As Ether'southward toll sees record losses, MakerDAO, the biggest actor in decentralized finance (DeFi) on the Ethereum network, is looking at responses including a shutdown — though that possibility remains unlikely at this point.

Markets clobber DeFi

Per a March 12 call in response to "Black Thursday" losses, developers and MakerDAO Foundation members weighed the damage that the driblet in Ether's price had washed to MakerDAO's lending protocol.

MakerDAO lends DAI for collateral in the form of Ether. As the marketplace for ETH drops, MakerDAO's protocol automatically sells. The contempo market saw losses too dramatic for the protocol's auctions to continue up with.

Total shutdown nonetheless unlikely

For at present, stakeholders are understandably eager to avoid disabling the protocol. As Ethereum developer Ryan Berckmans wrote in response to the call:

"An emergency shutdown (non happening now) would cause DAI holders to have a haircut, whereas the social contract of MakerDAO is that MKR tokens have a haircut in the upshot of organization failure. Therefore we should attempt and ensure that MKR holders accept a pilus cutting by avoiding emergency shutdown if possible. I heard that emergency shutdown is not being considered every bit an immediate option."

Every bit developer LongForWisdom said on the telephone call, the shutdown is currently a remote prospect, simply may become the most rational decision if ETH falls to $80 or so: "If Ether price drops another thirty, forty%, then nosotros might be looking at that."

Cointelegraph reached out to the MakerDAO Foundation for comment simply had received no response every bit of press time. This article will be updated to include comments as they come in.

The fall of Ether

Source: Coin360

Over the 24 hours upward to press time, Ether had peaked at only over $195, simply to autumn to $128 as of 13:45 UTC.

ETH's drib is just office of a wider sea of red facing crypto and traditional markets on March 12.