The Shift from Ethereum to NewChain
MakerDAO has been running on the Ethereum Virtual Machine since its inception. However, the upcoming native chain, NewChain, will be developed using a fork of Solana’s codebase instead of Ethereum. This significant shift represents a new chapter in the MakerDAO ecosystem.
A Multi-Year Endeavor
The final phase of this transition is anticipated to take at least three years, if not longer. During this time, the Maker Protocol will undergo a complete re-implementation on this new stand-alone blockchain.
Why Solana’s Codebase?
Rune Christensen describes Solana’s codebase as the most promising option for this ambitious project. Three key reasons support this choice:
- Technical Quality: Solana’s codebase is renowned for its technical excellence.
- Resilience: Solana has demonstrated resilience through challenges such as the FTX blowup, further showcasing its robustness.
- Existing Examples: There are existing examples of Solana’s codebase being successfully forked and adapted to create new chains, providing a strong foundation for NewChain’s development.
NewChain’s Core Purpose
The primary purpose of NewChain is to provide the MakerDAO ecosystem with the ability to recover from severe governance attacks or technical failures through a hard fork. Additionally, it enables the system to address the accumulated technical debt within the protocol, some of which extends back up to eight years. This approach allows for the purposeful reconstruction of all protocol components, aligning them with the final, permanent Endgame technical design.
