Ethereum Co-Founder Liquidates MakerDAO Stake Amid Plans for Solana Fork, While Solana Foundation Suggests Asset Distribution for Collapsed FTX Customers

ByVictor Alexander

Updated: 04 September 2023

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In a recent and noticeable development, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, divested himself of his remaining holdings in MakerDAO. Utilizing the CoW Protocol, he liquidated 500 MakerDAO tokens and acquired 353 ETH, valued at approximately $580,000. This decision was taken after MakerDAO co-founder and CEO, Rune Christensen, elaborated on the strategic vision of his organization through a blog post.

The last phase of Endgame is the launch of a native blockchain for Maker with the codename NewChain

It will make the ecosystem more secure and efficient

After some research, I believe the Solana codebase should be considered as the basis for NewChainhttps://t.co/KyGxBBGlVH

— Rune (@RuneKek) September 1, 2023

Christensen discussed the future redevelopment of MakerDAO on a new blockchain foundation, provisionally termed as NewChain. He considers forking this new platform from Solana’s codebase, a significant deviation from MakerDAO’s current Ethereum-based architecture coded in Solidity.

A useful boost to the network effect of the entire multichain economy

Christensen articulated a trio of rationales for considering Solana as a potential basis for NewChain. He praised the technical robustness and performance optimization of Solana’s codebase, and extolled the resilience of the Solana ecosystem, particularly following the collapse of FTX. Furthermore, he noted successful forks that have emerged from Solana, such as the Pyth Network, as encouraging examples. Christensen envisions MakerDAO’s NewChain operating as a secure intermediary linking Ethereum and Solana, thereby enhancing the network effects of the entire multi-chain financial ecosystem. Alongside Solana, Cosmos was also mentioned as a potential candidate for NewChain’s foundational codebase.

In the context of stablecoins, MakerDAO’s dai currently ranks as the third-largest USD-pegged stablecoin. Its monetary supply stands at around $3.9 billion, significantly trailing Tether, the market leader, with a supply cap of $82.9 billion.

Buterin initially acquired a stake of 1071 MKR tokens in MakerDAO in April 2018, when each token was valued at $905. With the sale of his stake, his total gains amount to roughly 27%. His last interaction with his MakerDAO holdings occurred in April 2021 when he bequeathed 100 MKR tokens to a COVID-19 relief fund in India.

How Former Exchange FTX’s SOL Tokens will be Handled

In a parallel narrative, Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, recently addressed the probable liquidation of Solana tokens by the beleaguered cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The crypto exchange, which declared bankruptcy in November 2022 due to allegations of criminal mismanagement, was found to have shifted its SOL tokens based on blockchain data. The cold storage wallets associated with FTX hold nearly 7 million SOL tokens, equivalent to around $134 million. Yakovenko advocated for a “win-win” approach where these assets could be distributed directly to the affected FTX customers. He surmised that dispersing the SOL tokens to approximately 5 million users would ultimately benefit Solana’s network.

If each user had the option to

1. Take the even split
2. Sell their share in a Dutch auction
3. Bid into the Dutch auction with a priority over external bids

It would probably have the best outcome for the whole user base. Just rip the bandaid off with the least amount of…

— toly 🇺🇸| bip-420 (@aeyakovenko) August 31, 2023

FTX’s past entanglements with Solana were extensive. Prior to its insolvency, FTX, under its co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, had been an ardent supporter of Solana. Not only did the platform launch a marketplace for Solana-based NFTs, but it had also invested in several Solana-oriented projects. The Solana Foundation and Solana Labs had collectively sold 58,086,686 SOL tokens to FTX and its affiliate Alameda Research, worth approximately $1.1 billion today.

Showing his support for Ethereum’s technology, Yakovenko also tweeted that “Ethereum is awesome,” and that a lot of Solana’s tech stack was inspired by Ethereum’s research and development. “Solana wasn’t built in a vacuum.”

Ethereum is awesome. Solana wasn’t built in a vacuum, and tons and tons of things that make @solana special were built based on ethereum’s r&d.

— toly 🇺🇸| bip-420 (@aeyakovenko) September 3, 2023

Yakovenko talked about proto-danksharding, which is an upcoming Ethereum upgrade that he considers “a good design for a settlement layer.”

It is quite encouraging to see these two recent events in the cryptospace relating to Solana. As we have explained in other articles, the network has immense potential, due to its complex design, and it is encouraging to know that the very competent Vitalik Buterin is also agreeing and standing behind its technology.