MakerDAO rebrands to Sky, DAI stablecoin optionally upgradeable to USDS

MakerDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization behind the DAI stablecoin, has rebranded to Sky and named its new upgradeable tokens, set to launch on Sept. 18.

As part of the project’s “Endgame” plan, the changes will allow DAI holders to upgrade to a new stablecoin, Sky Dollar (USDS), at a 1:1 ratio that provides access to native token rewards. MakerDAO’s governance token, MKR +0.92% , which currently has a value of $2,129, according to The Block’s MKR price page , will become upgradeable to SKY at a 1:24,000 ratio.

The Block reported on the redenomination plans last week, though the token names had yet to be unveiled. The redenomination aims to broaden participation in MakerDAO’s governance by allowing more users to hold significant amounts of SKY.

SKY token rewards

Users can earn SKY tokens by supplying USDS to the Sky Protocol through the Sky.money frontend app, the project posted on X. The platform will also allow users to swap ETH, USDC and USDT for USDS, and “future updates may enable users to earn tokens from other decentralized projects if accepted by the decentralized governance of the Sky protocol,” it added.

SKY token rewards will be distributed at a rate of 600 million SKY per year across participating USDS holders, according to a Tuesday forum post authored by MakerDAO founder Rune Christensen. USDS users can instead choose to get the regular Savings Rate, which already allows users to earn interest on their DAI holdings by locking them into a special smart contract. However, Sky Token Rewards and Savings Rate are restricted in some countries, including the U.S. and UK and for VPN users, Christensen confirmed.

The existing DAI and MKR tokens will remain active, allowing users to choose between the original tokens and their new counterparts. "Both tokens are expected to stay unchanged for the foreseeable future unless governance decides otherwise," MakerDAO previously noted .

MakerDAO’s SubDAOs, smaller decentralized organizations that operate within the larger MakerDAO ecosystem, have also been rebranded to Stars. DeFi infrastructure protocol Spark will become the first Sky Star ahead of a planned SPK token airdrop.

“The legal structure strategy in the Sky Ecosystem has been intended to ensure Sky Governance maintains the ability to make decentralized decisions without being influenced by leverage from external entities,” Christensen added.

Dai is the largest U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by a decentralized entity. It is also the third-largest stablecoin overall, following Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC, with a market capitalization of $5.3 billion . MakerDAO has a total value locked of $4.5 billion according to DeFiLlama. MKR has a market cap of $2 billion .