Sky rolls out staking rewards, distributes $1.6M USDS in first week as SKY price climbs 12%

Sky Protocol, formerly MakerDAO, launched its much-anticipated staking rewards program, and the numbers are already turning heads.In a June 9 post on X, the team revealed that more than $568 million worth of SKY tokens have been staked, with participants currently earning USDS at an annualized rate of 16%. Strong early engagement with the program is demonstrated by the distribution of more than 1.6 million USDS in the first week alone. More than $568 million in SKY are now getting USDS rewards at a current annual rate of 16%.In just one week since launch, over 1.6 million USDS has already been distributed to users. pic.twitter.com/DQNbTJqeWFThere is much more to the reward system than just basic yield. By staking SKY or contributing USDS to the ecosystem, users can earn USDS interest in addition to other incentives, such as governance tokens and points linked to future projects. Users retain full control of their assets while collecting these returns, a core principle of the protocol’s DeFi-first design.The initiative is part of Sky’s larger post-MakerDAO (MKR) “Endgame” rebranding, which includes a total overhaul of governance, rewards, and utility in addition to a new name. More than 420,000 MKR tokens have already been upgraded to SKY, the new governance token, unlocking both voting power and access to staking rewards. A penalty mechanism for delayed upgrades will go live on Sep. 18, 2025, starting at 1% and increasing by 1% every three months thereafter. To support long-term token value, half of the protocol’s revenue is allocated to SKY buybacks and rewards. Sky hopes to phase out all fixed protocol costs by the end of the year.The price of SKY has increased by more than 12% since the rewards launch and is now trading close to $0.0824. Looking at the technical picture, the token has broken above its 20-day moving average and is holding firm above the 50- and 200-day levels.This indicates strong underlying support for the recent trend. SKY is consolidating close to the upper Bollinger Band, which indicates strength but also suggests that a brief pause or pullback would not be out of the ordinary.Nearing overbought territory, the relative strength index has risen to just under 66. Key moving averages are all sloping upward and momentum is still in the bulls’ favor, supporting the positive structure. After flipping bullish, the moving average convergence divergence is currently in positive territory. The token might retest the psychological $0.10 barrier soon if SKY can break clear above the $0.085 level with volume. However, a retracement toward the $0.072 region, where multiple important moving averages converge, might be possible if buying pressure fades and the price drops below short-term support around $0.078.