Rapid Transformation Wave at Sky: Investors in a Rush

Investors of the DeFi representative Sky, formerly known as Maker, are currently facing an urgent call to convert their old governance tokens. Starting Monday, failing to do so may result in a financial penalty. Last year, Sky underwent a comprehensive rebranding to expand the brand's appeal beyond the strict DeFi circle. The company issues the stablecoins DAI and USDS and is the eleventh largest protocol in the DeFi sector, with user deposits exceeding 6 billion dollars. Governance is conducted by investors holding the governance tokens, which grant them both membership and voting rights. A key step in the restructuring was the introduction of the new governance token SKY as a replacement for the previous MKR token. Brand consistency was a motivating factor, as an initial conversion ratio of 1:24,000 leads to an easier perception of the tokens' value. Sky founder Rune Christensen emphasized that individual investors would be more likely to invest $1,853 in 24,000 SKY tokens rather than a single MKR token. However, it turns out that SKY did not achieve the hoped-for acceptance. According to estimates, by May, only 11% of the MKR tokens had been converted to SKY. From the approximately 101,000 MKR wallets at the time, only 2,000 held the new SKY token. In May, measures were decided to officially transfer the system's governance from MKR to SKY and to prevent devaluations, where SKY would be converted back to MKR. Additionally, a 1% penalty is being introduced for conversions after September 18, though the penalty has been postponed by four days. Currently, a vote is underway among SKY holders to begin the penalty process on September 22. However, the decision seems to have already been anticipated, and both Sky and partner protocols are warning MKR holders to proceed with converting their tokens promptly. Larger MKR holders appear to have received the message, as by Thursday evening, almost 82% of all MKR tokens had already been converted to SKY tokens. After a sharp increase in conversions following the vote in May, nearly 40% of MKR tokens were converted by June. In September, the conversion rate then exceeded the 60% mark. Nevertheless, there are still approximately 174,000 MKR tokens valued at around 323 million dollars awaiting conversion. According to Sky's data, about 81,000 users still possess the MKR token, while only 8,000 have switched to SKY.