Standard Chartered has initiated coverage of Sky’s SKY token with a 0.325 USD price target for the end of 2028, implying roughly fivefold upside from the 0.065 USD price cited in the bank’s Friday report shared with Cointelegraph.
The call comes from Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital assets research, who has built a reputation as one of the most prominent sell-side voices in the digital asset space. His new thesis positions Sky — the decentralized finance platform formerly known as MakerDAO — as one of the most compelling risk-reward setups among major tokens through the next cycle.
Sky as a “federal bank”
At the core of Kendrick’s analysis is an analogy that few DeFi protocols can support: he likens Sky to a “federal bank” because it issues stablecoins, creates a governance framework, and charges borrowers a wholesale interest rate. In effect, the argument goes, Sky performs many of the core functions of a monetary authority, but does so on-chain and in a permissionless manner.
That combination gives the protocol a cash-flow and value-accrual profile that more closely resembles a financial institution than a typical governance token. Sky ranks as the third-largest stablecoin issuer in the world behind Tether and Circle, and it is the largest issuer of yield-bearing stablecoins — a category that has grown increasingly relevant as tokenized dollar products go mainstream across both DeFi and traditional finance.
Staking rewards drive the value case
Kendrick wrote that Sky returns value to token holders primarily through staking rewards, with token buybacks accounting for a smaller share of the total. That split is central to the bank’s valuation framework: rather than relying solely on discretionary buyback programs, holders are compensated through a persistent reward stream tied to the protocol’s lending and stablecoin operations.
The protocol’s flagship yield-bearing token, sUSDS, had 4.5 billion USD in total value locked and offered a 3.6% annual percentage yield at the time of the report, according to DeFiLlama data — real, protocol-generated yield that stands out in a market where many tokens offer no direct cash flow to holders.
Keeping pace with Ether, outperforming Bitcoin
Kendrick added that the forecast implies SKY will broadly keep pace with Ether and outperform Bitcoin through 2028. The bank’s house view sees Ether reaching 18,000 USD and Bitcoin reaching 300,000 USD by the end of 2028, framing a broadly constructive macro environment for digital assets over the medium term.
Within that landscape, Standard Chartered’s relative-value positioning suggests the market is underpricing Sky’s stablecoin franchise. As the third-largest issuer in a sector where scale, liquidity and trust compound over time, Sky’s dominant position in yield-bearing dollars could prove increasingly valuable if regulated stablecoin adoption continues to accelerate across payments, settlement and tokenized collateral use cases.
What the market data shows
SKY currently trades at approximately 0.0608 USD, up about 0.9% over the past 24 hours, with a market capitalization of roughly 1.43 billion USD, according to CoinGecko data. The token ranks 59th by market capitalization, with a circulating supply of about 23.4 billion tokens.
The token’s trading history reflects the volatility typical of DeFi governance assets. SKY hit an all-time high of 0.1005 USD in December 2024, roughly three months after the MakerDAO rebrand to Sky was completed, before falling to an all-time low near 0.0358 USD in February 2025. Since then, the token has recovered approximately 70% from its lows, though it remains about 40% below its peak.
For context, the rebrand from MakerDAO to Sky in 2024 brought with it a migration from the legacy DAI and MKR tokens to the new USDS and SKY equivalents, along with a redesigned brand and an expanded product suite centered on the savings rate and collateralized lending.
The bigger picture
The Standard Chartered initiation is the latest sign that institutional research desks are extending coverage beyond Bitcoin and Ether into the deeper token market. Kendrick’s framing of Sky as a bank-like entity with measurable cash flows reflects a broader shift in how analysts value DeFi protocols — away from pure narrative and toward revenue, value accrual and distribution.
The report also lands at a moment when the stablecoin sector is drawing unprecedented institutional attention, with banks, payment networks and fintech firms all launching or integrating dollar-token products. If yield-bearing stablecoins become a standard building block of that ecosystem, Sky’s first-mover scale in the category gives it a defensible position that few competitors can match.
Market snapshot at press time: Bitcoin (BTC) trades near 77,900 USD, up about 1.2% in 24 hours. Ethereum (ETH) is at approximately 2,530 USD, up 4.1%, and Solana (SOL) trades near 102 USD, up 2.4%, according to CoinGecko data.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Readers are encouraged to do their own research before making any investment decisions. All investments carry risk.
kendrick calling sky a federal bank because it issues stablecoins is doing a LOT of heavy lifting for a 5x call lmao
^ the guy has been right on big btc calls before tho, not dismissing a 5x on sky at 0.065 that fast
the kicker nobody prices is the whole 5x leaning on staking rewards holding up through 2028. one rule change on yield bearing stablecoins and the thesis evaporates
its worse than that, the sky reward rate is a governance parameter. the 0.325 target quietly assumes the DAO never votes to squeeze it between now and 2028
A 2028 price target on a governance token is brave. The stablecoin issuer comparison is the interesting part of the thesis though, worth reading the full note.
agreed on brave for the price target. the actually defensible part is being the biggest issuer in yield bearing stablecoins, that slot has real value
Kendrick calling Sky a federal bank is doing a lot of work in that thesis. it issues stablecoins and charges a rate, sure, but 0.325 by 2028 needs basically everything to go right
third largest stablecoin issuer behind Tether and Circle though, and the biggest in yield-bearing. that category is where the actual TradFi interest is heading
the federal bank framing also skips that a real bank has a lender of last resort. Sky runs the balance sheet with no backstop, which is exactly why a 5x is even possible
at least the valuation leans on staking rewards instead of discretionary buybacks. buyback-dependent token theses age terribly the moment a treasury committee changes its mind
0.325 by 2028 assumes sky executes a full usds expansion without a single regulatory hit. three years is a lot of hearings between here and there
5x to 0.325 by 2028 and the whole thesis dies if yield bearing stablecoins get regulated like deposits. kendrick notes never price the tail risk