In a significant metamorphosis, MakerDAO, one of the pioneering forces in decentralized finance (DeFi), has rebranded itself as ‘Sky.’ This strategic transformation, announced through a press release on Tuesday, accompanies the introduction of fresh tokens and a revamp of its core offerings. The protocol, which currently manages $7 billion in assets, will launch new iterations of its prominent $5 billion stablecoin (DAI) and governance token (MKR), now dubbed the USDS stablecoin and SKY governance token, respectively.

Importantly, the legacy tokens, DAI and MKR, will remain in circulation, operating alongside the newly minted tokens. Users will have the option to exchange DAI tokens on a one-to-one basis for USDS, while each MKR token can be converted into a staggering 28,000 SKY tokens. The issuance of these new tokens is slated for September 18, with holders free to choose whether to retain their original tokens or opt for the new offerings.

Following the announcement, the price of MKR surged by over 4%, and it has maintained a 2% gain over the past 24 hours, outstripping the performance of both Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader market, as tracked.

“The central challenge was how to scale DeFi to a monumental level, aiming to rival or even surpass the magnitude of Tether,” remarked Rune Christensen, co-founder of MakerDAO. For context, Tether issues USDT, the largest stablecoin in existence, with a market value of $116 billion.

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Christensen has been the driving force behind MakerDAO’s comprehensive, multi-year overhaul, known as the “Endgame.” The vision for this transformation began to take shape in May 2023, when Christensen detailed plans for “upgraded” versions of the platform’s stablecoin and governance token in a governance forum post.

Central to this reimagined protocol are native token rewards for USDS and SKY holders, which will be facilitated through the new user interface, Sky.money. However, the reward accrual function will be geographically restricted, excluding certain jurisdictions such as the U.S. and U.K.

Additionally, the overhaul encompasses the division of the platform into smaller, autonomous entities, each with its own tokens. These entities, previously referred to as SubDAOs, will now be known as Stars as part of the rebranding. The first of these, Spark, is set to be a lending platform built on top of the newly christened Maker/Sky ecosystem.

Nevertheless, this comprehensive transformation will be rolled out gradually, with the complete experience expected to be fully operational only after “a few months of testing and ramping up,” according to Christensen.