968.79, and PricePrediction.net said MKR would reach $1,470.33.
PricePrediction.net had a MakerDAO price forecast that saw it stand at $3,044.63 in 2025. BitNation said it would be worth $4,593.83 that year. DigitalCoinPrice thought MKR would trade at $4,410.46 in two years time.
In terms of a long-term MakerDAO price forecast, Bitnation said it could reach $11,156 in 2030,. DigitalCoinPrice suggested it would get to $13,511. PricePrediction.net made an MKR price prediction that said the coin would get to $18,777 at the start of the next decade.
The price of MKR rose at the end of August in the wake of the news that decentralized lending platform AAVE was letting people use the DAI stablecoin as collateral.
On 23 June, MakerDAO users proposed installing a buyback scheme called Smart Burn Engine. This was accepted on 18 July. The scheme sees excess MKR in a liquidity pool on the Uniswap (UNI) decentralized exchange purchased and burned, thus reducing the supply and, hopefully, causing the price to rise.
In September, it was proposed that the Gnosis chain, whose GNO crypto also collateralizes DAI, would add the SparkLend decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol. This move would have to be approved by the Maker decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
It’s now time to talk about the MakerDAO price history . While past performance should never be taken as an indicator of future results, knowing what the token has done since it came onto the market can help give us some much needed context when it comes to either making or interpreting a MakerDAO price prediction.
MKR first came onto the open market in September 2017, it was worth about $270. When the market entered a bubble in late 2017 and early 2018, its price shot up and it reached $1,690.19 on 20 January 2018. After that, though, the market entered a so-called crypto winter, operating below $800 for pretty much the next three years.
Things changed in early 2021 when the crypto market flourished, and MKR got involved in the action, with its price soaring to an all-time high of $6,339.02 on 3 May that year. Following that, the price slipped down to close the year at $2,337.19.
Things got even worse in 2022, when a series of market crashes led to it finally dropping below $1,000 in August and, following the collapse of the FTX exchange in November, it closed the year at $510.53, representing an annual loss of nearly 80%.
So far, MakerDAO’s price has seen some steady, if inconsistent, improvement in 2023. The token rallied to a high of $971.18 on 5 March. MKR’s value fell apart over the following months, with the nadir coming following the announcement that Crypto.com was suspending its US institutional trading operations on June 10, when it was worth $537.78.
After that, though, it recovered and by 14 July it was worth $852.43. MKR broke past $1,000 on 16 July, fell to $894.99 on 18 July and then hit $1,203.40 on 21 July.
Although MKR dipped slightly after that, it bounced back. On August 2, it traded at $1,351.42, its highest price since May 2022.
The crypto then fell down, as Elon Musk’s SpaceX offloading millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin crashed the market. MKR stayed above $1,000, though, and the AAVE news saw it trade at around $1,150 on August 31 2023.
By September 21, MKR was worth about $1,310.
At that time, there were 977,631 MKR in circulation, representing the total supply. This gave the crypto a market cap of about $1.28 billion, making it the 35th-largest crypto by that metric.
MKR reached its all-time high on May 3, 2021. After that, it entered a bear cycle, albeit one with peaks and troughs.
It finally bottomed out at around $500 at the start of 2023. A new uptrend started, with the price growing more than 150% so far this year.
In late July, the crypto broke past $1,000 and, despite some wobbliness, it has continued to grow. This could mean that MKR has started a bull cycle.
Looking at the above chart, we can see that MKR started an uptrend in January. It looks like the token could reach $1,680. If and when it gets there, it could drop down again before bouncing back up.
Alternatively, the price rise could end soon and fall back down as far as $850. The good news is that there would probably be a recovery after this.
It is hard to say. The AAVE anouncement has boosted MKR’s price, but we don’t know how long that will last. Likewise, while the platform bolstered its reserves, that could all fade away. It remains to be seen if the Maker DAO itself will approve SparkLend on Gnosis, and we still don’t know what impact this will have on MKR.
At a time when the world of crypto has been shaken by the United States Security and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s legal activities, some caution is, as ever advised. If you want to invest in MakerDAO, you will have to do your own research first.
No one can honestly say for sure right now. While price prediction sites are upbeat about the token’s chances, price predictions are wrong more often than not. You should also remember that prices can, and do, go down as well as up.
Before you decide whether or not to invest in MakerDAO, you will need to do your own research, not only on MKR but on other, similar, coins and tokens, such as Terra Classic (LUNC). More importantly, though, you must make sure you never invest more money than you can afford to lose.
The Maker Protocol’s technical documentation, or whitepaper , says it aims to let people create DAI with their own collateral.
It adds: “Blockchain technology provides an unprecedented opportunity to ease the public’s growing frustration with—and distrust of—dysfunctional centralized financial systems. By distributing data across a network of computers, the technology allows any group of individuals to embrace transparency rather than central-entity control.
“The result is an unbiased, transparent, and highly efficient permissionless system—one that can improve current global financial and monetary structures and better serve the public good.”
Danish crypto entrepreneur Rune Christiansen set up the MakerDAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) in 2014. Christiansen’s goal was to allow people to use crypto as collateral while taking out loans.
The Maker Protocol, came out in 2017. It supports the DAI stablecoin, which matches the value of the dollar. DAI and MKR are linked through a series of smart contracts, computer programs which automatically execute when certain conditions are met.
The MKR crypto token supports both MakerDAO and the Maker Protocol.
Both the MakerDAO and Maker Protocol systems operate on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. MakerDAO allows people to take out loans in the DAI stablecoin, providing crypto as collateral. Meanwhile, the Maker Protocol ensures that DAI stays pegged to the dollar.
MKR is, technically, called Maker. However, many people still call it MakerDAO. People who hold the token can vote on changes to the network. People can buy, sell, and trade MKR on exchanges.
One thing that we should mention here is that, because MakerDAO exists on the Ethereum blockchain, it is a token, rather than a coin. You might see references to such things as a MakerDAO coin price prediction, but these are wrong.
It might do but, if it does, it won’t be for a while yet. DigitalCoinPrice, Bitnation, and PricePrediction.net all thought it could reach five figures by 2030.
Keep in mind that MKR’s highest ever price is $6,339.02. It reached that figure on May 3 2021.
MKR is a governance token, meaning that people who hold it can vote on proposals to changes to the MakerDAO crypto lending platform and the Maker Protocol, which manages the DAI stablecoin.
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Please note that the contents of this article are not financial or investing advice. The information provided in this article is the author’s opinion only and should not be considered as offering trading or investing recommendations. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. The cryptocurrency market suffers from high volatility and occasional arbitrary movements. Any investor, trader, or regular crypto users should research multiple viewpoints and be familiar with all local regulations before committing to an investment.