Reviewed and corrected: October 8, 2026. This article replaces our earlier speculative Endgame guide. That version used obsolete token names and conversion figures and incorrectly described Spark's token as unlaunched. The guide below distinguishes live products from historical proposals.
MakerDAO's evolution into Sky is easier to understand if you separate three things: a dollar-targeting stablecoin, a savings position, and a governance token. They may appear in the same application, but they give holders different exposures. An old roadmap is not a reliable guide to what a wallet transaction does today.
The token map: what are you actually holding?
| Asset | Role | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|
| USDS | Sky's stablecoin, targeting one US dollar. Holding it alone does not automatically earn the savings rate. | What collateral and conversion routes support its value? |
| sUSDS | A savings share representing USDS supplied to the savings mechanism; its USDS redemption value changes as the rate accrues. | How many USDS can my shares redeem for, and what can change the rate? |
| SKY | Sky governance token and successor to MKR. | What governance powers and token-price risks am I accepting? |
| SPK | Spark's governance and staking token. | What rights does this token actually grant, separately from using a lending or savings product? |
The distinction prevents a common mistake: buying a governance token is not the same transaction as depositing a stablecoin into a savings mechanism. A product's adoption, protocol revenue and a token holder's return are separate quantities.
What changed from the old Endgame story?
Endgame was a framework for reorganizing Maker's ecosystem. Historical proposal labels such as NGT should not be presented as the names of today's products. Sky's official materials now describe SKY and USDS. The official MKR upgrade interface states a base conversion of 1 MKR to 24,000 SKY, with a delayed-upgrade penalty that changes the effective amount. It also says the upgrade is irreversible. An old fixed ratio is therefore not an executable quote.
Spark's SPK white paper gives June 17, 2025 as the start of its public offer and trading. Its documentation says the airdrop claim period ended on December 17, 2025. A page promising a forthcoming SPK launch or an open original airdrop is outdated. Separate reward programs can have different rules; an expired airdrop does not establish eligibility for any current program.
For any migration, the useful check is the actual asset received, network, contract, conversion amount and reversibility shown in current official documentation. A ticker alone is insufficient evidence that two tokens are equivalent.
USDS and sUSDS: a balance versus a share
USDS targets a dollar value through Sky's collateral and peg mechanisms. It is not a conventional bank deposit. sUSDS is an ERC-4626 vault share: the number of shares can remain unchanged while the USDS redeemable per share increases as the Sky Savings Rate accrues. Consequently, a price above one USDS per sUSDS is not by itself a broken dollar peg.
Illustrative accounting example, not a live quote: suppose one savings share initially redeems for 1.10 USDS. Supplying 1,100 USDS would correspond to 1,000 shares before costs and rounding. If the redemption value later becomes 1.122 USDS per share, the same 1,000 shares correspond to 1,122 USDS. The gain is 22 USDS, or 2% over that period. It does not mean the wallet should display 1,122 shares.
To reproduce that calculation, record four values: USDS supplied, shares received, current USDS per share, and exit costs. Multiply the second by the third, then subtract the first and the costs. Keep the holding period alongside the result; a period return and an annualized rate are not interchangeable.
A yield label does not explain the whole return
The Sky Savings Rate is set through governance and can change. Published rates are snapshots, not contractual promises for an entire holding period. Spark products and SPK incentives also need to be evaluated on their own terms rather than combined into one headline number.
A second hypothetical example: a 1,000-USDS position earning a simple annual rate of 4% for 90 days would accrue about 9.86 USDS: 1,000 × 0.04 × 90 ÷ 365. If entry and exit together cost 12 USDS, the result is about −2.14 USDS before taxes or other losses. Compounding, rate changes and execution prices would change the real result. This example shows why a positive advertised rate need not produce a positive net outcome for a small balance.
Token incentives need a separate line in that worksheet. Their number, vesting conditions and sale value may change. Counting them at a hoped-for future price makes an otherwise conservative comparison speculative.
Five risks to check separately
- Stablecoin and collateral risk. A one-dollar target does not ensure every holder can exit at one dollar under stress. Read the collateral breakdown and identify dependencies on other stablecoins or offchain counterparties.
- Smart-contract risk. A savings position adds contracts beyond simply holding an asset. An audit helps evaluate a particular code version; it cannot promise the absence of every defect.
- Exit risk. Distinguish redeeming a share through its contract from selling it in a market. Gas, market depth, available routes, pauses and regional access can affect the practical exit.
- Governance risk. Rates, collateral choices and other parameters can change. Record which decisions affect the specific position you are evaluating.
- Token-price risk. SPK's white paper does not give holders ownership or a claim on the issuer's profits. Neither an ecosystem narrative nor a reward campaign creates such a claim.
How to read the next announcement
Use a three-column note: proposed, approved, and deployed. A forum proposal belongs in the first column. A governance decision can move it to the second. Evidence of the actual implementation is needed for the third. Date every entry. This keeps a promising roadmap from quietly turning into a claim about a live product.
Our assessment is that the most useful way to follow Sky and Spark is to track cash flows and rights, rather than treat every ecosystem token as interchangeable exposure. Ask where the return originates, who can change it, and what must work to recover the underlying asset. If those three answers are unclear, a headline APY is not enough information.
Sources and verification
Primary sources checked October 8, 2026. Product terms can change after this review.
- Sky: Understanding the SKY token — governance and the MKR transition.
- Official MKR-to-SKY upgrade interface — base ratio, delayed-upgrade penalty and irreversibility.
- Sky: What is USDS? — stablecoin and peg mechanics.
- Sky: What is sUSDS? — share accounting and variable savings rate.
- Spark: SPK documentation — token role and concluded airdrop.
- Spark: SPK white paper — launch date, holder rights and risks.
Educational analysis only. The examples use invented inputs to explain the arithmetic; they are not investment recommendations or forecasts. See our editorial policy and report a correction.