Maker (MKR), the governance token of decentralized lending platform MakerDAO, is nearing its highest price since May last year, thanks to an increase in protocol profits and the accumulation of large investors. At the time of writing, this token has surged 4.41% to $1,358, reaching a 16-month high.
MKR has significantly outperformed the rest of the market this year with a 152% return. Bitcoin (BTC) – the largest currency in the market increased by 64% in the same period while DeFi tokens are less than 10%.
The spike comes as MakerDAO, which issues DAI, is increasing its investments in US Treasuries and benefiting from high yields in traditional bond markets. According to data from Makerburn, the protocol’s annual revenue has quadrupled to $185 million since the beginning of the year, while annual profits are estimated to have increased from $39 million to $58 million. MakerDAO also introduced a 5% reward for DAI last month to boost demand for this stablecoin. That also contributed to the supply of DAI increasing by $1 billion since the beginning of August.
As Lookonchain reported, two large crypto investors (or crypto whales) accumulated MKR this month – a sign that sentiment towards this crypto asset is improving. One of these two whales bought a total of $1.95 million in MKR starting on September 4, while another bought MKR$1.63 million this week.
Crypto hedge fund Ouroboros Capital said the rally is likely to continue due to rising DAI supply and revenues. According to its technical chart pattern, this bull run could reach $1,600.