MakerDAO has unveiled the Spark Tokenization Grand Prix, a contest aimed at onboarding $1 billion of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). Scheduled to kick off on August 12, the initiative has attracted interest from major financial players, including BlackRock, Superstate, and Ondo Finance.
BlackRock’s Involvement
Carlos Domingo, CEO of Securitize, BlackRock’s issuance partner, praised MakerDAO’s strategy. “We will be there supporting this initiative with BlackRock’s BUIDL, the largest tokenized treasury fund,” Domingo said on X. BUIDL’s participation follows a similar initiative by Arbitrum, the largest Ethereum Layer 2 network by total value locked (TVL).
Other Participants
Superstate and Ondo Finance, which manage $550 million in RWAs, also plan to participate. “Superstate is excited for the opportunity to participate in MakerDAO’s tokenized treasury investment plan,” the firm tweeted.
MakerDAO’s Endgame Strategy
The Spark Tokenization Grand Prix is part of MakerDAO’s broader Endgame strategy, which aims to improve governance and tokenomics within the Maker ecosystem. The Endgame Plan seeks to reach a self-sustainable equilibrium called the Endgame State, where the ecosystem is resilient and the scope and complexity of Maker Core will no longer change.
Competition Details
The competition invites builders to onboard tokenized versions of traditional financial products, such as U.S. government bonds. MakerDAO plans to invest $1 billion into these products to integrate them into its ecosystem. Eligible products must have fair pricing, ample liquidity, and align with MakerDAO’s long-term goals. A committee led by Maker governance will evaluate and decide which products are best suited for onboarding.
MakerDAO’s Recent Performance
MakerDAO’s MKR token has surged nearly 30% in the past seven days, making it one of the best performers among the top 100 digital assets by market capitalization. According to Token Terminal, MakerDAO’s weekly active users increased by 18% in July, rising to 726 from 614 in June. Revenue growth has also been significant, with July recording $14 million in the first 15 days, compared to $10 million in June.
BlackRock’s BUIDL Achieves $500M Market Cap
BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, known as BUIDL, recently achieved a $500 million market cap, making it the first product of its kind to hit this milestone. BUIDL holds $502.8 million worth of tokenized Treasuries, according to Ethereum block explorer Etherscan.
RWA Tokenization Growth
Real-world asset tokenization continues to gain traction, with firms like Ondo Finance buying more of BlackRock’s BUIDL to back its OUSG token. This demand has pushed the tokenized Treasury market to nearly $1.56 billion, up from just $100 million in January 2023. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has described blockchain tokenization as “the next generation for markets, the next generation for securities,” with estimates by the Boston Consulting Group projecting the tokenization market to reach $16 trillion by 2030.
MakerDAO’s Revenue from RWAs
In June 2023, nearly 80% of MakerDAO’s fee revenue came from RWAs, amounting to $13.5 million for the treasury. MakerDAO is the largest DeFi protocol in the Collateralized Debt Position (CDP) category, with nearly $5.7 billion in total value locked, according to DeFiLlama. Users can mint DAI, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, against collateral assets deposited to the MakerDAO protocol. DAI is the third-largest stablecoin, with a market capitalization of $5.3 billion, according to CoinGecko.
