A Look into Sky’s $2.5B Major Investment in Crypto Yield Innovation

The Sky ecosystem formerly MakerDAO announced a significant governance decision to allocate up to $2.5 billion in USDS stablecoins to support projects incubated by Obex, a newly launched crypto incubator focused on yield-generating stablecoins.

This move is part of Sky’s broader “Endgame” initiative to enhance its decentralized stablecoin protocol by integrating real-world assets (RWAs) and fostering institutional-grade DeFi innovations.

Obex, based in San Francisco, raised $37 million in a seed round led by Framework Ventures, with participation from LayerZero and the Sky ecosystem itself.

Described as the “Y Combinator for stablecoins,” Obex aims to identify, fund, and accelerate early-stage teams building stablecoins that generate sustainable yields through RWA-backed strategies.

The incubator’s 12-week program provides participants with initial capital, technical resources, mentorship, and access to Sky’s infrastructure, culminating in a demo day for pitching to investors.

Projects graduating from Obex will undergo Sky’s risk and governance reviews. Those approved can tap into the $2.5 billion USDS pool for scaled deployment, potentially accessing up to nine figures per project.

This capital will primarily target sectors like: Compute credits: Tokenized GPU resources for AI and cloud computing. Energy assets: Large-scale solar, battery storage, and renewable infrastructure.

Fintech lending: Loans to established fintech firms for diversified, on-chain yield. The incubated projects are designed as independent decentralized applications within the Sky ecosystem, each required to return yield to Sky’s protocol—effectively creating demand for USDS and scaling its $9 billion market cap.

Sky’s commitment addresses recent challenges in the stablecoin space, where synthetic models (e.g., Ethena’s USDE) have faced peg instability amid DeFi exploits. By emphasizing RWAs, Obex prioritizes “institutional-grade” collateral to mitigate volatility and ensure stability, aligning with projections of the stablecoin market reaching $1 trillion.

Sky founder Rune Christensen highlighted Obex’s role in “supercharging” the ecosystem to compete with traditional finance giants like Apollo and Blackstone. Framework Ventures co-founder Vance Spencer noted the program’s appeal for capital-intensive crypto ventures, while LayerZero’s involvement underscores cross-chain interoperability for these assets.

Early focus on energy and compute RWAs could bridge DeFi with real-world industries, potentially unlocking new revenue streams for USDS holders via the Sky Savings Rate.

Major crypto discussions highlight this as one of the largest capital commitments in crypto incubation, signaling renewed confidence in RWA-DeFi convergence. No major criticisms have surfaced yet, though some observers note risks in yield compression as more issuers enter the space.

This development positions Sky as a leader in stablecoin evolution, with Obex poised to launch its first cohort soon. Recent failures of synthetic stablecoins like Stream Finance’s USDX and Elixir’s deUSD—triggered by the Balancer exploit—highlighted the dangers of crypto-collateralized yield strategies, which rely on volatile perpetual swaps and recursive lending.

Obex’s emphasis on “institutional-grade” RWA collateral introduces tangible, audited backing to prevent peg breaks. This could restore user confidence, reducing the likelihood of “blowing up $500 million stablecoins” as Vance Spencer of Framework Ventures warned.

Unlike synthetic models dependent on fleeting funding rates, RWA strategies generate returns from real economic activity, such as energy infrastructure yields or fintech credit spreads. Projections suggest yield-bearing stablecoins could outpace the overall $1 trillion stablecoin market.

With Obex accelerating this by funneling diversified, on-chain returns back to Sky’s protocol. The $2.5 billion pool—nearly half of Sky’s $9 billion reserves—will deploy into graduated projects via rigorous risk/governance reviews, potentially unlocking nine-figure tranches per team.

This creates organic demand for USDS as a reserve asset, boosting its utility and the Sky Savings Rate (SSR) for holders. Early deployment of $50 million signals aggressive scaling, with the remaining ~$2.45 billion poised to capture market share from less transparent issuers like Tether.

Obex’s 12-week accelerator model, likened to “Y Combinator for stablecoins,” democratizes access to capital for capital-intensive DeFi ventures. By targeting underserved sectors like compute for AI/cloud and renewable energy.

It bridges crypto with trillion-dollar TradFi markets, potentially onboarding institutional liquidity from players like Apollo or Blackstone. Analysts forecast this could propel stablecoin supply growth, which has risen for seven straight months to ~$300 billion, toward the $1 trillion milestone faster than anticipated.