Dai (DAI): collateral, risks and reviews
Crypto-collateralized stablecoin issued by a protocolUS dollar · Sky Protocol
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On-chain stablecoin data
- Issuance, 30 days (2 October 2026 – 31 October 2026)
- Minted US$60.85 bn, burned US$60.89 bn, net issuance −US$40.07 m
- Freeze function in the contract
- no freeze function: Ethereum
- Issuer and freeze powers
- ACHIVX Academy guide ↗
On-chain measurement by Stablecoin Scanner (ACHIVX), not a reserve or solvency claim. As of 31 October 2026. Mints and burns as decoded by the scanner on the chains it covers, not the issuer’s total issuance; mints and burns on Solana are not yet decoded and are not included. Native deployments in the scanner’s token registry. scanner page ↗
Key facts
- Issuer
- Sky Protocol
- Pegged to
- US dollar
- Type
- Crypto-collateralized stablecoin issued by a protocol
- Backing
- collateral locked in the protocol, USDC held in the protocol’s stability module
- Reserve reports
- Collateral visible on-chain
- Redemption with the issuer
- Anyone, on-chain through the protocol
- Yield
- Optional savings rate: DAI Savings Rate (sDAI)
- Issuer powers
- issue and redeem tokens
- Networks (per the issuer)
- Ethereum
From the ACHIVX Academy dossier written 2026-10-11 from the issuer’s own documents. Terms change — check the sources.
Regulation
- a protocol, not a regulated issuer
What backs DAI as of 27 October 2026
DAI and USDS draw on the same Sky Protocol (formerly MakerDAO) collateral. On 27 October 2026 Sky's dashboard showed about $12.67bn of collateral against $10.64bn of debt, with a $54.66m surplus buffer. About $6.17bn is allocated to Sky Stars (Spark, Grove, Obex, Osero) and $3.86bn is USDC in the LitePSM; the rest is crypto and SKY collateral in overcollateralised vaults plus $70m of legacy real-world assets. The dashboard counted 3.85bn DAI and 6.11bn USDS in circulation.
| Asset | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Spark — Sky Star allocation | $3.87 bn | 30.6% |
| LitePSM stablecoins (USDC) | $3.86 bn | 30.4% |
| Grove — Sky Star allocation | $1.88 bn | 14.8% |
| Obex — Sky Star allocation | $406 m | 3.2% |
| Core crypto vaults (overcollateralised) | $1.44 bn | 11.4% |
| Staking Engine — loans against SKY | $1.14 bn | 9.0% |
| Legacy real-world assets | $70 m | 0.6% |
| Osero — Sky Star allocation | $5.0 m | <0.1% |
Source: info.sky.money, snapshot of 27 October 2026. The figures change over time.
Minting and redeeming directly with the issuer
Anyone can swap USDC for DAI and back 1:1 through the LitePSM, convert DAI↔USDS 1:1, or open a vault, with no account. No company redeems DAI for dollars.
| Item | Terms |
|---|---|
| Mint fee | None: LitePSM USDC→DAI fees are currently off (governance could enable them) |
| Redemption fee | None: LitePSM DAI→USDC fees are currently off; the DAI↔USDS converter is free |
| Verification | None at protocol level |
| Settlement | One on-chain transaction |
Not available under the issuer’s terms: persons blocked by the sky.money interface's sanctions screening (the protocol contracts themselves are permissionless)
Freezing and seizure
Sky's docs describe DAI as a standard ERC-20 token with permit and no freeze, blacklist or upgrade function. DAI is created and destroyed only by the protocol's own contracts.
Networks where the issuer issues DAI
| Network | Contract address |
|---|---|
| Ethereum | 0x6B175474E89094C44Da98b954EedeAC495271d0F |
Official list from the issuer (1 network). DAI is issued on Ethereum. Sky does not publish an official list of DAI on other networks.
Contracts by network
| Network | Contract address | Token | Issuer can |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | 0x6b175474e89094c44da98b954eedeac495271d0f18 decimals | native | cannot freeze |
| Optimism | 0xda10009cbd5d07dd0cecc66161fc93d7c9000da118 decimals | bridged | cannot freeze |
| Base | 0x50c5725949a6f0c72e6c4a641f24049a917db0cb18 decimals | bridged | cannot freeze |
| Arbitrum One | 0xda10009cbd5d07dd0cecc66161fc93d7c9000da118 decimals | bridged | cannot freeze |
Contracts indexed by Stablecoin scanner ACHIVX, snapshot of 2026-10-27. Always check the address before sending.
