Sky.money (formerly known as MakerDAO) is a non-custodial gateway to the permissionless Sky Protocol, a decentralized protocol developed around the USDS stablecoin. ^[1]

Sky.money is a front end that provides access to the app without holding users' funds or acting as an intermediary. It provides eligible users with access to Sky Protocol features, including Sky tokens (USDS, SKY, DAI, MKR), the Sky Savings Rate (SSR), Sky Token Rewards (STRs), and eventually Activation Token Rewards and SkyLink. ^[1][2]

Overview

In August 2024, MakerDAO rebranded to Sky and announced the names of its upgraded tokens, USDS and SKY which holders of its old tokens, MKR and DAI, can switch to. The release of the names followed its confirmation of upgrades to its token ecosystem. ^[3][4]

The rebrand is a part of MakerDAO’s Endgame Plan^[4], ratified in 2022. The plan proposed to dramatically change the protocol to make it more resilient and to rev up its growth. ^[5]

“DeFi should stop feeling like crypto and should start feeling like finance got a lot better,” - Rune Christensen. co-founder of MakerDAO said.
“It should be more about the benefits versus constraints. The launch of Sky is the first major step.”^[5]

The Sky ecosystem comprises the community and projects supporting the decentralized Sky Protocol. The ecosystem’s community participates in a transparent system of governance that uses a decentralized onchain voting process supported by two governance tokens, SKY and MKR. ^[1]

The Sky ecosystem also includes Sky Stars—independent decentralized projects designed to enable focused, fast-moving innovation and growth. ^[1]

Sky Stars

Formally known as Maker SubDAOs, Sky Stars are the independent protocol units that the Sky ecosystem relies on to allow innovation at the margins outside of Sky (formally Maker DAO). They are designed to enable focused, fast-moving innovation and expansion, and serve as gateways to the Sky Protocol. ^[1]

Each Star can opt to have its own governance token, which users of the non-custodial Sky.money app may become eligible to receive as Sky Token Rewards; its own treasury; and its own governance processes and community. All Stars shall be aligned with the overarching framework and goals of Sky. ^[1]

Spark is the very first Sky Star and is already a top DeFi lending platform. In July 2024, Spark announced the Spark Tokenization Grand Prix, an initiative to onboard up to $1 billion of real-world assets to the Spark ecosystem. ^[6]

Sky Ecosystem Governance

Governance of the decentralized Sky Protocol and ecosystem is shared among a broad and diversified community comprising individuals and entities globally. Sky ecosystem governance token holders support the project by participating in a system of polling and decentralized onchain voting. Voters adhere to the Sky Atlas. ^[1]

Sky Atlas

The Sky Atlas is the unique and comprehensive set of rules behind Sky ecosystem governance. It is a work in progress that will continue to be refined through an improvement proposal and decentralized voting framework until Sky ecosystem governance determines that modifications are no longer necessary. The Sky Atlas will eventually exist as a nested tree of enduring documents that serve the evolving needs of the ecosystem. ^[1]

Technology

Eligible Sky.money users can access the Sky Protocol to do the following:

1. Trade. Directly trade popular tokens for Sky ecosystem tokens using permissionless and non-custodial pools.
   • Trade USDC, USDT, ETH, and SKY for USDS, and vice versa. With USDS, users can access Sky Token Rewards and access the Sky Savings Rate to accumulate more USDS.
   • Trade USDC, USDT, ETH, and USDS for SKY, and vice versa. Eventually, SKY will be used to get Activation Token Rewards and to vote on changes and additions to the Protocol.

2. Upgrade. Upgrade DAI to USDS 1:1, and MKR to the SKY governance token at a rate of 1:24,000. USDS and SKY can also be converted back to DAI and MKR. While upgrading is optional, doing so enables users to take advantage of the many new Sky ecosystem features.

3. Access Rewards. USDS can be used to access Sky Token Rewards (STRs) over time. No minimum USDS supply amount is required.

• The amount of STRs received is calculated based on the share of the entire pool of USDS tokens supplied to the Sky Token Rewards module by all participants, not on the amount of tokens supplied. This share, and consequently the rate of STR rewards, can fluctuate as the total pool size changes over time. Sky.money does not control the issuance, determination, or distribution of these rewards.

• The USDS stablecoin, as well as the rewards received, are supplied to a non-custodial smart contract that represents the USDS pool of assets. This means that no intermediary takes custody of users' funds.

4. Save. Place USDS into the Sky Savings Rate (SSR) module to access the SSR and accumulate additional USDS over time. No minimum supply amount is required.

• When USDS is supplied to the SSR module, sUSDS tokens are received. These sUSDS tokens serve as a digital record of the USDS interaction with the SSR module and any value accrued to a position.
• The Sky Protocol dynamically adds USDS tokens to the pool every few seconds, in accordance with the SSR. As those tokens auto-accumulate in the pool over time, the value of the sUSDS held may gradually increase. So, when users choose to redeem their sUSDS for USDS—which can be done anytime—the total USDS received will equal the amount originally supplied, plus any rewards earned. ^[1][2]