Sky’s USDS goes multichain with Solana launch

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As a seasoned crypto investor with memories of the Maker days etched deeply in my digital ledger, I find the latest move by Sky (formerly known as Maker) to launch its USDS stablecoin on Solana quite intriguing. Having witnessed the evolution of DeFi and its ecosystems across various blockchains, it’s clear that Sky is positioning itself strategically amidst the growing liquidity and TVL on Solana.

Previously recognized as Maker, Sky recently unveiled its USDS stablecoin on the Solana blockchain, marking it as the “initial significant DeFi-compatible stablecoin” on this platform.

As per a declaration made on November 19th, USDS is set to boost lending, borrowing, and trading activities on the network’s prominent Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms. This launch signifies the initial move in Sky’s plan to augment Solana’s DeFi liquidity and Total Value Locked (TVL).

Using USDS, Sky aspires to capture a portion of the burgeoning decentralized finance market on Solana, which has seen increased daily trading volumes and total value locked since the beginning of the year. As per DefiLlama’s data, Solana’s Total Value Locked (TVL) rose from $1.4 billion on January 1 to more than $8.3 billion at the time of writing, while its daily trading volume recently reached an all-time high of $7.14 billion.

The declaration states that Sky’s perspective is becoming more in line with Solana’s robust network of consumer applications, its capacity for integration, and its advanced technological speed.

The USDS stablecoin’s presence on Solana is facilitated by Wormhole’s Native Token Transfer, making it natively compatible with multiple chains. This means USDS can be used on both Solana and Ethereum without requiring wrapped tokens, maintaining a consistent supply across the networks. Moreover, this transfer mechanism allows Sky to move its governance token, SKY, onto the Solana network as well.

During the initial rollout, Sky is motivating early adopters with incentives for both users and liquidity providers who interact with USDS within four decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms on the Solana network.

Weekly, Kamino Finance contributors offering liquidity to USDC/USDS pairs receive 200,000 USD, and those providing only stablecoins get an extra 100,000 USD. Similarly, users of Drift Protocol contributing USDS can earn 100,000 USD weekly rewards. Meanwhile, participants in Save Finance who contribute to stablecoin liquidity can receive a portion of the 400,000 USD distributed monthly.

Additionally, Sky intends to launch SkyLink, a link between different blockchains that connects USDS and sUSDS, its savings-oriented variant of the stablecoin. Assuming governance approval, this release aims to enhance cross-chain functionality for USDS owners by broadening its operability across various platforms.

Initially introduced as Dai in September, USDS is now its name following a rebrand. It’s a digital currency that maintains its value equivalent to the U.S. dollar. With a market cap of $5.23 billion, it ranks third among stablecoins, going head-to-head with industry giants like Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.

Together, these two stablecoins make up over 90% of the total market worth of all stablecoins, currently estimated at approximately $184.7 billion, according to DefiLlama.

In a related development, Sky had planned to switch back to the Maker label due to mix-ups over their rebranding, but this idea was turned down.

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2024-11-20 10:44