A recent post on a governance forum has revealed that MakerDAO’s $1.84 million investment is at risk of loss due to an impending default of tokenized loans on blockchain-based credit platform Centrifuge. ControlFreight, the underwriter of the credit pool, warned that the $2.7 million pool’s largest borrower is facing liquidation due to a legal dispute. There is a significant risk of total or partial loss of funds related to the amounts owed to us by Hanhwa AUS Pty Ltd and Hanwha New Zealand Pty Ltd, ControlFreight said.
The Australian Supreme Court appointed a liquidator to unwind the company’s activities, freezing all payments to debtors, due to an intellectual property feud. MakerDAO had minted $1.84 million of DAI from Maker to fund trade finance transactions and freight forwarding invoices. Maker’s $5.3 billion stablecoin DAI is backed by debt positions overcollateralized by cryptocurrencies and tokenized versions of loans and government bonds.
Although a potential loss of Maker’s Centrifuge investment should not destabilize DAI, as its value is supported by roughly $7 billion worth of assets, the development unveils risks about the protocol’s strategy to double down on real-world asset (RWA) investments. Last month, MakerDAO halted lending to Harbor Trade, another Centrifuge tokenized credit pool manager, after $2.1 million of loans soured without payment on time.