USDS is a native currency of the decentralized Sky Protocol (prev. MakerDAO). It is an upgrade of the stablecoin, DAI on the now-rebranded MakerDAO. ^[1][2]

Overview

MakerDAO rebranded to Sky.money in August 2024 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. ^[5]

In September 2024, USDS was launched, joining DAI as a Sky ecosystem stablecoin token. ^[3][4]

Users can get USDS by:

• Trading DAI for USDS on the Sky Protocol
• Trading USDC, USDT, ETH, or SKY for USDS

USDS can be used to:

• Access Sky Token Rewards
• Access the Sky Savings Rate and accumulate additional USDS.

USDS can also be converted back to DAI, and upgrading is optional for users. ^[2][3]

Utility

USDS can be used to access Rewards by accessing Sky Token Rewards (STRs) over time with no minimum USDS supply amount 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. ^[2]

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. ^[2]

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. ^[2]

USDS can also be saved by being placed into the Sky Savings Rate (SSR) module to access the SSR and accumulate additional USDS over time with no minimum supply amount required. ^[2]

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]