FAQ
The Sky Ecosystem
Section titled “The Sky Ecosystem”What is Sky?
Section titled “What is Sky?”The Sky Ecosystem is a decentralized financial infrastructure built around the USDS stablecoin and the SKY governance token. It is designed to enable permissionless and non-custodial access to DeFi products.
The Sky Protocol, formerly known as Maker, powers the Sky Ecosystem, supporting the use of USDS and SKY tokens for financial transactions. It is non-custodial, ensuring users retain control over their assets. The protocol offers trading, saving, and rewards accumulation services.
What is USDS?
Section titled “What is USDS?”USDS is a decentralized, overcollateralized stablecoin issued by the Sky Protocol, designed to maintain a soft peg to the U.S. dollar.
What is sUSDS?
Section titled “What is sUSDS?”sUSDS is a yield-bearing stablecoin representing a deposit of USDS into the Sky Protocol’s Sky Savings Rate (SSR) module, which earns passive income.
What is the Sky Savings Rate?
Section titled “What is the Sky Savings Rate?”The Sky Savings Rate is an automated token-accumulation mechanism of the decentralised Sky protocol that takes into account the effect of accumulated USDS compounded in real time.
The Sky Savings Rate is variable, determined not by market factors but by Sky ecosystem governance through a process of decentralised onchain voting.
How do I acquire sUSDS?
Section titled “How do I acquire sUSDS?”Currently, sUSDS can only be acquired on Ethereum and the EVM ecosystem. It can be accessed at Sky.Money.
Where can I use USDS and sUSDS?
Section titled “Where can I use USDS and sUSDS?”USDS can be used throughout the EVM and Solana ecosystems for trading, DeFi, and more. A full list of current USDS integrations on Solana can be found in USDS & sUSDS.
What is the Sky Agent Framework?
Section titled “What is the Sky Agent Framework?”The Sky Agent Framework is a DeFi infrastructure solution by Sky (formerly MakerDAO) designed to build autonomous, decentralized ecosystems by enabling projects to launch independent Stars with shared Sky Primitives and USDS stablecoin liquidity.
What is a Star / Prime Agent?
Section titled “What is a Star / Prime Agent?”Sky Stars are independent decentralised projects within the Sky ecosystem. They are designed to enable focused, fast-moving innovation and expansion, and serve as gateways to the Sky Protocol.
What is Keel?
Section titled “What is Keel?”Keel is a Sky-enabled onchain capital allocator and liquidity layer.
How does Keel work?
Section titled “How does Keel work?”Keel dynamically and programmatically allocates stablecoin liquidity across DeFi protocols and tokenized assets in pursuit of risk-adjusted returns in excess of the cost of borrowing from Sky.
What is the Keel Capital Engine?
Section titled “What is the Keel Capital Engine?”The Keel Capital Engine is an automated onchain capital allocator, which utilizes the Sky Allocation System to dynamically reallocate stablecoin capital within predetermined parameters and objectives set by governance. See Keel Capital Engine.
How does Keel generate profit?
Section titled “How does Keel generate profit?”Keel captures a spread between the cost of borrowing from the Sky Allocation System and the yield generated by its capital allocations and positions.
Who controls Keel and the Capital Engine?
Section titled “Who controls Keel and the Capital Engine?”The Keel Protocol and the Keel Capital Engine are owned and controlled by KEEL token holders via an onchain governance system.
What networks does Keel operate on?
Section titled “What networks does Keel operate on?”Keel was initially established on Solana, where USDS infrastructure remains live and integrated with leading DeFi protocols. Keel’s mandate now encompasses multichain capital allocation.
Is Keel related to Spark.fi and Grove.finance?
Section titled “Is Keel related to Spark.fi and Grove.finance?”Yes. Both Spark and Grove are also Pioneer Stars in the Sky Ecosystem, each with different areas of focus. You can broadly interpret Spark, Grove, and Keel as siblings. For more information on the Star Agent Framework, see Sky & Keel.
Does Keel rely on user deposits?
Section titled “Does Keel rely on user deposits?”No. Keel’s balance sheet is backed by protocol-owned liquidity and funds borrowed from Sky. Unlike many DeFi protocols, Keel does not rely on user deposits to scale allocation.
Does Keel have any custody risk?
Section titled “Does Keel have any custody risk?”All liquidity is protocol-owned, meaning that none of Keel’s assets or positions are held by custodians or externally owned accounts/wallets.
Does Keel only allocate to DeFi lending?
Section titled “Does Keel only allocate to DeFi lending?”No. Keel allocates across DeFi protocols, tokenized assets, RWAs, and onchain strategies. It is constrained by Sky’s Risk Capital framework to ensure robust and safe allocation activity, but is free to allocate within those constraints. Learn more in Keel Capital Engine.
Can Keel only allocate USDS?
Section titled “Can Keel only allocate USDS?”No. Allocation activity is not restricted to USDS — Keel will operate in various different quality stablecoins.
Is Keel a Fund or a Vault?
Section titled “Is Keel a Fund or a Vault?”No. Keel is not a fund, vault, or bank. Keel is a decentralized protocol integrated with both Sky’s stablecoin reserves and various DeFi and tokenized asset protocols. The protocol does not accept user deposits, nor is there any custody of funds or assets. Keel allocates a combination of protocol-owned liquidity and funds borrowed from Sky.
Learn more about the relationship between Sky and Keel in Sky & Keel.