MakerDAO, One of Ethereum’s Oldest Projects, Officially Rebrands to Sky

MakerDAO, the project behind the popular $DAI stablecoin, has rebranded as Sky. With this new name, Sky has introduced two new tokens: $SKY and $USDS (Sky Dollar). The $SKY token is an updated version of MakerDAO’s $MKR token. Each $MKR can be exchanged for 24,000 $SKY tokens. Meanwhile, $USDS is poised to succeed $DAI, offering a stablecoin that integrates native token rewards.

Despite these introductions, it is important to note that the original $DAI and $MKR tokens will remain unchanged for now, and any modifications in their original design and usage will require approval from governance. 

These updates are part of Sky’s “Endgame” plan, aimed at making Sky the top stablecoin project in terms of adoption and scale within the next three years.

One interesting feature of the new $USDS stablecoin is the “freeze function,” which will align it with more stringent regulatory requirements. This function allows Sky to freeze the assets of addresses that violate regulatory standards, engage in fraudulent activities, or face sanctions. 

This approach is somewhat controversial. While some appreciate the move towards compliance, others who favor decentralization see it as an increase in centralized control. However, for those who prefer the original setup, $DAI will continue to operate independently via its immutable smart contract, ensuring that users still have a decentralized option.

Still, it remains to be seen whether Sky will continue to support $DAI’s integrations or shift its focus entirely to $USDS.

Currently, $DAI is the third-largest stablecoin with a market cap of $5.3 billion and about $80 million in daily trading volumes. While it sounds substantial, its size is modest compared to giants such as $USDT and $USDC. 

MakerDAO has been significantly less successful in terms of integrations, partially because, in its original design, it was only backed by $ETH and did not inspire confidence among exchanges. $USDT and $USDC, despite being centralized, were backed by US dollars and were considered safer.

However, with the new backing by real-world assets and the introduction of $USDS, there is potential for significant growth in adoption and platform integrations. This change offers "Sky" a fresh opportunity to expand its influence and market share in the stablecoin market.

One last note on this upgrade is an annoying branding error from the project’s marketing team. While they rebranded the project on X (formerly Twitter), they lost access to the original @MakerDAO handle, which was quickly taken over by a Chinese account. So, if you decide to learn more about their upgrade, steer clear of @MakerDAO on X, which no longer belongs to the official team. The official account is @SkyEcosystem.