Sky is what MakerDAO became. Same infrastructure, new name, more tickers than anyone asked for: SKY, USDS, sUSDS, stUSDS, plus legacy DAI. On the Token Autopsy livestream we asked one question: when Sky makes money, who actually gets paid?
It is not "everyone who holds SKY." Here's why, with the figures as presented on the stream (early October 2026).
Four products, four different claims
Most confusion about Sky comes from treating every ticker as the same bet.
- USDS is the dollar stablecoin. It is designed to stay close to $1, and legacy DAI converts to it one-to-one.
- sUSDS is a savings receipt. You supply USDS to the savings module and receive a vault share. The USDS value of each share grows as the savings rate accrues, so your share count can stay flat while the position earns. The rate is variable, and there's no lockup on the basic savings position.
- stUSDS is risk capital. It supplies USDS for people borrowing against staked SKY and earns based on utilization. That's a different risk from savings, not another spelling of it.
- SKY is the governance token. You can stake it for rewards, delegate your votes, and optionally borrow USDS against it.
The rule that saves the most money: a rate shown next to sUSDS is not the yield earned by someone holding SKY. Buying the governance token does not create a savings deposit.
Where the money comes from
Sky sits in the middle of a tension every lending market has. Capital providers want higher rates. Borrowers want lower ones. The protocol has to earn enough to protect both.
Revenue sources cited on stream:
- Collateralized borrowing (interest on loans)
- Capital access through its agent network
- Treasury-related strategies (short-duration government debt exposure)
- Lending-market activity
Treasury income and loans against volatile crypto carry very different risks. Filing both under "real yield" doesn't make them interchangeable.
On adoption: on September 23, Galaxy added 100 million of sUSDS to its balance sheet. The Q2 report recorded $12.3B in protocol collateral and $5.5B in sUSDS at June 30. Those are dated checkpoints, not live totals.
Revenue is not surplus, and surplus is not your dividend
The foundation's quarterly reports separate gross protocol revenue (income before expenses) from net protocol surplus (what remains). Both were lower in Q2 than in Q1 2026, though surplus stayed positive. A softer quarter doesn't break the protocol. It does mean growth isn't a straight line.
More importantly, surplus is not the amount paid to SKY holders. It goes through an allocation first.
Follow the value: the allocation
Under the reported Stage 2 reserve-building configuration (dated September 17, 2026), eligible surplus, after security and maintenance deductions, splits four ways:
- A reserve
- SKY rewards for SKY stakers
- USDS rewards for SKY stakers
- SKY buy and burn, the smallest slice at about 5%
Stakers pick one reward channel, not both.
The stream's hypothetical: start with $100 of gross revenue. Assume costs leave $40 eligible (that cost ratio is invented for the example, not Sky's). At the reported proportions, that becomes:
| Destination | Amount |
|---|---|
| Reserve | $20 |
| SKY rewards | $9 |
| USDS rewards | $9 |
| Buy and burn | $2 |
So "the protocol made $100" turned into $2 of burn and two $9 pools, split among whoever picked that channel. The reserve protects the system. It still isn't in your wallet.
This is a dated configuration that governance can change, not a permanent dividend contract.
Buybacks: buying isn't burning
Sky buys SKY with revenue on the open market, which we like. What happens next matters:
- Distribution sends the bought tokens to stakers. They can hold, restake or sell.
- Retention parks tokens in protocol-controlled inventory. That's less tradeable supply, not destroyed supply.
- Burn removes tokens permanently.
The September executive included a burn alongside reward and buyback updates. Check the executive record for the current mechanism rather than trusting the phrase "burn engine." Holders who don't stake can benefit indirectly from purchase demand or real supply reduction. They don't get staker distributions.
The line from the stream worth keeping: a working buyback can coexist with a falling token price, mostly because not enough of it is burned.
Supply: capped, but not new
- Max supply is about 23.46 billion SKY, and new emissions beyond the cap are permanently disabled. Rewards come from existing tokens and repurchases, not fresh printing. That's good design.
- Circulating supply was nearly the same as max on stream, so there's no unlock overhang.
- The MakerDAO conversion was 24,000 SKY per MKR. More, smaller units don't make the protocol 24,000 times bigger. The September executive raised the delayed MKR conversion penalty to 5%. That's a cost of converting late, not an annual fee on SKY wallets.
Capped doesn't mean no selling pressure. Tokens don't have to be newly minted to show up on an exchange.
Who holds it and who votes
- An October 2 disclosure said Stablecoin Development Corporation (SDEV), a corporate holder, held about 10% of total SKY. That's a large identifiable holder, not proof it controls governance.
- The six largest ranked delegates held 97.4% of delegated voting power, and the top two held 64.4%. Those are shares of delegated votes, not ownership. Governance is public and inspectable, but practical influence is concentrated.
USDS and sUSDS use upgradeable contracts with governance delays. Independent audits cover core accounting, savings, staking, allocation, bridges and reward modules. Credible review evidence, not loss insurance.
Reserves and the borrowing trap
The Q2 report showed about $82M in reserves at June 30, against a published $150M reserve-building floor. Neither is a verified October cash balance.
If you borrow USDS against staked SKY, debt and collateral move independently. The stream's illustration: $10,000 of SKY collateral and a $4,000 loan is a 40% ratio. If liquidation starts at 50%, a drop to $8,000 reaches it even though you never borrowed more. Interest also grows the debt and brings that line closer.
The verdict from the stream
Token Autopsy score: 78/100, a Watch verdict, one point short of a pass (79+ passes).
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Utility & adoption | 18/20 |
| Token value capture | 15/20 |
| Tokenomics & supply | 12/15 |
| Competitive moat | 13/15 |
| Security & decentralization | 6/10 |
| Catalysts & execution | 8/10 |
| Risk & unanswered questions | 6/10 |
Sky solves real financing and stablecoin problems, and SKY has an implemented route to value: capped supply, revenue-funded buybacks, a burn and staker rewards. What holds it back is how small the burn slice is, governance concentration, and rewards set by policy, not contract. At the time it ranked second on the Token Autopsy leaderboard, behind Aave's 82.
FAQ
Does holding SKY earn the sUSDS savings rate?
No. The savings rate goes to sUSDS, which is a USDS savings position. SKY holders earn through staking rewards, if they stake, and indirectly through buybacks and burns.
Does Sky burn tokens?
Yes, but it's the smallest slice. Under the September 2026 configuration, about 5% of eligible surplus goes to buy and burn. The rest goes to reserves and two staker reward channels.
Is SKY's supply capped?
Yes. Max supply is about 23.46 billion SKY, with new emissions beyond the cap permanently disabled. Rewards are funded from existing tokens and repurchases.
How many SKY did MKR holders get?
The upgrade rate was 24,000 SKY per MKR. Converting late now carries a 5% penalty, raised in the September executive.
Educational content from the Underground Crypto Token Autopsy livestream. Figures are the stream's research snapshot, not live data. Not financial advice.