Key points:

Bitcoin long-term holders are about to hit a level of unrealized profit, which has traditionally caused them to sell.

That level coincides with the return to a six-figure BTC price.

Order book data suggests that bulls may not succeed in keeping the upside going.

Bitcoin (BTC) risks a “notable increase” in selling from its older investors if price rises further, warns onchain analytics firm Glassnode.

In the latest edition of its regular newsletter, “The Week Onchain,” researchers calculated that long-term holders (LTHs) are sitting on almost 350% unrealized profits.

Bitcoin sell-side odds in line for crucial test

Bitcoin at multimonth highs will tempt an increasing number of hodlers to take profits — including so-called “diamond hands.”

Using a variety of metrics to track investor profitability, Glassnode shows that aggregate LTH unrealized profits are now nearing 350% — a key historical level.

“Having established that the LTH cohort is expressing a preference to hold onto their supply, we can attempt to quantify the potential price levels required to entice them to part with their coins, and commence the next wave of profit taking,” it explains.

LTH refers to entities holding BTC for more than six months. For Glassnode, the key price area to watch for changes in their behavior is the $100,000 zone.

“Historically speaking, the Long-Term Holder cohort typically ramps up their spending pressure when the average member is holding a +350% unrealized profit margin,” it explains.

“Reconciling this information with the spot price, the average LTH is expected to hit a 350% profit margin at the $99.9k level. As such, we can anticipate an uptick in sell-side pressure as the market approaches this zone, making it an area that will likely require substantial buy-side demand to absorb the distribution, and sustain upwards momentum.”Bitcoin LTH profit levels (screenshot). Source: GlassnodeTrader: BTC price upside potential “looks thin”

BTC/USD reached $97,500 this week before cooling off — its highest since Feb. 21, per data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.

Related: Bitcoin eyes gains as macro data makes US recession 2025 ‘base case’

While more than $20,000 above its recent lows, Bitcoin is not yet convincing traders that it can return to classic bull market behavior.

Popular trader TheKingfisher pointed to order book liquidity as one sign that sellers may take revenge on the recovery.

“Massive wall of LONG liquidations stacked up under ~$91k. Shorts above current price ($96.6k)? Barely anything significant,” he wrote in part of an X post on May 1.

“Huge imbalance suggests potential downside magnet is strong. High risk for longs near current levels. Upside fuel looks thin for now.”Bitcoin exchange order book liquidity data. Source: TheKingfisher/X

Glassnode also acknowledged the need to demonstrate key resistance/support flips, referencing the 111-day simple moving average (SMA) and the aggregate cost basis of Bitcoin speculators, known as short-term holders (STHs).

“The price has recently surged above both of these pricing models, and is now attempting to consolidate within this zone. This highlights a noteworthy degree of strength behind this upwards swing,” it commented. 

“However, these are levels that must be broken and held for further price appreciation, as a rejection of this level would push the price back into bearish territory, and return many investors to a state of meaningful unrealized loss.”BTC/USD chart with 11-day SMA, STH realized price. Source: Glassnode

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

As the crypto space developed, blockchain use cases expanded from simple digital currencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to more complex areas such as digital identity verification and telecommunications. 

Ahead of the Token2049 event in Dubai, Cointelegraph spoke with Spacecoin CEO Stuart Gardner, Spacecoin founder Tae Oh, and Humanity Protocol founder Terrence Kwok to explore how they use blockchain to improve certain industries. 

From addressing challenges like verification in the artificial intelligence era to bringing internet connectivity to developing countries, projects are integrating blockchain to solve problems in different industries.  

Digital identity verification to combat the AI threat 

As artificial intelligence developed, the technology brought improvements that people could benefit from. However, the technology was also adopted by malicious actors who used the tech to perform AI-assisted hack research and deepfake scams.  

Kwok told Cointelegraph that just two years ago, the idea of having to prove you’re human seemed “crazy.” However, with today’s advancements in AI, it has become remarkably easy to fake being a real person.

“As for content, you can’t tell if it’s AI-generated or not. Video deepfakes, you cannot tell, right? Even documents. It’s super easy now to use AI to create a fake proof of address, a fake proof of balance for your bank statement. I think in the future it’s only going to get worse,” he said. 

