According to CoinDesk, Maker (MKR), the governance token of decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform MakerDAO, rose more than 10% on Thursday, offsetting the impact of falling cryptocurrency prices. MKR is the best-performing digital asset with a market capitalization over $100 million, CoinDesk price data shows, well ahead of the 3.5% decline in the CoinDesk Market Index (CMI). While there were no developments to spark this rally, MakerDAO’s fundamentals have improved recently, with the platform returning to profitability after briefly increasing incentive payouts. MakerDAO is one of the largest cryptocurrency lending protocols, issuing $5 billion in stablecoin DAI. The platform has grown its revenue by investing its vast stablecoin reserves in real-world assets such as U.S. government bonds and borrowing from banks to capture higher yields in traditional finance. MKR holders benefit from platform profits through the Maker token buyback program launched last month, which uses platform fiscal surpluses to reduce circulating supply on the market.