Maker, one of the first and largest DeFi lending protocols on Ethereum, has rebranded to “Sky” following key upgrades to its decentralized stablecoin system.
That stablecoin, previously known as DAI, has also rebranded to USDS, and the MKR governance token has been changed to SKY.
From MKR to SKY: What’s New?
As announced over Twitter on Tuesday, SKY is an “upgraded version” of MKR obtainable by supplying USDS token to the Sky protocol through Sky.money. 1 DAI can be converted into 1 USDS token, and 1 MKR can be converted to 24,000 SKY tokens.
The conversion will make individual SKY tokens far more affordable than MKR tokens were, which are currently trading for $2,123 apiece, according to CoinGecko. MKR is ranked 41 among all cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
“Powered by the decentralized Sky Protocol, Sky.money will offer seamless and non-custodial access to Sky’s tokens and rewards through an exceptional user experience,” wrote Sky. The Sky protocol will allow for “seamless swapping of ETH, USDC, and USDT into USDS,” they added.
Assets deposited with Sky will always remain in user custody, allowing them to withdraw their assets from the protocol without permission. Should the DAO’s decentralized governance allows for it, Sky said users may be able to also earn tokens from other decentralized projects through Sky.
The Evolution of DeFi
According to MakerDAO co-founder Rune Christensen, the rebrand to Sky is an effort to capture its role in the “next evolution of DeFi.”
“The protocol has been built with a […] focus on simplicity and ease of use,” he told CoinTelegraph. “It allows users to benefit from innovations such as Sky Token Rewards (STRs) and the Sky Savings Rate (SSR), provided they are in an eligible jurisdiction.”
The rebrand also includes renaming Maker’s “SubDAOs” to “Sky Stars” – DAOs connected to Maker governance that still operate semi-independently, with their own governance tokens and processes. Sky Stars are meant to act as Maker’s riskier innovation layer, while Sky itself remains dedicated to securing the USDS stablecoin and protecting against tail risks.
The first and largest Sky Star is Spark – a lending protocol with $2.529 billion in TVL, according to DeFiLlama. This is the third largest lending protocol in all of DeFi, next to Aave and JustLend.
Maker itself has a TVL of $6.44 billion excluding certain sub-protocols, making it the 4th largest DeFi protocol.