Jack Kubinec

After countless forum posts and Discord back-and-forths, MakerDAO’s expansive “endgame” plan is finally seeing concrete action.



Maker passed a poll initiating the Spark Lend DeFi protocol on the Gnosis Chain. This sets the stage for the impending launch of its DeFi-focused subDAO. The move is meant as an example for how Spark Lend can proceed after the Maker “endgame” is finalized and the subDAO becomes fully autonomous.&nbsp;



In preparation for the endgame, MakerDAO has launched a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/are-subdaos-the-future-of-dao-governance">prototypical set of so-called subDAOs</a> meant to govern different aspects of the DAO. SparkDAO is Maker’s DeFi subDAO, and its <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/dai-savings-rate-us">Spark Protocol lending platform has been buoyed by the popularity of sDAI</a>, or savings DAI, a yield-bearing token benefiting from high Treasury returns.



Users can now access Spark Lend, an Aave fork with similar features, on both Gnosis Chain and Ethereum. While demand grows, Karpatkey — the treasury manager for Gnosis — is providing liquidity to the DAI market, essentially acting as a stand-in for Maker until it assumes the operations itself.



The endgame is largely aimed at reducing DAO governance fatigue, an issue MakerDAO founder Rune Christensen called the “central issue” of DAOs on the Unchained podcast this week. For now, the protocol’s governance process remains unchanged, and the passed proposal is headed to a second “executive” vote.



Maker subDAOs are meant to be specialized groups who can make decisions quickly. They operate with their own governance tokens and have a reduced number of stakeholders voting on each proposal.&nbsp;



Currently, Spark and other initial Maker subDAOs lack their own tokens and are not autonomous. While subDAOs could eventually overturn Spark&#8217;s work, Phoenix Labs CEO Sam MacPherson believes Spark sets a precedent for future subDAOs. Until SparkDAO governance starts in earnest, Maker&#8217;s focus remains on expanding Spark Lend&#8217;s deployment.



“Other chains will be putting out proposals, and we’re going to go to all of them is the idea,” MacPherson said.&nbsp;



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Maker subDAO branches out beyond Ethereum

Bessie Liu

MakerDAO is making strides toward Endgame, a detailed plan designed by its founder Rune Christensen with the hopes of improving governance.



Being one of the largest DeFi protocols, MakerDAO has been forced to navigate the complicated world of scaling and internal politics — which are faced by many startups that are transitioning into their growth phase — all whilst trying to remain decentralized.



According to <a href="https://forum.makerdao.com/t/the-5-phases-of-endgame/20830">the latest forum pos</a>t by Christensen, Endgame’s short-term goal is to ensure that MakerDAO’s stable token, DAI, becomes one of the most widely used stablecoins within the next three years without sacrificing governance equilibrium.



He proposes that to achieve this, Maker DAO must launch following Endgame’s comprehensive five-phase roadmap.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Phase 1: Beta launch</h2>



The first phase of Endgame will be establishing a new unified brand with its own stablecoin and governance token separate from DAI and MKR, Christensen said.



“Maker and Dai are established and trusted brands in the cryptocurrency space. Unfortunately they have drawbacks, including having two separate brands rather than a single cohesive concept,” he said.



The Accessibility Governance Process is currently working on redesigning MakerDAO with the ultimate goal of resolving fragmentation by creating a new, unified brand.



DAI and MKR token holders will have the choice to remain holding the tokens or upgrade to the new stablecoin and governance token, Christensen <a href="https://twitter.com/RuneKek/status/1656731619753852951">noted</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Phase 2: SubDAO launch</h2>



Following the Beta Launch will be the creation of six Maker <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/are-subdaos-the-future-of-dao-governance">SubDAOs</a>, each one with its own governance tokens.



SubDAOs are designed to function independently from Maker, but are tied to the protocol through its mission.



“By delegating day to day complexity to SubDAOs, MakerDAO significantly streamlines the workload and complexity that Maker Governance needs to manage,” Christensen wrote.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Phase 2: SubDAO Launch follows some months afterwards with 6 new SubDAOs and 6 SubDAO token farms available for NewStable users. All initial SubDAO tokens will be distributed through these farms only. NewStable users can freely choose which to farm. USA &amp; VPN IPs are ineligible.&mdash; Rune (@RuneKek) <a href="https://twitter.com/RuneKek/status/1656731623478513664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Phase 3: Governance AI tools launch</h2>



Designing tools using AI for governance will be the third phase of MakerDAO’s Endgame.



The purpose of these tools will be to improve “Alignment Artifacts” which will guide the governance experience and improve processes over time without needing a centralized leadership.



These tools will be designed to be open source, Christensen noted.



“This both helps MakerDAO improve its own Governance AI Tools while also delivering on it’s public good purpose,” he wrote.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Phase 4: Governance participation incentive launch</h2>



The launch of the Sagittarius Lockstake Engine (SLE) will be the fourth phase of the Endgame plan.



This engine is designed to ensure the token holders of the new governance token will be actively incentivized to participate in governance.



Tokens are designed to be delegated to aligned voter committees and will be executed through “a user-friendly, gamified frontend for easy access,” Christensen said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Phase 5: NewChain launch and final Endgame state</h2>



Launching a rebranded new chain will be the final stage of the Endgame State.



In this state, it will be difficult for major changes to occur in this state, Christensen notes. This means that MakerDAO’s core processes will be balanced, decentralized and sustainable “forever.”



This new chain is designed to be the hub of all backend tools operating MakerDAO.&nbsp;



“This means that on Ethereum, NewStable and NewGovToken, as well as Dai and MKR, will continue to function as normal, and the only change will be that they will be protected by a governance backend that operates through a secure, state of the art bridge,” Christensen wrote.



A new feature that Christensen is particularly excited about is the ability for the chain to hard fork in the case of “catastrophic governance disputes.”



“This provides a final level of governance security to users, businesses and protocols that rely on the Dai Stablecoin and NewStable, which ensures even the most extreme governance attack scenarios will only have a minimal impact on their user experience and will not put their funds or their stability at risk,” he said.



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.