Sky or Maker? Vote Reveals MakerDAO’s Centralization Concerns

Sky will not re-rebrand as MakerDAO after a community vote that favored keeping the new identity.

The rebranding is central to founder Rune Christensen’s “Endgame” strategy, which aims to reshape the protocol for more competitiveness and resilience.

MakerDAO Governance Vote Dominated By Whales

Sky confirmed the identity stay in a post on X after an on-chain vote to continue using the new brand name as the ecosystem’s primary backend protocol.

“This decision supports the ongoing transition from MKR to SKY and establishes Sky as the core brand, denoting both the Sky app frontend and the backend Sky Ecosystem and Sky Protocol,” the project team said.

The governance polls show that the proposal to revert Sky to its original Maker branding faced substantial opposition. Specifically, nearly 80% of the vote share leaned toward maintaining the Sky identity as the protocol’s “backend protocol brand.”

The decision revealed an underlying centralization issue within MakerDAO’s governance. According to Sky’s voting metrics, four large entities controlled most of the voting power. Each entity secured about 20% of the votes, and only one prominent entity voted against the proposal. This left smaller stakeholders with limited influence over the outcome.

“Four MKR whales hold 98% of voting power, rejecting the rebranding of the DeFi protocol Sky back to Maker. This highlights the influence of a few in decentralized governance. It raises concerns about true decentralization in such ecosystems,” said HUDI, a web3 data layer builder.

Nevertheless, this turnout to maintain Sky aligns with Christensen’s ambitious “Endgame” strategy, kickstarted in late 2022. The Sky co-founder proposed the strategy to revitalize what he perceived as a stagnating DeFi project.

He wants to diversify MakerDAO’s services and develop new products. The plans include launching a range of new stablecoins, creating an alternative governance token called SKY, and establishing “subDAOs.”

In September, MakerDAO members voted to give DAI holders the option to exchange their tokens for a new stablecoin named Sky Dollar (USDS) at a 1:1 ratio. Likewise, MKR holders could swap their tokens for SKY tokens at a 1:24,000 ratio.

Of note is that the organization clarified that DAI and MKR tokens will continue to exist alongside USDS and SKY in the near future. Nevertheless, the introduction of SKY and USDS represents a strategic effort to attract new users and accommodate diverse regulatory and decentralization demands in the market.

Products and Tokens Under the Sky Brand

With Sky now in place, the rebranding may proceed to introduce a new suite of tokens and products under the new banner. This includes launching decentralized and regulatory-compliant stablecoins like puredai and NewStable, respectively. These products target different segments: puredai for censorship-resistant uses and NewStable for broader, compliance-driven adoption.

Sky is preparing to introduce these stablecoins on Solana and Ethereum Layer-2 Base, suggesting possible integrations across blockchains and maximizing accessibility. Another notable development is Sky’s planned collaboration with Aave, a leading DeFi protocol, to offer stacked USDS rewards. Sky will also introduce a staking system using both SKY and MKR tokens alongside a custom bridge called SkyLink for EVM chains.

Despite the strategic rationale behind the rebrand, the move has not been universally welcomed. Community members have voiced concerns that the new brand does not resonate with Maker’s established reputation. Others continue to cite confusion between SKY and MKR. Christensen attempted to quell some of the fears.

“It’s gonna take a bit more planning but I will make a follow-up proposal where MKR will be renamed to indicate it is a SKY wrapper. This way, MKR holders will automatically upgrade to SKY and there will be no confusion around two tokens. This will not affect tokenomics,” the Sky co-founder explained.

While Christensen’s Sky brand could reach new users, it also risks alienating legacy supporters who identify with the original Maker. For investors, the vote reflects the complex dynamics at play within MakerDAO’s governance, where large holders wield outsized influence. In such situations, changes can carry both potential upsides and risks for the protocol’s market perception.

The Endgame strategy could ultimately redefine Sky as a leader in DeFi. Nevertheless, this hinges on the successful rollout of its ambitious projects. The ability to harmonize with the demands of a loyal but change-averse community is also a factor.

According to BeInCrypto data, the Maker (MKR) token has surged nearly 5% following this news, currently trading at $1,503.47.