Risks and caveats
- DAI shares its collateral pool with USDS, so both depend on the same Sky Protocol assets.
- About 30% of collateral is USDC in the LitePSM and about half is allocations to Sky Stars (Spark, Grove, Obex, Osero), counted at 1:1 on Sky's dashboard.
- Wrong, delayed or manipulated price data, or keeper failures, can cause wrong pricing, unnecessary liquidations or bad debt.
- Interest rates, collateral rules, fees and the DAI Savings Rate are set by Sky governance and can change at any time.
About the issuer
- Issuer
- No issuing company: the Sky Protocol (formerly MakerDAO), open-source smart contracts
- Operator
- Skybase International runs the sky.money interface only; its terms are under Cayman Islands law
- Management
- Sky governance: SKY holders vote, and approved changes execute on-chain after an enforced delay
- Regulator / licence
- None named; Skybase International states it is not a financial service provider of any kind
- Other tokens
- USDS, DAI, sUSDS, sDAI, stUSDS, SKY (MKR converts to SKY at 1:24,000)
- Launched
- Sky says the protocol has worked on stablecoin infrastructure since 2017
Questions and answers
Who issues DAI?
DAI is issued by Sky Protocol.
Can I redeem DAI with the issuer?
Anyone, on-chain through the protocol.
Does DAI pay yield?
Optional savings rate: DAI Savings Rate (sDAI).
How is DAI regulated?
a protocol, not a regulated issuer.
Which networks is DAI on?
According to the issuer, DAI is issued on 1 network: Ethereum. Stablecoin scanner ACHIVX indexes DAI on: Ethereum, Optimism, Base, Arbitrum One.
What backs DAI?
The same Sky Protocol collateral as USDS: on 27 October 2026 about $12.67bn of collateral backed $10.64bn of debt, according to Sky's dashboard.
What is the difference between DAI and USDS?
Both come from the same Sky Protocol issuance source and can be converted 1:1 at any time; fees on the converter cannot be enabled.
Can I swap DAI for USDC?
Yes. Anyone can swap DAI for USDC 1:1 through the LitePSM, currently without fees, though governance could enable them. No company redeems DAI for dollars.
Is DAI audited?
Sky does not publish an accountant's attestation or audit of the collateral; the figures come from on-chain data on Sky's dashboard.
Can DAI be frozen?
Sky's docs describe no freeze or blacklist function in the DAI token contract. On Ethereum the issuer cannot freeze it. On Optimism, Base, Arbitrum One it is a bridged version of the token; the issuer cannot freeze it there.
Learn more
- Who issues DAI, what backs it and what the issuer can do — ACHIVX Academy
- Open DAI in Stablecoin scanner ACHIVX
More questions in ACHIVX Academy
- Can DAI be frozen?
- Where does the Sky Savings Rate come from — and who sets it?
- Which stablecoins can be frozen, and by whom?
- Which stablecoins can be frozen on each network, and how large is each record?
- Is USDS safe? What Sky's own documents say
- How do the stablecoins compare — nine on ACHIVX Stablecoin Scanner and seven more?
Sources
- Sky — sky.money
- Skybase International — Terms of Use (1 Sep 2026)
- Skybase International — User Risks (1 Sep 2026)
- Sky ecosystem dashboard info.sky.money — API /groups/ and /overall/ (27 Oct 2026)
- Sky developers — USDS token
- Sky developers — LitePSM
- Sky developers — Protocol Token Routes
- Sky chainlog — mainnet active addresses
- Sky developers — DAI token
- Sky developers — Pot (DSR)
Similar stablecoins
Related
- PayPal USD (PYUSD)
- Ethena USDe (USDe)
- World Liberty Financial USD (USD1)
- USD Coin (USDC)
- USDT0
- Tether USD₮ (USDT)
- First Digital USD (FDUSD)
- TrueUSD (TUSD)
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