Maker Foundation Transfers Control of MKR Token to Community

Priyeshu Garg

Mar. 27, 2020

MakerDAO makes another improvement toward decentralization after it transferred control of its token contract to holders.

What Is Maker and MakerDAO Introduction to MKR Token

Key Takeaways

The MKR token contract is now in complete control of MKR holders, claims the Maker Foundation.
First initiated on Jan. 10, the process took just over three months to complete.
The transfer was part of an effort to completely decentralize MakerDAO away from its founding team.

The Maker Foundation announced that it has successfully transferred the control of MKR tokens to the Maker governance community. According to the foundation, the MKR token contract is now in full control of MKR holders, bringing it closer to complete system decentralization.

Maker Completes MKR Token Control Transfer

The Maker Foundation, a non-profit organization tasked with running the Maker blockchain, has announced that it has completed the transfer of MKR token control to the Maker governance community.

According to the foundation, the MKR token contract is now 100% in control of MKR holders, bringing the MakerDAO ecosystem one step closer to completely decentralized governance.

“Today’s news is momentous. By completing its commitment to transfer the MKR token contract to MKR holders, the Maker Foundation continues to move toward a completely self-sustaining MakerDAO,” said Rune Christensen, CEO of the Maker Foundation.

The process took just over three months to complete, as the first step was initiated on Jan. 10 when the “MkrAuthority” contract was deployed on the Ethereum mainnet. The final step of the governance transfer was completed on Mar. 24, when the owner of the MKR token was set to the 0x0 address.

Saving MakerDAO

Transfering the control of the Maker protocol into the hands of MKR holders was the culmination of an effort to completely decentralize MakerDAO. This move is especially important due to the fact that the price of MKR dropped by almost 60% on Mar. 13, wreaking havoc on the DeFi protocol.

Borrowers on Maker with open CDPs and Vaults were caught on the wrong side of an unstable market as millions of dollars worth of collateral was auctioned off for $0. Many borrowers who were trying to add more collateral to their loans but were unable to do so as the network faced unprecedented congestion.

The Maker Foundation took active steps to reduce the adverse effects of the major downturn Maker saw on Mar. 13, including a $4.5 million MKR auction. The foundation said that the latest control transfer, combined with the auction, will serve to recapitalize the Maker system and embody the true values of decentralized finance.

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