MakerDAO provides various investment opportunities, represented as vaults, each with its own unique collateralization ratio and stability fee as outlined in the following descriptions.

Oasis Borrow

Oasis Borrow is a feature that enables users to borrow $DAI against any collateral supported by the Maker protocol, including $ETH and $wBTC, as well as over 20 other assets.

The benefits of using Oasis Borrow include access to extra liquidity, which can be used for trading, spending, or saving. Users also have the ability to choose from a variety of collaterals, rates, and collateral ratios to fit their desired risk profile. Additionally, the Oracle security module provides protection against flash crashes by updating prices only once per hour. Repayment schedules are flexible and there are no minimum payments or credit history requirements, allowing users to repay at their own pace as long as their vault is properly collateralized.

However, there are risks associated with using Oasis Borrow. It is important for users to maintain proper collateralization in order to avoid liquidation. Additionally, the value of certain digital currencies can drop, making them unable to serve as collateral and increasing the risk associated with MakerDAO.

Oasis Multiply

Oasis Multiply is a strategy to use borrowed $DAI to buy more collateral within Oasis.app, allowing you to change your exposure to assets with a single transaction. You can use $ETH, $wBTC, or other Maker collateral to take advantage of upward trends. Oasis Multiply uses Maker vaults with added integrations such as the Flash Mint Module and 1inch DEX aggregator for flash loans and best price swaps. LP tokens are not supported.

Risks of Oasis Multiply: Liquidation risk if the position is not managed well as well as risk of a flash loan attack (manipulation using borrowed $DAI).

G-UNI multiply Vault

G-UNI Multiply, a strategy to earn Uniswap V3 trading fees with $DAI. It uses G-UNIV3DAIUSDC, a fungible Uniswap V3 $DAI/$USDC position as collateral to generate $DAI and multiply the position, allowing high capital efficiency fee collection. GUNIV3DAIUSDC is a Maker protocol collateral, a wrapped ECR-20 token version of a Uniswap V3 position, reinvesting earned fees and providing liquidity for $DAI/$USDC at fixed spread.

Risks of G-UNI Multiply: Contracts are audited but the fees collected depend on the Uniswap V3 pool volume and market conditions. It is highly recommended that you monitor positions to ensure your returns exceed stability fees.

Additionally, MakerDAO is continuously creating new tools to help manage positions and protect assets. The currently available automation strategies for vault investors include:

Stop-Loss Protection

Automated Stop-Loss prevents liquidation by triggering an action if your vault's collateralization ratio falls below a set limit. You can choose to close your vault to collateral or $DAI, avoiding further losses if the collateral price drops.

Risks of Automated Stop-Loss:

Centralization of Keepers

• Keepers are responsible for reacting to price changes and triggering vault closures, but failure or inability to send transactions can compromise the Automated Stop-Loss feature

Gas cost spikes

• High network congestion during periods of volatility can lead to high gas prices for transactions, potentially delaying the Keeper's transaction

Oracle failure

• Maker OSM has a one-hour delay for collateral price updates, but if an attacker manipulates the price, the Keepers may react incorrectly

Contract pausing

• Oasis.app may temporarily disable Automated Stop-Loss contracts if an issue is found, but manual adjustment and collateral redemption will still be possible

‍TakeProfit 

Take Profit is an automated exit strategy whereyou set a target price for your collateral asset. This acts as a trigger and isconstantly monitored, so that once it is reached, it causes Take Profit to sellyour collateral for $DAI and close your vault.

PotentialRisks:

• There's a risk that the automation may not workas intended due to various factors such as liquidity, market volatility, andnetwork congestion (gas)

Auto-Buy and Auto-Sell

The Auto-Buy and Auto-Sell strategy helps maintain your vault’s collateralization ratio within a specified range. If the collateralization ratio exceeds or falls below your defined limits, the vault will automatically adjust to a predetermined value.

Risks of using the Auto-Buy and Auto-Sell strategy:

• Oracle vulnerability: the strategy relies on accurate Maker Oracle pricing, and a malicious actor manipulating the pricing could negatively impact your vault by triggering unwarranted buy / sell actions
• Fluctuating prices: while Maker Oracle prices update hourly, the collateral's buying and selling prices are based on real-time market prices, which can lead to suboptimal results for constant multiple trading
• Potential for bugs: Despite being audited, there is no guarantee that the Auto-Buy and Auto-Sell contracts are free of bugs

Constant Multiple

The Constant Multiple strategy is an option exclusively for Multiply vaults, operating in a similar way to the Auto-Buy and Auto-Sell approach. The difference lies in the target, which is a multiple factor instead of a specific collateralization ratio.

Risks associated with this strategy:

• Oracle tampering: the price determination is based on the next Maker Oracle value, so any manipulation of this by malicious actors can potentially impact your position through triggering buy or sell actions in your vault
• Volatility: the Maker Oracle updates hourly, but the sale and purchase prices of collateral are based on real-time market prices, which can lead to suboptimal trading prices with the Constant Multiple strategy
• Security threats: despite undergoing security audits, it cannot be fully guaranteed that the Oasis.app smart contracts are completely safe from breaches

MakerDAO stands out as a leading protocol in the DeFi space with its wide range of collateral options and added security features. Its TVL of 7.24 billion USD is significantly higher than its closest competitor, Liquity, which has around 514.25 million USD. Unlike MakerDAO, Liquity charges a one-time fee for borrowing its token ($LUSD) but only offers one collateral asset ($ETH). On the other hand, MakerDAO offers over 20+ collateral alternatives, including $ETH and $wBTC, and its Multi-Collateral $DAI (MCD) allows for the collateralization of multiple assets, offering greater flexibility for users. Another competitor,  Abracadabra, offers 19 collateral assets and still falls short of MakerDAO's offerings. Additionally, MakerDAO's Emergency Oracles serve as an extra layer of security for users, safeguarding against potential attacks on the platform's governance or other oracles.

MakerDAO’s Oasis.app offers a comprehensive platform for users to access liquidity, multiply their exposure, earn passive income, and more. The platform's vaults provide safety measures such as liquidation protection, flexible terms, and delayed price updates, making it an attractive choice for users. However, as with any financial product, it's important to understand the associated risks before making an investment. Each user should assess their own risk profile before deciding if vaults are an appropriate solution for them.