The executive also said that in the future, AI may also exist in the physical world through humanoids that might mimic human beings. In 2024, Tesla’s humanoid robot project was showcased on social media, highlighting developments in humanoid robotics. 

Kwok said that the development of robots underscores the need for human identity verification even more. The executive said that this was why they launched the Humanity Protocol, which uses blockchain tech for digital identity verification. 

“The internet is filled with bots, you know, it’s filled with AI agents. They’re great, but there’s also a need to be able to verify and check whether something or somebody is a person or not,” Kwok told Cointelegraph. 

Terrence Kwok (left) and Cointelegraph’s Ezra Reguerra at the Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club. Source: Cointelegraph

Related: Global demand grows for non-dollar stablecoins, says Fireblocks exec

Decentralized satellite network to combat the connectivity oligopoly

Apart from digital identity, blockchain technology is also being used to create a decentralized satellite network. 

Gardner told Cointelegraph that at the moment, the satellite connectivity landscape is an oligopoly, a market structure where the industry is dominated by only a few large players. 

The executive pointed out that Starlink and Amazon lead the race, while the EU and China are catching up. However, the big problem is that over 150 countries are lagging behind. 

“They’re going to become reliant upon working with one of these oligopolies for their connectivity. And that poses a big issue for these people,” Gardner added. 

On Nov. 1, Spacecoin unveiled a plan to launch a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) through a fleet of nanosatellites in space. 

Oh told Cointelegraph that the Spacecoin idea came from the observation that the space industry is getting heavily commoditized. However, the executive said that it was possible for smaller companies or even individuals to launch their own satellites and start building constellations for connectivity. 

The Spacecoin founder added that since different people or entities own each satellite, it’s essentially a “decentralized network.” 

The executive said that they integrated crypto into the project to have a “trustless means of payment and data exchange.” Oh said that this was where the blockchain comes in. 

Gardner (left), Oh (center), and Reguerra at the Crypto Polo event in Dubai. Source: Cointelegraph

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

As the crypto space developed, blockchain use cases expanded from simple digital currencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to more complex areas such as digital identity verification and telecommunications. 

Ahead of the Token2049 event in Dubai, Cointelegraph spoke with Spacecoin CEO Stuart Gardner, Spacecoin founder Tae Oh, and Humanity Protocol founder Terrence Kwok to explore how they use blockchain to improve certain industries. 

From addressing challenges like verification in the artificial intelligence era to bringing internet connectivity to developing countries, projects are integrating blockchain to solve problems in different industries.  

Digital identity verification to combat the AI threat 

As artificial intelligence developed, the technology brought improvements that people could benefit from. However, the technology was also adopted by malicious actors who used the tech to perform AI-assisted hack research and deepfake scams.  

Kwok told Cointelegraph that proving that you’re a human seemed like a “crazy” idea about two years ago. However, today’s AI technology has made it very easy to fake being a real human. 

“As for content, you can’t tell if it’s AI-generated or not. Video deepfakes, you cannot tell, right? Even documents. It’s super easy now to use AI to create a fake proof of address, a fake proof of balance for your bank statement. I think in the future it’s only going to get worse,” he said. 

The executive also said that in the future, AI may also exist in the physical world through humanoids that might mimic human beings. In 2024, Tesla’s humanoid robot project was showcased on social media, highlighting developments in humanoid robotics. 

Kwok said that the development of robots underscores the need for human identity verification even more. The executive said that this was why they launched the Humanity Protocol, which uses blockchain tech for digital identity verification. 

“The internet is filled with bots, you know, it’s filled with AI agents. They’re great, but there’s also a need to be able to verify and check whether something or somebody is a person or not,” Kwok told Cointelegraph. 

Terrence Kwok (left) and Ezra Reguerra (right) at the Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club. Source: Cointelegraph

Related: Global demand grows for non-dollar stablecoins, says Fireblocks exec

Decentralized satellite network to combat the connectivity oligopoly

Apart from digital identity, blockchain technology is also being used to create a decentralized satellite network. 

Gardner told Cointelegraph that at the moment, the satellite connectivity landscape is an oligopoly, a market structure where the industry is dominated by only a few large players. 

