SKY

Sky (formerly MakerDAO)

DeFi

The old MakerDAO, now issuer of USDS: a profitable stablecoin protocol whose token is bought back from revenue.

Cash-flowing, rerating v1.1 · as of 2026-10-21 · framework v1.13 Coinsight · all analyses
Bottom line

Sky runs USDS and DAI (~$10.1B supply) and earns over $100M a quarter in gross revenue, about $40M net. SKY is up +31% in a year while BTC fell −22% and ETH −35%, and it set a new high of ~$0.10 on 5 Oct 2026. Since August, staking rewards and buybacks are paid from surplus instead of treasury tokens, which ties the token more directly to profit. The weak spots are a thin surplus buffer, a modest buyback rate after the 2026 cut, very low trading volume, and USDS growth running well behind the Foundation's own 2026 target.

Scorecard (1–5)
Project
Token performance
Tokenomics
Price
$0.0763
+2.1% 24h · +6% 30d · CoinGecko 21 Oct
Market cap
$1.79B
rank #57 · FDV $1.79B
24h volume
$8.80M
0.5% of market cap
From ATH
−24%
ATH $0.1009, Oct 2026
2026 YTD
+32%
$0.0577 → $0.0763
Staked
~74%
17.4B SKY, end Aug 2026 · Sky Frontier Foundation

The last 12 months

$0.05$0.1$0.15Oct 25NovDecJan 26FebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 272025-11-23: $0.0418$0.042 low2026-04-28: $0.0895$0.0902026-06-28: $0.0492$0.0492026-10-05: $0.0976$0.098 peak2026-10-21: $0.0763$0.0761Year low at $0.0422Vote cuts staking emissions3Buybacks cut, reserve first4GROVE token goes live5Staking Stage 2 ratified6USDS passes $10B7New all-time high ~$0.108stUSDS keeper executed9October settlement vote102026 targets fall due
MarketTokenomicsGovernanceProductAdoptionUpcoming

Daily closes from CoinGecko, 22 Oct 2025 to 21 Oct 2026.

Key events
  1. 1
    23 Nov 25 Year low at $0.042. SKY closes at its 12-month low, then recovers to ~$0.06 by mid-December.
  2. 2
    02 Mar 26 Vote cuts staking emissions. Rewards set to ~838M SKY over 180 days (−162M); SKY rises ~10% in the following days.
  3. 3
    Spr 26 Buybacks cut, reserve first. Daily buybacks reduced from $300k to ~$37.6k (−87%) to build a ~$150M solvency reserve; exact vote date not confirmed.
  4. 4
    06 Jul 26 GROVE token goes live. Grove, the tokenized-credit Agent, distributes GROVE through Sky Ecosystem Rewards; 70% of supply goes to the Sky ecosystem.
  5. 5
    13 Aug 26 Staking Stage 2 ratified. Rewards and buybacks are now paid from surplus: 22.5% SKY buybacks, 22.5% USDS rewards, 5% burn, up to 50% buffer.
  6. 6
    30 Sep 26 USDS passes $10B. USDS supply crosses $10B after a $237M one-day increase.
  7. 7
    05 Oct 26 New all-time high ~$0.10. SKY tops its December 2024 record intraday ($0.1009) and closes at $0.098.
  8. 8
    12 Oct 26 stUSDS keeper executed. Executive vote with the September settlement cycle, stUSDS Keeper launch and staking-reward changes takes effect.
  9. 9
    ~Nov October settlement vote. Monthly executive vote settles October surplus, buybacks and burn; the pattern suggests mid-November.
  10. 10
    Dec 26 2026 targets fall due. Foundation outlook: $20.6B USDS and $611.5M gross revenue; current figures point to a large miss.

How a dollar earns yield through Sky

User
Converts USDC to USDS

Through sky.money or an exchange, 1:1.

Savings
Deposits into sUSDS

Earns the Sky Savings Rate (~3.6% in Oct 2026).

Sky Protocol
Lends USDS to Agents

Spark, Grove and Obex borrow at a base rate of ~3.8%.

Agents
Deploy the dollars

DeFi loans, tokenized treasuries and credit earn more than the base rate.

