Sky, formerly MakerDAO, is the longest-running credit system in crypto. Its stablecoin has survived Black Thursday, the collapse of Terra, the 2022 lending contagion and the 2023 banking scare, which is a stronger track record than any other decentralised stablecoin can claim.
What the protocol actually does now
Users lock collateral to mint DAI or USDS and pay a stability fee. Increasingly, however, the system's income comes not from crypto-collateralised borrowing but from real-world asset exposure — treasuries, private credit and structured arrangements held through legal entities and off-chain counterparties. That is where the savings rate paid to holders originates.
The transparency question
On-chain collateral can be verified by anyone. Off-chain credit cannot: users are trusting the governance process, the legal structures and the counterparties selected. Neither is inherently wrong, and the shift changes what kind of instrument DAI is. Anyone describing it as fully verifiable on-chain money should check the current collateral composition.
Governance legibility
The endgame restructuring introduced new tokens, subDAOs and a more complex governance architecture. Following what the protocol holds and who decides it has become harder, not easier, which is a genuine cost for a system whose main claim is transparency.
Who should care
DAI and USDS holders, and anyone assessing whether decentralised stablecoins remain decentralised as they scale.