Dai DAI

Dai is the world's first fully decentralized stablecoin pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio [MakerDAO]. It operates on smart contracts and, unlike centralized alternatives (such as USDT or USDC), does not depend on commercial bank decisions [MakerDAO]. Its stability and issuance are controlled by a decentralized community [MakerDAO].

DAI stability is ensured through over-collateralization [MakerDAO]. To mint new DAI coins, users must lock approved crypto assets (e.g., ETH or WBTC) in smart contracts [MakerDAO]. The collateral value must always exceed the loan amount issued. If collateral price falls below a critical level, the system automatically liquidates the position to cover the debt [MakerDAO].

The project was launched in 2017 by the decentralized autonomous organization MakerDAO on the Ethereum blockchain [MakerDAO]. The system is governed by holders of MKR governance tokens [MakerDAO]. They vote on changes to interest rates, addition of new collateral types, and protocol technical upgrades through transparent on-chain voting [MakerDAO].

As part of the Endgame long-term development strategy, the MakerDAO ecosystem underwent a global rebranding, upgrading to Sky Ecosystem [MakerDAO]. Users were introduced to a new, more scalable stablecoin version with the ticker USDS [MakerDAO]. Meanwhile, the original DAI token continues to function fully, maintains 100% backward compatibility, and can be exchanged for USDS at any time without fees [MakerDAO].

The main advantages of DAI are absolute transparency, censorship resistance, and security [MakerDAO]. The state of DAI collateral reserves can be verified on the blockchain in real-time [MakerDAO]. Since the project has no central issuer, DAI coins in user wallets cannot be frozen by any single company or government authority, making it an ideal base asset for DeFi protocols [MakerDAO].