Co-Founder of MakerDAO Suggests Creating a New Native Chain Using Solana’s Codebase

Rune Christensen’s Bold Proposal

Rune Christensen, the co-founder of MakerDAO, has made a significant proposal for the future of the decentralized finance project. He suggests that MakerDAO’s upcoming native chain should be built upon a fork of Solana’s codebase instead of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), despite MakerDAO’s long-standing ties with Ethereum.

MakerDAO’s native chain, known as “NewChain,” is a crucial part of the fifth and final phase of the MakerDAO “Endgame” upgrade, which was announced back in May.

This final phase is expected to span approximately three years and involves a complete re-implementation of the Maker protocol into a new, independent blockchain.

Why Solana’s Codebase?

In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter) dated September 1st, Christensen voiced his support for this proposal, stating, “After some research, I believe the Solana codebase should be considered as the basis for NewChain.”

Christensen outlined three compelling reasons for his endorsement:

• Technical Quality: He emphasized the exceptional technical quality of Solana’s codebase, describing it as “highly optimized for the purpose of operating a singular, highly efficient blockchain.” This codebase benefits from lessons learned from previous blockchain challenges, aligning well with NewChain’s goal of addressing technical debt.
• Resilience: Christensen noted Solana’s resilience, highlighting its ability to withstand challenges like the FTX incident. He believes that the Solana ecosystem will continue to thrive, providing MakerDAO with access to a high-quality talent pool for NewChain’s development and maintenance.
• Adaptability: MakerDAO could leverage the existing examples of the Solana codebase being forked and adapted for appchains, making it a suitable choice for NewChain’s development.

Solana Over EVM

Responding to questions on Twitter regarding his preference for Solana over the EVM, Christensen clarified that while the EVM is essential for building user-facing applications due to its widespread user base, it doesn’t align with MakerDAO’s specific backend requirements.

NewChain will primarily serve as the backend for the project’s SubDAO tokenomics and governance security, while Maker’s governance token (MKR) and stablecoin Dai (DAI) will continue to function on Ethereum.

Despite the bold decision to move away from Ethereum, Rune Christensen’s proposal to base MakerDAO’s NewChain on Solana’s codebase presents a promising vision for the future of the decentralized finance project.