Since its high in Apr/2024, when it reached US$3,964, $MKR (Maker token) has fallen ~70% - lowest value since Sep/23.
One of the oldest and most profitable DeFi protocols is going through an internal crisis over its brand rebranding.
Maker was founded in 2018 and has made a name for itself in the decentralized lending and stablecoins market sector. In 2024, it has U$4.4B deposited in its contracts and earns U$162M in fees annually.
Even though it was already established, Maker decided to change its brand. Rune Christensen, founder of the protocol, presented a plan to create a new stablecoin and another governance token. The new brand would be called Sky.
Thus, $MKR and $DAI would transform into $SKY and $USDS, respectively.
The project spent $5M on brand transformation and a lot of time from its contributors in recent months. Weeks ago, the rebranding was finally carried out, but the market and the community did not like the result.
Many are confused about the difference between Maker and Sky, the usefulness of the old tokens, and the risk this poses to $DAI – the largest “decentralized” cryptocurrency on the market.
Maker forum post from its founder, talking about what went right and wrong with Maker's rebranding.
Rune then decided to present 3 options for $MKR holders, responsible for deciding the future of the protocol:
- Option 1: Continue with Sky as the brand and leave the name “Maker” aside;
- Option 2: Forget that Sky happened and focus only on the Maker brand, as well as the $MKR token;
- Option 3: Continue with the Maker brand, but update it, as other projects have done recently - see Aave.
From the comments on the Maker forum post, options (2) and (3) are likely to happen. Apparently no one liked the rebranding to Sky.
What everyone is wondering is: if everyone is talking bad now, who approved the change to happen?
GFX Labs, a company involved in Maker's governance, attributed the approval of Maker's rebranding to delegates' dependence on Rune Christensen.
Rune Christensen’s “employees.”
Many attribute the approval of Maker's rebranding to the fact that those who voted depend directly on Rune to receive their compensation. Therefore, disagreeing with your “boss” could directly impact the salary they receive monthly from the organization.
Of course, placing the blame on a few people is oversimplifying the problem. The point is that a protocol with million-dollar revenue should be more careful when changing one of the most respected brands in the DeFi market.
Since its high in Apr/2024, the $MKR token has fallen 70%. Even though it is profitable, investors are afraid to invest in the project, due to insecurity in its management.
The options will be voted on in the coming weeks and may indicate a new direction for Maker.