Whales Reject Proposal to Rebrand DeFi Protocol Sky to Maker

A governance proposal to rebrand the decentralized finance protocol Sky back to its original Maker name has been decisively rejected in a vote heavily influenced by a small number of whale investors.

The Sky team confirmed the outcome in a post on X on November 8, stating that the community had voted to retain the Sky brand as the primary backend protocol of the ecosystem.

The decision, according to the team, solidifies the ongoing transition from MKR to SKY, making Sky the core brand moving forward.

79% of Voters Back the Sky Brand

The governance vote, which concluded on November 4, saw 79% of voters backing the “Keep the Sky brand” option, securing 63,874 MKR tokens.

In contrast, only 18.5% supported recentering the Maker brand, pledging 14,864 MKR tokens.

However, the vote revealed significant centralization in the decision-making process.

Just four whale accounts collectively controlled 62,452 MKR tokens, representing 98% of the votes in favor of keeping the Sky brand.

On the opposing side, nearly all the votes for recentering the Maker brand came from a single whale.

The rebranding debate originated in October after confusion and criticism followed the protocol’s switch from Maker to Sky in August.

Sky ecosystem governance has concluded an on-chain vote to continue using the Sky brand as the primary backend protocol of the ecosystem.

This decision supports the ongoing transition from MKR to SKY and establishes Sky as the core brand, denoting both the Sky app frontend, and… https://t.co/0smkT4hrCT pic.twitter.com/EwbxsdZ1I8

— Sky (@SkyEcosystem) November 7, 2024

Co-founder Rune Christensen initiated a governance discussion to address the issue, proposing three potential paths, including reverting to the Maker name.

Despite the rejection of the rebrand, some community members expressed concerns about the timing and execution of the Sky rollout.

Framework Ventures co-founder Vance Spencer noted that SKY had not yet gained traction, citing a lack of exchange listings and poor visibility on platforms like CoinGecko.

The controversy comes amid market turbulence for Sky’s token.

Since the August rebrand, the token price dropped nearly 50%, hitting a low of $1,100 on November 6.

However, the token rebounded to $1,600 on November 7, following a proposal by Christensen to implement deflationary tokenomics by halting emissions and reducing total supply.

Maker Rebrands to Sky as Part of ‘Endgame’ Upgrade

Maker’s rebrand to Sky is a key component of its “Endgame” upgrade.

The overhaul introduced USDS as a successor to the DAI stablecoin and SKY as a replacement for the MKR governance token, signaling the protocol’s evolution.

A primary goal of the rebrand was to enhance the decentralization and sustainability of Maker’s governance mechanisms.

Additionally, the launch of “Sky Stars” (formerly SubDAOs) aimed to enable independent business models, token-based governance, and treasury management within the Maker ecosystem.

For users who chose not to transition, DAI and MKR remain as legacy tokens under the Sky protocol.

Meanwhile, new features, such as token rewards for holding USDS, are available through the revamped platform, accessible at sky.money.

However, the transition has stirred controversy.

The crypto community has raised concerns over the “freeze function” in USDS, viewing it as a potential challenge to the decentralization principles MakerDAO has long upheld.