Dai (DAI) price and market data
Vicalis market state
Held for Jul 2, 2026, 12:05 AM
Volatility: Low
Volatility is low. Trading activity is normal. There are no signs of elevated market stress.
DAI Markets
Coin profile
What You Need to Know About Dai (DAI)
Dai (DAI) is an ERC-20 stablecoin with a soft peg to the dollar, whose external balance is linked to the internal debt unit of Sky Protocol, formerly Maker Protocol. DAI is created in authorized system modules: a user or specialized contract supplies eligible collateral and creates debt, while the protocol records collateral, accrued fees, and the debt ceiling for each asset type. If a position becomes undercollateralized, its collateral is passed to the liquidation module and sold for DAI to repay the debt. DAI is not a bank deposit and does not grant a direct claim to withdraw an arbitrary share of every collateral type. Peg quality depends on the whole system: price oracles, liquidations, collateral liquidity, exchange modules, governance decisions, and demand for the stablecoin itself. After USDS was introduced, DAI remained a separate contract, but the two tokens are linked to the same issuance source and an official two-way converter.
What it is used for
DAI is used as a dollar-denominated unit of account in transfers, trading pairs, lending, collateral, and DeFi pools. Its practical utility rests on broad ERC-20 compatibility, but the token itself does not accrue yield: savings positions belong to separate contracts and wrappers, so their rate cannot be attributed to ordinary DAI held in a wallet. The official DAI-USDS Converter exchanges DAI for USDS and back at a strict 1:1 ratio, with no fee and no route-liquidity limit; a separate LitePSM connects DAI or USDS to USDC under its own parameters. Evaluation should cover DAI prices across venues, DAI-USDS and DAI-USDC depth, debt volume by collateral type, collateralization ratios, active liquidation auctions, system debt, and the surplus buffer. Demand to hold DAI must also be distinguished from temporary liquidator demand: an auction purchases DAI to destroy protocol debt, but that flow may disappear after the stress event ends.
What can move the price
- The effectiveness of arbitrage around one dollar. The fixed DAI-USDS Converter and routes through the PSM link DAI to other dollar assets, while exchange and StableSwap pools transmit that price to the external market. The more affordable gas is, the deeper liquidity becomes, and the more reliable authorized modules are, the faster a discount or premium is absorbed; a halted route or insufficient liquidity widens the deviation.
- Collateral quality and liquidation performance. DAI's stability depends on whether collateral value sufficiently covers debt and whether Dutch auctions can sell it without an excessive discount. Relevant factors include exposure concentration by collateral type, the liquidity of those assets, debt ceiling and liquidation ratio parameters, the accuracy of the Oracle Security Module, and bad debt remaining after stressed sales.
- Independent demand for DAI relative to migration into USDS. Use of DAI in lending markets, trading pairs, and applications supports its liquidity, while integrations and users moving to USDS may reduce the depth of the legacy interface. The 1:1 conversion preserves the economic link but does not guarantee equal availability on every exchange, L2, or DeFi pool.
Key risks
- A sharp collateral decline or loss of liquidity can outrun oracle delay and auction capacity. If sale proceeds are insufficient, the uncovered amount becomes system debt. Dependence by some modules on centralized stablecoins and external counterparties adds correlated risk: a freeze, depeg, or operational failure can simultaneously weaken collateral and DAI peg arbitrage.
- An error in an oracle, collateral adapter, PSM, or liquidation contract can misvalue a position, trigger premature liquidation, or create debt under incorrect terms. Protective delays and limits reduce individual scenarios but do not remove dependence on keeper infrastructure, available gas, and external liquidity during a market shock.
- Sky governance controls authorized modules and risk parameters, so a dangerous vote, governance compromise, or error in an executive spell could change DAI's economics. The parallel existence of DAI and USDS adds interface risk: a user may select the wrong contract, wrapper, or cross-chain version, while a gradual decline in DAI integrations could impair secondary liquidity without eliminating 1:1 conversion on Ethereum.
What makes it different
Unlike USDC, USDT, and PYUSD, DAI is not issued by one company against bank reserves and redeemed from that company as a direct dollar liability. Its debt is created by a smart-contract system against approved collateral, and undercollateralized positions are closed through protocol auctions. This does not mean complete independence from centralized assets: actual decentralization depends on the current collateral composition and stabilization modules. DAI differs from purely algorithmic stablecoins by having recorded collateral and liquidation procedures. It differs from USDS in its contract, integration set, and role as the legacy user token, although the official converter links them 1:1. DAI should therefore be compared not only by its deviation from the dollar, but also by collateral quality, the protocol balance sheet, and the durability of its own liquidity as USDS develops.
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