The Maker Protocol offers decentralized, non-custodial, and permissionless features through Maker Vaults that allows you to increase your exposure to multiple collateral types. Users can generate the Dai stablecoin by locking assets as collateral in a Vault using Oasis Borrow. It is important for individuals to be mindful of the risks associated with Vault usage, including those indicated in the applicable Terms of Service. This brief guide outlines the basics of getting started with Vaults on Oasis Borrow. While it presents the main features of Oasis Borrow, it only serves as an overall and general introduction.
 

Increased exposure: Speculators can use their collateral in a decentralized manner to increase exposure to a given asset by using the DAI they generate to repurchase and redeposit their underlying collateral. Users seeking increased exposure should proceed with caution as it magnifies the risk of loss as well as the potential for gains.  

Draw Liquidity from Your Assets: Users looking for liquidity can turn to Vaults since Dai is a stablecoin that can be easily converted to fiat, or other stablecoins. For example, some users generate DAI from their collateral assets and convert it to pay off student loans, or renovate their homes.  

 

Earn Passive Income: Users who have collateral assets and use them to generate Dai can use the generated Dai to get a yield spread. This is simply the profit difference between the stability fee rate, and the returns that are available within the DeFi ecosystem. For example, if a user locks their ETH in a ETH-A vault with a stability fee of 1% and uses their generated Dai in a Yearn vault offering 10%, they will passively earn a yield spread of 9%.

 

 

Other benefits: Other than what users can do with their maker vault, there are some other benefits that make vaults compelling including: 

Flexible Repayment Schedule: Vaults offer flexible terms. There are no repayment schedules, no minimum payments, and no credit history requirements. Users can repay at their own pace as long as their Vault is properly collateralized. Read the article on “Best Practices to Avoid Liquidation” for more in-depth information about how to maintain a healthy Vault. 

Oracle security and price update delay: Maker vaults use a periodically fed delayed price to update each user's vault. This has two main benefits. 1. Users don't have to worry about flash crashes from single, real time price feeds that might liquidate their positions. 2. Users will always know the *next* price that will be used to assess the risk of their position one hour in advance, giving the user time to prepare any vault health actions they may want to take. Like paying back some Dai or adding collateral. You can read more about this in the Oracle Security Module article.

Please note: Each of the above examples, as well as any use case of Vaults in general, is associated with various risks. Every user should have a good understanding of risks applicable in their situation, which depending on the risk profile intended may or may not make Vaults an appropriate solution for them.