Settlement
Monthly surplus split

Interest minus savings payouts and costs becomes net revenue.

SKY stakers
Receive buybacks

Part of the surplus buys SKY or pays USDS to stakers; 5% is burned.

Where SKY comes in: it is not needed to mint, hold or move USDS, so ordinary users bypass it. SKY captures value only at the last step, through surplus-funded buybacks, USDS rewards and a small burn, plus its governance power over rates and Agents.

Usage and adoption

USD per year, annualised (2026)
Net protocol revenue (Q2 × 4)
~$160M
Buybacks + burn at Stage 2 share (27.5%)
~$44M
Treasury SKY paid as rewards (Mar–Aug rate)
~$130M
Foundation 2026 profit target
$158M

Net revenue: Q2 2026 net protocol revenue of $40.09M times four. Buybacks: the 22.5% + 5% Stage 2 share of that surplus (the actual figure depends on how much goes to the buffer). Treasury rewards: 838M SKY per 180 days (March vote) is ~1.70B SKY a year, valued at today's $0.076; this source of float should end with Stage 2. Target: Foundation's 2026 profit estimate. All annualised from snippets, so treat as rough.

  • strong signal
    Net protocol revenue
    $40.09M (Q2 26)

    +25.1% YoY, Sky Q2 report. Interest earned minus savings-rate payouts and costs; market cap is ~11x annualised net revenue.

  • strong signal
    Gross revenue
    >$100M / quarter

    Two straight quarters (Sky press release); ~$420M annualised run-rate per Coinstats. Most is passed on to savers.

  • medium signal
    USDS + DAI supply
    ~$10.1B

    Aug 2026 (+5.1% in 30 days); USDS alone passed $10B on 30 Sep. Target for 2026 is $20.6B.

  • medium signal
    SKY bought back
    ~1.83B SKY

    ~$114.5M spent since Feb 2025 (CoinDesk, Mar 2026); pace was cut sharply in spring 2026, ~$26M bought in 2026 (Allium).

  • weak signal
    Staked share
    ~74%

    End Aug 2026. Shows holder commitment, not usage.

Sky is one of the few tokens backed by real net revenue. The open question is growth: at the March to August reward rate, treasury SKY handed to stakers was worth more than the buybacks, and Stage 2 only makes the token self-funding if USDS supply keeps climbing.

Project

What it is
Sky is the 2024 rebrand of MakerDAO: the protocol behind the DAI and USDS stablecoins (~$10.1B combined, Aug 2026). SKY replaced MKR at 24,000 SKY per MKR and is now the only governance token.
Team
Founded by Rune Christensen, who still drives the strategy (the Endgame plan). Governance runs through SKY votes; the Sky Frontier Foundation publishes monthly financial reports; operating teams sit in semi-independent "Agents" such as Spark, Grove and Obex.
Technology / Differentiation
Overcollateralised stablecoin backed by crypto loans, tokenized treasuries and credit. Agents borrow USDS from Sky and deploy it (Spark in DeFi lending, Grove in tokenized credit, Obex incubating new allocators); the spread is Sky's revenue.
Traction
Gross revenue above $100M for two straight quarters; Q2 2026 net protocol revenue $40.09M (+25.1% YoY). USDS passed $10B supply in late September 2026. Grove launched its GROVE token in July 2026.
Competitors
Tether and Circle for stablecoin supply; Ethena (USDe) and other yield-bearing dollars for savings demand; Aave's GHO and other DeFi-native stablecoins.
Key risks
Small capital buffer relative to ~$10B of liabilities (S&P B-); heavy reliance on a few Agents for loans; savings rate must stay competitive as T-bill yields move; governance is concentrated around the founder's plans.
Roadmap
Foundation targets for 2026: USDS supply of $20.6B and $611.5M gross revenue, both far above current run-rates. Monthly settlement votes continue; GROVE staking and voting are being rolled out gradually; more Agents are being incubated via Obex.