The executive pointed out that Starlink and Amazon lead the race, while the EU and China are catching up. However, the big problem is that over 150 countries are lagging behind. 

“They’re going to become reliant upon working with one of these oligopolies for their connectivity. And that poses a big issue for these people,” Gardner added. 

On Nov. 1, Spacecoin unveiled a plan to launch a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) through a fleet of nanosatellites in space. 

Oh told Cointelegraph that the Spacecoin idea came from the observation that the space industry is getting heavily commoditized. However, the executive said that it was possible for smaller companies or even individuals to launch their own satellites and start building constellations for connectivity. 

The Spacecoin founder added that since different people or entities own each satellite, it’s essentially a “decentralized network.” 

The executive said that they integrated crypto into the project to have a “trustless means of payment and data exchange.” Oh said that this was where the blockchain comes in. 

Gardner (left) and Oh (middle) at the Crypto Polo event in Dubai. Source: Cointelegraph

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

Online discussions about memecoins have hit a year-to-date high, gaining considerable attention after sentiment cooled earlier in the year, according to onchain analytics platform Santiment. 

Two weeks ago, discussions around Bitcoin (BTC) and layer-1 protocols peaked during the market volatility brought on by the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs. However, that’s since shifted to high market cap memecoins, Santiment marketing director Brian Quinlivan said in a May 1 blog post.

“Online discussions about these high-risk tokens have proliferated as traders embrace a gamble mindset, rather than a calculated investment approach,” he said.

“This is a telltale sign that traders are increasingly investing based solely on speculation and short-term gains,” Quinlivan added.

Online discussions about memecoins have hit a 2025 high, surpassing discussions about Bitcoin. Source: Santiment

Quinlivan said the overall crypto market rose 10% in the past eight days, but Bitcoin only gained 7%, which indicates traders are flocking to more speculative assets.

“Any time Bitcoin leads an initial rally and then begins to move sideways, investors generally start taking bigger risks in hopes of scoring even higher returns through more speculative and riskier purchases,” he said.

Dogecoin discussions spike on ETF news

In particular, Dogecoin (DOGE) has seen a notable spike in positive crowd sentiment after a major decline in crowd interest during April, as various applications for DOGE exchange-traded funds were filed in the US.

Despite the Securities and Exchange Commission delaying its decision on these filings until mid-June, Quinlivan says traders are in a state of cautious anticipation.

“Until late April, DOGE had been on a major decline in terms of crowd interest. But its social dominance has spiked to its highest level in nearly three months, as the conversations and filings surrounding Nasdaq’s ETF listings have risen,” he said.

Dogecoin has seen a notable spike in positive crowd sentiment. Source: Santiment

DefiLlama data shows PumpSwap, the decentralized exchange of the memecoin launch platform Pump.Fun saw a spike to $11 billion in monthly trading volume during April after recording only $1.7 billion in March.

Related: Crypto token failures soar, with 1 in 4 launched since 2021 dying in Q1: CoinGecko

Meanwhile, Pump.Fun’s monthly trading volume rose to $3.3 billion in April, up from $2.5 billion in March.

Memecoin activity exploded after the launch of US President Donald Trump’s memecoin on Jan. 18, with Pump.fun usage recording a high of $3.3 billion in weekly trading volume.

However, traders soon cooled on memecoins. CoinGecko founder Bobby Ong said in a March 6 report that memecoin investor interest dropped after a series of bad launches, noting the fallout from the Libra (LIBRA) token launch in February as a significant catalyst. 

Magazine: Mystery celeb memecoin scam factory, HK firm dumps Bitcoin: Asia Express

Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms reported its highest-ever quarterly revenue, but still posted a loss as mining costs have nearly doubled compared to the same period last year amid efforts to expand its facilities.

“We achieved a new record for quarterly revenue this quarter, at $161.4 million,” Riot CEO Jason Les said in a May 1 report for its first quarter 2025 earnings. The company just surpassed Wall Street estimates of $159.79 million by 1%.

Riot’s Q1 revenue was a 50% jump compared to the same quarter a year ago.

