Maker DeFi protocol has now been rebranded as “Sky”

Maker, one of the first and largest DeFi lending protocols on Ethereum, has rebranded to “Sky” following key upgrades to its decentralized stablecoin system.

This stablecoin, formerly known as DAI, was also renamed USDS, and the governance token MKR was changed to SKY.

From MKR to SKY: what’s new?

As announced on Twitter on Tuesday, SKY is an “enhanced version” of MKR that can be obtained by providing USDS token to the Sky protocol via Sky.money. 1 DAI can be converted into 1 USDS token and 1 MKR can be converted into 24,000 SKY tokens.

According to CoinGecko, this conversion will make individual SKY tokens much more affordable than MKR tokens, which are currently trading at $2,123 each. MKR is ranked 41st among all cryptocurrencies by market cap.

“Powered by the decentralized Sky Protocol, Sky.money will provide seamless, non-custodial access to Sky tokens and rewards through an exceptional user experience,” Sky wrote. The Sky Protocol will enable “seamless exchange of ETH, USDC, and USDT into USDS,” they added.

Assets deposited with Sky will always remain in the custody of users, allowing them to withdraw their assets from the protocol in a permissionless manner. If the DAO’s decentralized governance allows it, Sky said users could also earn tokens from other decentralized projects through Sky.

The Evolution of DeFi

According to MakerDAO co-founder Rune Christensen, the rebranding to Sky is an effort to capture its role in the “next evolution of DeFi.”

“The protocol was designed with a focus on simplicity and ease of use,” he told CoinTelegraph. “It allows users to benefit from innovations such as Sky Token Rewards (STR) and the Sky Savings Rate (SSR), provided they are located in an eligible jurisdiction.”

The rebrand also includes the renaming of Maker’s “SubDAOs” to “Sky Stars” – DAOs connected to Maker’s governance that still operate semi-independently, with their own tokens and governance processes. Sky Stars are meant to act as Maker’s riskiest 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. It is the third-largest lending protocol in all of DeFi, after Aave and JustLend.

Maker itself has a TVL of $6.44 billion excluding some sub-protocols, making it the 4th largest DeFi protocol.