Token performance

1-year return (22 Oct 2025 → 21 Oct 2026, CoinGecko)
SKY
+31%
BTC
-22%
ETH
-35%

SKY beat BTC and ETH by more than 50 points over 12 months. Over 3 years it is up only about +29% (MKR ~$1,420 in early Oct 2023, ~$0.059 per SKY at 24,000:1), behind both BTC (+179%) and ETH (+53%); 3-year figures are manual because the free CoinGecko API covers 365 days.

Range 2026
$0.049 low (28 Jun) to $0.098 high (5 Oct), daily closes; now $0.076
12-month drawdown
−45%, from $0.090 (28 Apr 2026) to $0.049 (28 Jun 2026); now −22% from the 5 Oct close
Liquidity
$8.8M traded in 24h, 0.5% of market cap; rank #57. Thin for a $1.79B token.
Relative strength
+31% over 12 months and +32% YTD while BTC fell −22% and ETH −35%; rallies in March (emissions cut) and September to October (USDS above $10B)
ATH check ATH check passed. SKY's earlier record of ~$0.1005 (Dec 2024) came within 90 days of launch, but price returned to it: CoinGecko's ATH of $0.1009 was set on 5 Oct 2026, two years later, so it is used as the reference.

Tokenomics

Supply
~23.43B SKY circulating of 23.45B total (max 23.46B). Fixed after the MKR conversion; buy-and-burn slowly reduces it.
Inflation / emissions
No new SKY is minted. Until August 2026, staking rewards came from treasury SKY (838M SKY per 180 days after the March vote, down 162M); since Stage 2 they are bought with surplus.
Unlocks / vesting
No investor or team unlock schedule; SKY came from converted MKR. Treasury-held SKY is the main extra source of float.
Utility
Governance votes, staking for rewards in SKY or USDS (~4.2% a year, end Aug), delegation, and borrowing USDS against staked SKY.
Concentration
~74% of supply is staked (17.4B SKY, end Aug); large delegates and the founder's allies carry much of the voting weight.
Sinks
Each settlement cycle: 22.5% of surplus buys SKY for stakers, 22.5% pays USDS staking rewards, 5% buys and burns SKY, up to 50% fills the surplus buffer. ~1.83B SKY bought back for ~$114.5M by March 2026.

Bull case

USDS keeps growing toward the $20.6B target and net revenue rises above $50M a quarter, so Stage 2 buybacks scale with it; the surplus buffer fills and buybacks are raised again. Price holds the $0.070 area and breaks the $0.10 ATH.

Bear case

USDS stalls near $10B as T-bill yields fall or a competitor outbids the savings rate; a credit loss at an Agent eats into the thin buffer. Price loses $0.065 and slides back toward the $0.049 June low.

Watch before the next re-run

  • USDS + DAI supply each month vs the $20.6B 2026 target
  • Net revenue and surplus buffer in each monthly settlement cycle
  • SKY bought back and burned per cycle under Stage 2
  • $0.070 support (mid-Oct closes) and the ~$0.10 ATH

Where to trade

Krakenlisted

SKY against EUR · USD

24h $478.5k · ±2% depth $180.5k

OKXlisted

SKY against EUR · USDT · USDC

24h $217.4k · ±2% depth $206.9k

Largest exchanges

Exchange24h vol±2% depth
BinanceSKY/USDT$1.43M$521.2k
BybitSKY/USDT$605.0k$217.9k
KrakenSKY/USD$373.5k$179.5k
CoinbaseSKY/USD$240.3k$267.5k
OKXSKY/USDT$202.2k$224.8k

Deepest DEX pools

Pool24h vol±2% depth
Uniswap V4CLSKY/USDC · Ethereum$331.9k$85.3k
Uniswap V3CLSKY/WETH · Ethereum$204.5k$75.5k
Uniswap V4CLSKY/ETH · Ethereum$20.0k$15.9k

Pool size (TVL), fee tier and fee APR are not in yet: they need DefiLlama, which this setup cannot reach so far. CL = concentrated liquidity (higher fees, more impermanent-loss risk).

On-chain share of all SKY volume: 8.5%.

As of 21 Oct 2026 · CoinGecko tickers (24h volume, ±2% depth). ±2% depth is the money it takes to move the price 2% either way: the real size of a market. Exchanges ranked by volume among well-known venues; pools by depth. Not investment advice.

Where to follow

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