Riot blames “halving event” for expenses

The firm reported a net loss of $296,367 over Q1, a 240% decrease from the $211,777 net income it posted in the year-ago quarter.

Riot said that the average cost to mine Bitcoin (BTC) over the quarter was $43,808, almost 90% more than the $23,034 it cost to mine Bitcoin in the same period last year.

“The increase was primarily driven by the block subsidy ‘halving’ event, which occurred in April 2024, and a 41% increase in the average global network hashrate as compared to the same period in 2024,” Riot said.

Shares in Riot Platforms (RIOT) closed May 1 trading up 7.32%, trading at $7.77, according to Google Finance.

Riot Platforms is down 13.47% over the past six months. Source: Google Finance

Meanwhile, Riot produced 166 more Bitcoin during the quarter than it did over the same period in 2024. At the time of publication, with Bitcoin trading at $97,072, that equates to approximately $16.13 million.

Related: Bitcoin miner Phoenix Group adds 52 MW of mining capacity in Ethiopia

Riot currently holds 19,223 unencumbered Bitcoin, worth approximately $1.86 billion at the time of publication.

On April 23, Riot announced that it had used its massive Bitcoin stockpile as collateral to secure a $100 million credit facility from Coinbase as the cryptocurrency miner eyes continued expansion. 

Les said the $100 million loan from Coinbase’s credit arm marked Riot’s “first Bitcoin-backed facility.”

Magazine: Japanese porn star’s coin red flags, Alibaba-linked L2 runs at 100K TPS: Asia Express

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

The US Treasury Department wants to block the Cambodia-based Huione Group from accessing the US banking system, accusing it of helping North Korea’s state-backed Lazarus Group to launder its crypto.

The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed on May 1 to prohibit US financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent or payable-through accounts for or on behalf of the Huione Group.

Huione Group has established itself as the “marketplace of choice for malicious cyber actors” like the Lazarus Group, who have “stolen billions of dollars from everyday Americans,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a May 1 statement.

“Today’s proposed action will sever Huione Group’s access to correspondent banking, degrading these groups’ ability to launder their ill-gotten gains.”

Huione Group has set up a network of businesses, which includes payment service platform Huione Pay PLC, the crypto exchange Huione Crypto, and Haowang Guarantee, an online marketplace offering illicit goods and services.

Although the conglomerate doesn’t have correspondent accounts with US financial institutions, it has accounts with foreign firms with US correspondent accounts, FinCEN noted in its rulemaking submission.

The proposed rule is subject to a 30-day public comment period before it can take effect.

Source: ChainalysisHuione expanded into sophisticated cybercrime network

FinCEN claimed that Huione Group has laundered at least $4 billion worth of illicit proceeds between August 2021 and January 2025, including more than $36 million from crypto pig butchering scams.

At least $37 million worth of the crypto laundered has been linked to North Korea’s “cyber heists,” the Treasury said.

Haowang Guarantee has made Huione Group a “one stop shop” for criminals to launder crypto obtained through illicit activities, and ultimately convert it to fiat currency, the Treasury said.

Related: North Korean crypto attacks rising in sophistication, actors — Paradigm

The conglomerate has also created a US dollar-pegged stablecoin, the US Dollar Huione (USDH), which FinCEN said cannot be frozen and helps to carry out money laundering activities.

The National Bank of Cambodia has stated that payment firms aren’t allowed to deal or trade digital assets in the country and had revoked the company’s local banking license in March.

Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed to drop another of its crypto lawsuits, this time its unregistered securities sales case against crypto influencer and YouTuber Ian Balina. 

The SEC said in a May 1 joint stipulation with Balina to an Austin federal court that it “believes the dismissal of this case is appropriate,” citing the work of the agency’s Crypto Task Force.

The agency didn’t give a reason for wanting to dismiss its case, but said its decision “does not necessarily reflect the Commission’s position on any other case.”

Balina told Cointelegraph in March that the SEC had informed him it would recommend the court dismiss the case and claimed the agency’s actions were based on a shift in the agency’s priorities.

“Obviously, the new administration is pro-crypto,” Balina said. The SEC has seen a change in leadership under US President Donald Trump, who appointed former crypto lobbyist Paul Atkins to chair the agency.

