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Sky’s second act turned into a $300M revenue machine
It’s rare in crypto for a project to survive one market cycle, let alone multiple. It’s even rarer to see one evolve into a profitable business and a core infrastructure. But that’s exactly what Sky, formerly known as MakerDAO, has done.
What began as one of the earliest DeFi experiments has transformed into a sprawling capital allocation ecosystem, anchored by its stablecoin USDS and generating hundreds of millions in annualized revenue.
With that in mind, Sky is trying to solve the problem of idle capital. Roughly $300 billion in stablecoins sit unused, earning little to no yield and Sky’s answer is to embed yield directly into the stablecoin itself.
“It’s a stablecoin system and also a capital allocation system that makes it really, really efficient to basically connect those two sides,” Sky’s Founder Rune Christensen said on StrataMedia’s Talking Tokens podcast. People can put their stablecoins into the system and then have them allocated with a risk adjusted return, he added.
USDS holders can access a savings rate currently around 3.75% and there’s no lock up, Christensen said. That simplicity, combined with yield, is pulling capital from non-yielding stablecoins. And it’s helping explain Sky’s profitability.
USDS is gaining traction as its now the third-largest stablecoin by market cap and saw 74% supply growth in 2025. On top of that, the protocol has generated roughly $338 million in annualized revenue, with $158 million in net profit, numbers that remain rare across crypto.
Still, the protocol’s longevity may be its biggest differentiator. In an industry defined by security risks and exploits, Sky has leaned heavily into risk management.
“The most important thing is to keep the system secure at all costs,” Christensen said. “If you don’t blow up… then you will just dominate.”
Now, with what he describes as its “final form” largely implemented, Sky is entering its next phase of scale. Christensen expects 2026 to be an inflection point, driven by standardization across technology, data, and legal frameworks. That standardization is what will unlock mass institutional participation, he added.
Sky’s bet is that by standardizing stablecoin infrastructure, embedding yield, risk management, and capital allocation into a single system, it can become a foundational layer for global finance.
If it works, the line between old and new finance may disappear entirely. “What we think of as DeFi versus TradFi will merge into one,” Christensen said.
Check out the next section for more details and the full episode.
The latest Talking Tokens podcast 🎙️
For today’s episode, I interviewed Rune Christensen, founder of Sky (formerly MakerDAO), about how the protocol is connecting hundreds of billions in idle stablecoins to institutional-grade yield through its Sky Agent Network. Rune explains why Sky evolved from MakerDAO, how USDS offers a native 3.75% savings rate with no lock-ups or fees, and why the protocol generated $338 million in annualized revenue with $158 million in net profit during recent market volatility.
He walks through the Sky Agent Network enabling decentralized capital allocation across players like Spark, BlackRock, and Janus Henderson, why Sky deployed $1 billion into the first tokenized CLO, and how the protocol's seven-year track record makes it the only project institutions trust at scale. The conversation covers Sky's 74% USDS supply growth, why DeFi and TradFi will merge into one system, and how AI agents will drive the next phase of financial automation through blockchain-native stablecoins.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Intro
02:08 – Why Sky evolved from MakerDAO: rethinking DeFi for real-world scale
04:00 – Sky as infrastructure for global capital markets and capital formation
05:34 – How Sky Savings Rate works with 3.75% yield
07:06 – Sky Agent Network: decentralized businesses competing for best risk-adjusted returns
08:16 – Why Sky is different from Ethena and other yield-bearing stablecoins
11:49 – Spark protocol reaching $3 billion TVL as it grows in the lending market
14:03 – How real cash-flowing assets are coming onchain for the first time
18:32 – Why institutions like BlackRock and Janus Henderson work with Sky
27:18 – Sky’s Grove deploying $1 billion into first tokenized CLO by Janus Henderson and Centrifuge
30:10 – When DeFi and TradFi merge: stablecoins can act as super capital
34:13 – AI agents driving blockchain-native financial automation
37:35 – Sky's revenue: $338M annualized with $158M net profit during market volatility
39:05 – Growing stablecoin supply as the main opportunity ahead
50:18 – Rune's endgame: fully automating Sky through AI to finally step away
Talking Tokens episodes are released on Spotify and Apple Podcasts at 6AM EST or YouTube at 8AM EST every Tuesday and Thursday. Listen in!
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This product is built by StrataMedia (The parent company to Token Relations, Talking Tokens & The Market Runup.)
Please note this content is for informational and educational purposes only. Any views shared should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research. We may have a direct or indirect financial interest in content mentioned in this newsletter.