Maker DAO Rebrands to Sky; DAI Becomes USDS in Overhaul

Maker DAO has announced a significant rebranding initiative as part of its Endgame overhaul.

New Identity and Token Upgrade

• Maker will now be known as Sky.
• The DAI stablecoin will be rebranded as USDS, and the governance token MKR will be renamed SKY.
• Users can voluntarily upgrade their tokens to USDS and SKY starting from September 18.
• Each MKR token can be exchanged for 24,000 SKY tokens.

Legacy Tokens and Features

• Users opting not to upgrade will keep using DAI and MKR as legacy tokens within the Sky protocol.
• Upgrading users will enjoy new features like native token rewards.
  • USDS holders can earn SKY governance token rewards through the new app sky.money.

Changes to Savings Rate

• The DAI Savings Rate (DSR) will be renamed to the Sky Savings Rate.
• The Sky Savings Rate will function similarly to the DSR, with improvements in gas efficiency.
• Recently, Maker DAO adjusted the DSR from 7% to 6%.

Commitment to Decentralization

• The rebranding will maintain the core characteristics of the Maker protocol, with USDS backed by the same mechanisms as DAI.
• Rune Christensen, co-founder of MakerDAO, emphasized that the Sky Protocol will remain decentralized, community-governed, and permissionless.

Future of Maker SubDAOs

• Maker SubDAOs will be rebranded as Sky Stars.
• The first Sky Star to launch will be Spark Protocol, a DeFi lending protocol with over $3 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL).
• Spark recently initiated the Spark Tokenization Grand Prix to onboard up to $1 billion of real-world assets.

Governance Token Concerns

• The introduction of new governance tokens for Sky Stars raises concerns about potential dilution of MKR's value, as noted by Exponential Finance co-founder Mehdi Lebbar.
• The tokenomics of MKR will see a yearly emission adjustment of 3%, but Sky Stars will have their own governance systems.

• The overarching goal of the rebranding is to ensure that Maker’s governance mechanisms are immutable and can grow sustainably in a decentralized manner.
• Christensen pointed out the impossibility of having a single legal entity represent a decentralized system.