Summary

Maker and Loom Network are collaborating to enable Dai, a decentralized stablecoin, to operate across multiple blockchains, starting with Tron and Binance Chain, to increase its accessibility and utility in the DeFi space.

Abstract

Maker, the organization behind the Dai stablecoin, is partnering with Loom Network to create cross-chain gateways that will allow Dai to function on various Layer 1 blockchains, including Tron and Binance Chain. This initiative aims to expand Dai's user base beyond the Ethereum network, where it currently operates as an ERC20 token. By leveraging Loom Network's gateways, Dai will be transferable between chains, transforming it into a multichain token. This collaboration is poised to enhance the DeFi ecosystem by making Dai and associated DeFi products more accessible to a broader audience, facilitating mainstream adoption of decentralized money. The process involves using Basechain as a transit hub for token transfers, ensuring security through a multisig validation process, and starting with Testnet transfers to ensure thorough testing before full deployment.

Opinions

The collaboration is seen as a significant step in opening up Dai and DeFi products to a larger user base by not limiting them to the Ethereum network.
There is a belief that the introduction of Dai on Tron will provide a decentralized collateralized coin option for Tron users and could potentially lead to the emergence of DeFi applications on the Tron network.
The security of the transfer gateways is emphasized, with a robust multisig validation system in place, which is considered safe for high-value transactions.
The initiative is part of a broader vision to make decentralized money as accessible as possible, envisioning a future where Dai can be used for transactions across various apps, wallets, or chains.
The partnership is viewed as a step towards creating a multichain DeFi system, with Loom Network's infrastructure enabling developers to scale their dapps and projects across multiple blockchains.

Making a Multichain Dai: Maker and Loom Network to Build Dai Gateways to Tron, Binance, and Other Chains 🔗

Today, I would like to announce that Maker will be the first third-party project to make use of Loom’s cross-chain gateways.

Just in case you weren’t aware… Maker is the creator of the number one decentralized stablecoin: Dai.

Together, Loom and Maker will turn Dai into a multichain token by bringing it onto other major chains — starting with Tron.

Maker is a household name in the Ethereum community, but if you haven’t been following the news, it is the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) product in existence — Almost 350 million dollars worth of assets are collateralized in Maker today. Those assets are used to generate Dai, a decentralized stablecoin that is battle-tested and trusted in the community. However, because Dai is an ERC20 token, it has always been inaccessible to anyone who isn’t a user of Ethereum. More than that, DeFi products that make use of Dai like Compound or dYdX (which together hold roughly $150M in assets) are also restricted to just Ethereum.

Needless to say, it will significantly open up the number of users and developers if Dai were able to exist on other Layer 1 chains as well — and that is exactly what is happening today. Using Loom Network gateways, Dai will now be able to exist on other popular Layer 1 blockchains natively.

How Does it Work?

Loom Network gateways allow tokens to be transferred between Layer 1s by using Basechain as a transit hub. For example, an ERC20 token like Dai can enter via the Ethereum transfer gateway and exit via the Tron transfer gateway as a TRC20 token.

You also have a ton of options during each transaction. For example, if you want to deposit 10 DAI from ETH and transfer 5 to Tron and 5 to Binance Chain — that’s totally doable. Or you can use the DAI on Loom Basechain to play some games (gas-free, of course), and then withdraw it along with your winnings to the chain of your choice.

Why Tron First?

Right now, the largest stablecoin on Tron is USDT, and we believe a decentralized collateralized coin would serve the users of that chain greatly. There is a huge market opportunity for all the games on the Tron chain to accept payments using Dai. And in doing so, we may even start to see some DeFi apps pop up on Tron.

Is it Secure?

The transfer gateways are secured via a multisig that requires three quarters of the validators on Loom Basechain plus one to sign off on any transfers, making it safe for million-dollar transactions. Additionally, we’ll start with just enabling Testnet transfers first, so we can thoroughly test this before it goes live in production.

The Bigger Picture — Decentralized Money Everywhere

As far as mainstream adoption is concerned, Dai is decentralized money. People have been receiving their salaries in Dai (shoutout to ConsenSys for doing a great job with this) and shops have been accepting Dai as payment. But in order to make decentralized money really great is to make it available everywhere — as accessible as possible. The idea is that one day soon, a user can pay for a product using Dai regardless of what app, wallet, or chain they are using.

To Sum Up

With any type of currency, it becomes more useful as more people and places accept it. Thus, Maker adding support for Tron and soon other chains makes complete sense — and using Loom Basechain is the fastest way to make this happen.

Dai being supported on Tron, Binance Chain, and other major chains means we’re one step closer to creating a multichain DeFi system — with more and more developers using Loom Network to scale their dapps and projects.

What will you be building on Loom?

Loom Network is the multichain interop platform for scaling high-performance dapps — already live in production, audited, and battle-tested.

Deploy your dapp to Loom’s Basechain once and reach the widest possible user base across all major blockchains today.

New to Loom? Start here.

Want to stake your LOOM tokens and help secure Basechain? Find out how.

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