USDS Goes Live on Solana: What Sky’s (Formerly Maker) Bold DeFi Play Means for You

The decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Sky, previously known as Maker, has unveiled its USDS stablecoin on Solana, signaling its intent to dive deeper into the blockchain’s burgeoning DeFi ecosystem.

In a Nov. 19 post on X (formerly Twitter), Sky called USDS “the first major DeFi-native stablecoin on Solana,” emphasizing its potential to unlock new lending, borrowing, and trading opportunities across the blockchain’s top DeFi platforms.

USDS is live on @Solana.

As the first major DeFi-native stablecoin on Solana, USDS unlocks new opportunities for lending, borrowing and trading across the ecosystem's top DeFi platforms.

Additionally, early adopters can access over 500,000 USDS in weekly rewards. pic.twitter.com/K0gR5IKwgR

— Sky (@SkyEcosystem) November 19, 2024

Cross-Chain Integration in the Pipeline

“Today’s launch marks the first step in Sky’s strategy to increase Solana’s DeFi liquidity and [total value locked],” the team noted, hinting at more to come. Future plans include the rollout of SkyLink, a cross-chain bridge for USDS, and its “savings” variant, sUSDS—pending governance approval, of course.

For those keeping score, USDS is essentially a rebranded Dai (DAI), the stablecoin designed to hold its value at one US dollar. Sky itself underwent a name change from Maker back in August. This caused a stir, leading co-founder Rune Christensen to suggest returning to the original name—an idea swiftly vetoed by four major token holders. And just like that, Sky stuck.

To win over Solana’s DeFi enthusiasts, Sky is sweetening the deal with some enticing rewards for early adopters and liquidity providers. Kamino Finance users, for instance, can tap into 200,000 USDS in weekly incentives for USDC/USDS liquidity providers, along with an additional 100,000 USDS weekly for stablecoin suppliers.

As approved by governance, Sky Ecosystem will distribute the following rewards to early adopters on key Solana DeFi protocols:@KaminoFinance:
• 200,000 USDS weekly for USDC/USDS liquidity providers.
• 100,000 USDS weekly for USDS suppliers.@DriftProtocol:
• 100,000 USDS…

— Sky (@SkyEcosystem) November 19, 2024

Over at Drift Protocol, Sky is offering 100,000 USDS in rewards to those supplying the stablecoin. Meanwhile, Save Finance users can vie for a share of 400,000 USDS in monthly rewards. Not a bad way to kick things off, right?

Sky is also leaning on Wormhole’s Native Token Transfer (NTT) tech to make USDS operations on Solana as smooth as possible—a nod to the protocol’s focus on seamless integration.

Sky Protocol’s native integration via @wormhole’s Native Token Transfer (NTT) enables seamless USDS operations on Solana, with an extra 100,000 USDS in weekly rewards for users who bridge USDS to the network.

— Sky (@SkyEcosystem) November 19, 2024

Market Position of USDS

With a market cap of $5.3 billion, USDS now ranks as the third-largest stablecoin, claiming a modest 2.8% share of a market still dominated by Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), which jointly control a staggering 88%.

Solana’s DeFi sector, for its part, has been on fire this year, with total value locked soaring 487% to $8.358 billion, per DefiLlama. However, it’s worth noting that much of this growth has been driven by memecoin mania, fueled by fast and affordable token launchers like Pump.fun.

Solana DeFi TVL growth YTD. Source: DefiLlama

As for Maker’s former governance token, MKR, it’s seen better days. The token has nosedived 30% since the rebrand, as Sky urged holders to transition to its new governance token, SKY. Adoption has been sluggish, though, with SKY yet to secure a spot on any major exchanges.