The joint stipulation argued a dismissal would also conserve the court’s resources “without costs or fees to either party.”

Balina is the CEO of Token Metrics, a crypto influencer with 140,000 followers on X, and a YouTuber whom the SEC accused of improperly promoting crypto projects, particularly during the initial coin offering (ICO) boom circa 2017.

The SEC sued Balina in 2022, alleging that he conducted an unregistered securities offering of Sparkster (SPRK) tokens when he formed an investing pool on Telegram in 2018.

The SEC claimed that US-based investors participated in Balina’s investing pool, using Ether (ETH), which was validated by a network of nodes “which are clustered more densely in the United States than in any other country.”

Related: SEC drops investigation into PayPal’s stablecoin

The court sided with the SEC and, in May 2024, ruled that SPRK was an investment contract under US securities laws, where investors pooled money into a common enterprise expecting profits due to the efforts of others.

Excerpt of the joint stipulation. Source: PACERShift in crypto policy

The move is the latest in a long list of crypto-related court actions that the SEC has quashed under the Trump administration’s favorable stance toward the industry. 

Over the past month, it has dropped several cases and abandoned multiple investigations against crypto firms, including against Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, OpenSea and PayPal’s stablecoin. 

Magazine: Japanese porn star’s coin red flags, Alibaba-linked L2 runs at 100K TPS: Asia Express

Decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform Sky has pitched a proposal to finalize its upgrade from Maker by replacing its governance token and enabling staking.

The proposal, posted on May 1 to Sky’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) forum, would see the Sky (SKY) token take over the Maker (MKR) token as the protocol’s governance token.

If the DAO accepts, the change would be slated to take place around May 15 to May 19 and downgrading from SKY to MKR would also be disabled.

Sky co-founder Rune Christensen said in response to the proposal that it was a “huge milestone,” which he “fully supports,” and laments that allowing users to downgrade from SKY back to MKR has been a “key limiting factor preventing exchanges from adopting SKY.”

“With this change, exchanges are likely to move faster in quickly adopting SKY without concerns about fracturing liquidity,” he said.

Source: Sky

Penalties on MKR holders who are slow in switching to SKY have also been proposed. 

According to the proposal, a 1% delayed upgrade penalty would apply to all MKR to SKY upgrades starting Sept. 18, increasing every three months. Users hit with a delayed upgrade penalty will also obtain fewer SKY tokens.

Sky staking, temporary pause on liquidations

Christensen said the most important change would be to see SKY staking enabled as part of the changes to the protocol.

Rewards for its decentralized stablecoin, USDS, which are based on the income the Sky Protocol generates, will be enabled two or three weeks after the upgrade of the governance contract, with a splitter rate of 50%, according to Christensen.

Source: Rune Christensen

“Getting past the full upgrade of MKR to SKY is one of the last pieces missing before Sky can transition to 0 fixed costs at the end of 2025, which will ensure an even greater portion of the income the protocol generates goes to the benefit of SKY buybacks, or SKY Staking Rewards,” he said.

SKY liquidations will also be temporarily disabled while the one-way MKR to SKY transition is still in its early stages.

Related: Sky doubles down on token overhaul: Making MKR unusable, launching subDAOs

“This is necessary to prevent risk from price manipulation to the SKY and MKR price while the transition is happening,” Christensen said.

“When SKY market liquidity is restored, Sky Governance will lift the liquidation freeze and move risk parameters to long-term targets,” he added.

Maker rebranded to Sky in August last year but after confusion and negative feedback, Christensen considered going back to the original Maker name just months later.

However, a November poll saw 79% of tokenholders vote to keep the Sky brand as the back end protocol brand with no further changes.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

Decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform Sky has pitched a proposal to finalize its upgrade from Maker by replacing its governance token and enabling staking.

The proposal, posted on May 1 to Sky’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) forum, would see the Sky (SKY) token take over the Maker (MKR) token as the protocol’s governance token.

If the DAO accepts, the change would be slated to take place around May 15 to May 19 and downgrading from SKY to MKR would also be disabled.

Sky co-founder Rune Christensen said in response to the proposal that it was a “huge milestone,” which he “fully supports,” and laments that allowing users to downgrade from SKY back to MKR has been a “key limiting factor preventing exchanges from adopting SKY.”

