Sky Protocol’s governance token has seen a notable price surge in the past 24 hours, rising by more than 8% as staking rewards for the token went live.

The Sky (SKY) token, which recently became the sole governance token of the Sky Ecosystem protocol following a rebranding from Maker (MKR), ranked among top gainers as price spiked to highs of $0.073. A significant portion of the gains for SKY came amid the decentralized finance platform’s announcement that staking rewards with the USDS stablecoin were now live for SKY stakers.

SKY sharply rose from lows of $0.065 to break above $0.073, recouping most of the losses seen when the altcoin plunged alongside the broader market on May 29. The token’s price hovered at $0.070 at the time of writing, with some profit-taking in action.

Staking for SKY is going live after approval of the token to become the only governance token of the protocol on May 19. Users have to upgrade their MKR tokens to SKY in order to enjoy features such as continue participating in governance and staking to get rewards on their SKY tokens.

With the launch of USDS rewards for SKY staking, holders can now earn based on Sky Protocol performance. In this case, holders can earn half of the surplus USDS revenue.

The USDS stablecoin, formerly DAI, is Sky Protocol’s upgraded token that is pegged to the U.S. dollar. Network participants earn rewards via Sky’s Savings Rate while maintaining control of their assets.

MKR holders have the opportunity to upgrade and swap their tokens for SKY, offered at a fixed rate of 1 MKR for 24,000 SKY. Sky Protocol will apply a time-based penalty beginning September 18, 2025, for users who have not upgraded by then. The MKR token traded at $1,679.

Sky remains a leading DeFi lending protocol despite its rebranding from Maker. Per data from DeFiLlama, the total value locked in the protocol currently stands at $5.21 billion.