The battle over who will issue Hyperliquid’s native stablecoin , USDH, has a new heavyweight entrant. Sky, formerly known as MakerDAO, submitted a proposal to power USDH that leans on its $8 billion balance sheet, seven-year operating history, and a B- S&P credit rating – the first ever issued to a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol. Hyperliquid, which handled nearly $400 billion in trading volume last month, has invited issuers to compete for the right to deploy USDH. The exchange holds $5.5 billion in USDC deposits, roughly 7.5% of that stablecoin’s supply, making the contract one of the most lucrative in DeFi. Validators are set to vote on September 14, with the Hyperliquid Foundation abstaining. Sky’s proposal highlights features few rivals can match. It offers 4.85% returns on all USDH held on Hyperliquid, a rate above Treasury bills, with revenue earmarked for HYPE buybacks and the Assistance Fund. It also pledges $2.2 billion in instant redemption liquidity through its Peg Stability Module, giving institutional traders confidence they can move in and out at scale. Beyond yield and liquidity, Sky is promising ecosystem investment. Its proposal includes a $25 million “Hyperliquid Genesis Star,” modeled after Spark, a token farm within Sky that has attracted more than $1 billion in TVL. Sky said this would bootstrap DeFi on Hyperliquid and potentially attract billions in deposits. The protocol also pledged to migrate its native buyback engine, with more than $250 million in annual profits, onto Hyperliquid. Other bidders have framed their offers differently. Paxos pledged 95% of reserve earnings to HYPE buybacks alongside a zero-fee USDC migration. Frax offered a “community-first” wrapper model where 100% of Treasury yield would flow directly to users. Agora, backed by State Street, VanEck, and MoonPay, promised 100% of net revenue into HYPE buybacks and stressed neutrality. Native Markets, aligned with Stripe’s Bridge , has faced community pushback over potential conflicts of interest tied to Stripe’s Tempo blockchain and its ownership of wallet provider Privy. With Ethena hinting at its own bid , validators face a crowded field when they head to the virtual polls in a few days. The decision will determine not only how USDH is structured, Genius-compliant, user-yielding, or Hyper-native, but also whether Hyperliquid’s monetary layer is tied to a legacy stablecoin giant, a DeFi-native upstart, or a corporate payments firm with blockchain ambitions.
