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Maker’s rebrand hasn’t deterred Framework

DATE POSTED:November 8, 2024


This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

Framework’s Vance Spencer is a fan of Maker’s Sky rebrand.

I don’t know about you, but until I chatted with Spencer, I really hadn’t seen or heard anyone come out in favor of the rebrand. Most folks were either ambivalent or critical. 

For Spencer — after speaking with various stakeholders — the “brand equity is actually relative to the value of a redenomination, which is just a lower unit bias. There’s a reason that stocks do this in the stock market,” he explained.

Fundamentals of MKR/SKY, Endgame, Brand

TLDR: I support relaunching the SKY brand in lieu of MKR

Three things have become apparent to me in talking with MKR/SKY ecosystem participants

1. USDS is an unqualified success and MKR/SKY fundamentals have never been stronger. MKR is…

— Vance Spencer (@pythianism) November 4, 2024

As for the naysayers, it’s simply “too early” to determine if the strategy’s even worked yet, given that no major exchange has listed SKY.

“The brand has been confusing so far, but there hasn’t been enough adoption to tell you know, one from the other in terms of, do people not like the brand, or do people not like one big fund selling their MKR, and then a general market pullback, because, right now, MKR is ripping again, and I think people you know care less about the brand or about what their perspective is when that’s the case,” Spencer said.

Now that the Sky branding is upheld, Sky Ecosystem can focus on getting to work:
1) Grow adoption of USDS by expanding to Solana and Eth L2s
2) Migrate all MKR to SKY on CEXes and coingecko
3) Prepare to launch Spark, the first Star, and SPK token rewards for USDS holders

— Rune (@RuneKek) November 7, 2024

The tradeoff of having “something that’s more retail-oriented and lower unit bias,” is more important when it comes to the rebrand. And, to add to that, the lower retail participation so far makes it hard to get a read on success down the line. 

However, this rebrand could change the story, especially paired with the potential market rally we could see if there’s regulatory clarity (and firms aren’t at risk of sudden lawsuits).

“If we assume Wall Street institutions and retail get in and they value certain things, like fundamentals, I think they’re also going to value a brand that makes sense within the context of what the project’s trying to do, which is kind of start over for this next chapter of crypto, redenominate. Fresh chart, completely transition the token to the next one, there’s probably going to be a lot of lost tokens,” Spencer said. But it’ll end up being a “clean slate.”

Despite criticisms of the rebrand, Framework won’t be going anywhere. 

“This is something that we have a venture perspective on, and we’re going to hold for a long time. And I think what they’re doing is in the spirit of growing the fundamentals, which is really what we care about, because at a certain point, if you’re holding some of the last MKR, like, they’re gonna be buying it from you, and that’s kind of the market you want to create in the future,” Spencer added.

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