MakerDAO Rebrands to Sky

MakerDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization behind the DAI stablecoin, has rebranded to Sky and announced new upgradeable tokens launching on Sept. 18.

As part of the project’s Endgame plan, DAI holders will be able to upgrade to a new stablecoin, Sky Dollar (USDS), at a 1:1 ratio, giving them access to native token rewards. MakerDAO’s governance token, MKR (+6.55%) with a current value of $2,129, will become upgradeable to SKY at a 1:24,000 ratio.

Redenomination Plans

The Block reported on these redenomination plans last week, though token names were still under wraps. This aims to broaden participation in MakerDAO’s governance by enabling 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 platform will allow swaps of ETH, USDC, and USDT for USDS, and future updates may enable earning tokens from other decentralized projects approved by Sky’s governance.

SKY token rewards will distribute 600 million SKY per year across USDS holders as per a Tuesday forum post by MakerDAO founder Rune Christensen. USDS users can choose a regular Savings Rate, allowing interest on DAI holdings via a smart contract. However, both Sky Token Rewards and Savings Rate are restricted in some regions like the U.S., U.K., and for VPN users, confirmed Christensen.

Existing DAI and MKR tokens will remain active, allowing users to choose between original and new tokens. “Both tokens are expected to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future unless governance decides otherwise,” noted MakerDAO.

MakerDAO’s SubDAOs have been rebranded to Stars, with DeFi infrastructure protocol Spark becoming the first Sky Star ahead of a SPK token airdrop.

According to Christensen, “The legal structure strategy in the Sky Ecosystem ensures that Sky Governance can make decentralized decisions without external leverage.”

Dai is the largest U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by a decentralized entity, also ranking third overall with a market cap of $5.3 billion. MakerDAO has a total value locked of $4.5 billion, and MKR has a market cap of $2 billion.