S&P Makes History: Issues First-Ever Credit Rating for a DeFi Protocol

Wall Street meets crypto—whether it likes it or not.

S&P Global just dropped a bombshell on traditional finance: the first credit rating for a decentralized finance protocol. No intermediaries, no banks—just code getting judged like a Fortune 500 company.

Why this matters

DeFi protocols now face the same scrutiny as corporate bonds. Expect risk assessments on smart contract vulnerabilities, governance tokenomics, and liquidity pool stability. Translation: institutional money might finally stop pretending DeFi is "just for degenerates."

The cynical take

Watch legacy finance firms scramble to repackage this as "innovation" after years of calling DeFi a Ponzi scheme. Bonus irony: the rated protocol probably has higher transparency than most rated mortgage-backed securities.

One thing's certain—the rules just changed. Again.

S&P Global Ratings has published a B- (Stable Outlook) issuer credit rating for , previously known as Maker Protocol, marking the first time a credit rating agency has issued a credit rating for a Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocol. The news highlights the growing adoption of decentralized financial systems within the broader financial landscape.

Sky Protocol is a decentralized lending protocol on the ethereum blockchain that creates a stablecoin, USDS, when a borrower takes out a loan against a formally accepted collateral type. It also allows users to deposit their USDS stablecoins into savings vaults (akin to deposits) and receive savings tokens (savings USDS or sUSDS).  With a market cap of $7.1 billion, USDS is now the third largest stablecoin, trailing only USDT ($158 billion) and USDC ($62 billion).

“The issuance of a first ever credit rating on a DeFi protocol represents a significant milestone in the evolution of decentralized finance. It underscores our commitment to enhancing transparency in the DeFi ecosystem, providing investors with high quality insights to make informed decisions in this rapidly evolving market.”

• This credit rating provides a structured assessment of creditworthiness for protocols that have traditionally operated outside of conventional financial frameworks.
• We recently published our views on how adoption of tokenization can impact financial markets over the next 10 years (more info here). This credit rating on a DeFi protocol follows recent activity by S&P Global Ratings to assess and rate financial instruments at the intersection of traditional and decentralized finance, as we witness the early stages of this adoption:
  • Ratings on Tokenized Funds: in February and March, 2025, S&P Global Ratings assigned ratings to two tokenized funds: Janus Henderson’s Anemoy Tokenized Treasury Fund (see JH press release) and the Delta Wellington Ultra Short Treasury On-Chain Fund (More info here). Initial investors in such funds are typically the treasuries of decentralized autonomous organizations. Indeed, Sky is the main initial investor in the Janus Henderson fund and has recently announced further investment in a different Janus Henderson tokenized CLO ETF.
  • Sky’s USDS stablecoin “constrained” according to S&P’s Stablecoin Stability Assessment: S&P Global Ratings launched its Stablecoin Stability Assessments (SSAs) in December 2023, which aim to evaluate a stablecoin’s ability to maintain a stable value relative to a fiat currency. The firm currently assesses 12 stablecoins including USDS issued through the Sky protocol. S&P assesses USDSs ability to maintain its peg to the U.S. dollar at 4 (constrained). Our SSAs range from 1 (very strong) to 5 (weak) in terms of a stablecoin’s ability to maintain its peg to a fiat currency.  Click here to read our SSA report for USDS. For more information, visit our SSA website.
  • First blockchain-based mortgage securitization to receive ratings from S&P Global Ratings: S&P assigned ratings to the FIGRE Trust 2025 mortgage-backed notes in June, a Home Equity Line of Credit (“HELOC”) transaction. Figure’s origination process is fully automated and uses blockchain technology for origination as well as servicing (more info here)
• S&P Global Ratings recognizes that decentralized finance is increasingly transforming the capital markets, including an expansion in the spectrum of market participants, the creation of new asset classes, and the development of new capabilities in the execution of financial transactions.

Source: S&P