“With this change, exchanges are likely to move faster in quickly adopting SKY without concerns about fracturing liquidity,” he said.

Source: Sky

Penalties on MKR holders who are slow in switching to SKY have also been proposed. 

According to the proposal, a 1% delayed upgrade penalty would apply to all MKR to SKY upgrades starting Sept. 18, increasing every three months. Users hit with a delayed upgrade penalty will also obtain fewer SKY tokens.

Sky staking, temporary pause on liquidations

Christensen said the most important change would be to see SKY staking enabled as part of the changes to the protocol.

Rewards for its decentralized stablecoin, USDS, which are based on the income the Sky Protocol generates, will be enabled two or three weeks after the upgrade of the governance contract, with a splitter rate of 50%, according to Christensen.

Source: Rune Christensen

“Getting past the full upgrade of MKR to SKY is one of the last pieces missing before Sky can transition to 0 fixed costs at the end of 2025, which will ensure an even greater portion of the income the protocol generates goes to the benefit of SKY buybacks, or SKY Staking Rewards,” he said.

SKY liquidations will also be temporarily disabled while the one-way MKR to SKY transition is still in its early stages.

Related: Sky doubles down on token overhaul: Making MKR unusable, launching subDAOs

“This is necessary to prevent risk from price manipulation to the SKY and MKR price while the transition is happening,” Christensen said.

“When SKY market liquidity is restored, Sky Governance will lift the liquidation freeze and move risk parameters to long-term targets,” he added.

Maker rebranded to Sky in August last year but after confusion and negative feedback, Christensen considered going back to the original Maker name just months later.

However, a November poll saw 79% of tokenholders vote to keep the Sky brand as the back end protocol brand with no further changes.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered

Decentralized finance (DeFi) lending platform Sky has pitched a proposal to finalize its upgrade from Maker by replacing its governance token and enabling staking.

The proposal, posted on May 1 to Sky’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) forum, would see the Sky (SKY) token take over the Maker (MKR) token as the protocol’s governance token.

If the DAO accepts, the change would be slated to take place around May 15 to May 19 and downgrading from SKY to MKR would also be disabled.

Sky co-founder Rune Christensen said in response to the proposal that it was a “huge milestone,” which he “fully supports,” and laments that allowing users to downgrade from SKY back to MKR has been a “key limiting factor preventing exchanges from adopting SKY.”

“With this change, exchanges are likely to move faster in quickly adopting SKY without concerns about fracturing liquidity,” he said.

Source: Sky

Penalties on MKR holders who are slow in switching to SKY have also been proposed. 

According to the proposal, a 1% delayed upgrade penalty would apply to all MKR to SKY upgrades starting Sept. 18, increasing every three months. Users hit with a delayed upgrade penalty will also obtain fewer SKY tokens.

Sky staking, temporary pause on liquidations

Christensen said the most important change would be to see SKY staking enabled as part of the changes to the protocol.

Rewards for its decentralized stablecoin, USDS, which are based on the income the Sky Protocol generates, will be enabled two or three weeks after the upgrade of the governance contract, with a splitter rate of 50%, according to Christensen.

Source: Rune Christensen

“Getting past the full upgrade of MKR to SKY is one of the last pieces missing before Sky can transition to 0 fixed costs at the end of 2025, which will ensure an even greater portion of the income the protocol generates goes to the benefit of SKY buybacks, or SKY Staking Rewards,” he said.

SKY liquidations will also be temporarily disabled while the one-way MKR to SKY transition is still in its early stages.

Related: Sky doubles down on token overhaul: Making MKR unusable, launching subDAOs

“This is necessary to prevent risk from price manipulation to the SKY and MKR price while the transition is happening,” Christensen said.

“When SKY market liquidity is restored, Sky Governance will lift the liquidation freeze and move risk parameters to long-term targets,” he added.

Maker rebranded to Sky in August last year but after confusion and negative feedback, Christensen considered going back to the original Maker name just months later.

However, a November poll saw 79% of tokenholders vote to keep the Sky brand as the back end protocol brand with no further changes.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered