[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] Standard Chartered forecast that Sky’s governance token, SKY, could rise about fivefold from current levels to reach $0.325 by the end of 2028.

The forecast was included in a note by Geoff Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, blockchain media outlet The Defiant reported on Thursday local time.

The note set a base price for SKY at $0.065 and presented targets of $0.080 in 2026, $0.180 in 2027 and $0.325 in 2028. On CoinGecko, SKY traded at $0.06 on Thursday, up 2.4 percent on the day and 11 percent over the past 30 days. Its market capitalisation was tallied at $1.4 billion.

Standard Chartered cited expansion of the Sky ecosystem and growth in outstanding USDS issuance as key grounds for the forecast. Kendrick estimated that the value Sky transfers to SKY holders will increase fivefold from current levels by the end of 2028. If other conditions remain the same, he said, that would translate into a fivefold rise in the SKY price.

Sky issues stablecoins and receives interest from borrowers that has the character of a wholesale interest rate. The note described the Sky ecosystem as having a structure similar to the Federal Reserve. It listed revenue sources as net interest income from agent borrowing, revenue from a USDC-based peg stability module and crypto-collateralised vaults.

Agents are at the centre of the growth mechanism. The note defined agents as decentralised capital allocators that operate like on-chain fund managers. They borrow USDS, deploy capital into a range of yield strategies and compete on returns. Kendrick described the model as "effectively a way of outsourcing ecosystem growth".

Borrowing volumes also rose rapidly. Since the agent model was introduced in September 2024, cumulative borrowing has been put at $5.9 billion. In Sky’s June financial update, total deployments by prime agents topped $5.5 billion. Allocation volumes were $1.24 billion for Janus Henderson, $713 million for BlackRock’s BUIDL and $260 million for Anchorage.

The note pointed to USDS circulation as a variable directly linked to profitability. It said, "Over time, the key to growing profits is an increase in outstanding USDS issuance." Total USDS supply on Ethereum was 6.62 billion tokens. Sky tallied USDS supply at $10.04 billion in June and $11.14 billion in May. In a fourth-quarter 2025 update, it also forecast that USDS supply would rise to $20.6 billion in 2026, up 124 percent from the previous year.

It also set out risk factors. Standard Chartered specified that "the biggest risk is if the growth pace of yield-bearing stablecoins is slower than expected." USDS currently ranks third at $6.66 billion on DeFiLlama, behind Tether at $183.38 billion and Circle’s USDC at $74.38 billion. Sky also issues DAI worth $4.79 billion. The note classified Sky as the third-largest stablecoin issuer and the largest issuer of yield-bearing stablecoins.

Value accruing to SKY holders is delivered through staking rewards and token buybacks. On DeFiLlama, Sky posted $27.2 million in fees and $13.45 million in revenue over the past 30 days, with $3.36 million of that going to holders. Total value locked was $5.58 billion. Sky has deployed a cumulative $120 million since launching a buyback programme in February 2025 and bought 18.6 million SKY over the past 30 days. In a June update, it also disclosed second-quarter total protocol revenue of $107.35 million and net revenue of $40.09 million.

Kendrick also presented a strong view for the next 12 months. In the memo, he said that "value transfer to SKY holders will at least double over the next 12 months" and that the SKY price will rise fivefold by the end of 2028. Standard Chartered also specified that the note is not investment solicitation or a recommendation for specific clients.

Sky changed its brand from MakerDAO to its current name in 2024. The forecast follows the same direction as other long-term crypto forecasts presented by Standard Chartered. In the same note, Kendrick set end-2028 targets of $18,000 for Ethereum and $300,000 for bitcoin. As a result, market attention is expected to focus on whether Sky’s token value assessment will be borne out through expanded stablecoin supply and its holder return structure.