Sky Dollar (USDS) is doing what a dollar-pegged stablecoin is supposed to do on Dec. 18, 2025: hover very close to $1.00.
Across major price trackers, USDS is trading around the $0.999–$1.000 level today, with only tiny intraday wiggles that typically reflect liquidity, venue-to-venue pricing differences, and short-term demand for on-chain “cash” during periods of crypto volatility. [1]
But here’s the more interesting story for readers looking beyond the penny-wide moves: stablecoins are rapidly becoming mainstream financial infrastructure, with fresh headlines today spanning fintech launches, payments integration, regulatory follow-through, and institutional adoption. That backdrop matters for USDS—not because it should “moon,” but because it can influence USDS usage, supply growth, liquidity, and perceived risk (the real levers for a stablecoin’s health). [2]
USDS USD price today: live levels, range, and key metrics
As of Dec. 18, 2025, Sky Dollar (USDS) is quoted at about $0.9995 on MetaMask’s price page, which also shows a 24-hour range of roughly $0.9986 to $1.00. [3]
Other major trackers are consistent with that “basically $1” picture:
- CoinGecko’s USDS/USD conversion data shows USDS near $0.9993 for Dec. 18, 2025 in its daily table. [4]
- CoinMarketCap lists USDS at $1.00 with reported 24-hour volume and a large circulating supply figure. [5]
- A live crypto quote feed shows $1.00 with an intraday high near $1.001 and low near $0.9983.
Market cap and volume can vary by data provider (and why that’s not necessarily a red flag)
Depending on the source, you may see different market cap and volume estimates for USDS on the same day. For example:
- MetaMask displays a market cap around $9.92B and 24h volume around $21.08M. [6]
- CoinMarketCap displays a market cap around $9.92B, circulating supply around 9.916B USDS, and a different 24h volume figure. [7]
Those differences usually come from which exchanges and on-chain venues are counted, how “real volume” is filtered, and how cross-chain activity is aggregated. For stablecoins, it’s common for the “price” to look nearly identical everywhere while the “volume” and “market cap” differ across dashboards. [8]
What is USDS? A quick explainer (Sky Dollar vs. ticker lookalikes)
USDS is Sky Dollar, the decentralized stablecoin of Sky Protocol (the rebranded successor to MakerDAO). Sky’s own documentation and Maker’s whitepaper describe USDS as collateral-backed and soft-pegged to the U.S. dollar, similar in purpose to DAI, with an on-chain system designed to keep the token near $1. [9]
Sky also supports 1:1 conversion between DAI and USDS via a converter in the ecosystem—an important plumbing feature for liquidity and peg stability. [10]
Important: “USDS” is a ticker that can be confusing
Some platforms list a different asset also branded as “USDS,” sometimes with a different contract address and a much smaller supply. For example, one major exchange page labels “USDS Stablecoin” and shows a contract address beginning 0x820c…, which is not the same as Sky Dollar’s Ethereum contract address. [11]
If you’re tracking Sky Dollar (USDS) specifically, verify the official Ethereum contract address:
- Sky Dollar (USDS) contract (Ethereum):
0xdc035d45d973e3ec169d2276ddab16f1e407384f[12]
That one detail prevents an amazing number of avoidable mistakes.
Why USDS stays near $1: the peg mechanism in plain English
Stablecoins like USDS are engineered to behave less like a speculative asset and more like digital cash:
- Collateral-backed design: USDS is described as collateral-backed and soft-pegged to the dollar, meaning the system is built to keep it close to $1, not to chase upside. [13]
- Convertibility and arbitrage: If USDS trades slightly below $1 on a venue, arbitrageurs can often buy it cheaply and redeem/convert through available pathways, pushing the market back toward the peg (the exact mechanics depend on venue and route). [14]
- Liquidity and “stress behavior” matter more than headlines: In calm markets, you usually see a tight range like $0.998–$1.002. In stressed markets, the peg can wobble if liquidity thins or if market participants doubt redemption pathways. [15]
A useful mental model: USDS is like a thermostat set to $1. The question isn’t “will it go up,” it’s “how well does it hold temperature when someone opens the windows?”
What’s in the news on Dec. 18, 2025 — and why USDS holders should care
USDS itself hasn’t “broken out” today (again: it’s not supposed to). But stablecoins as a category are having a very newsy day, and those developments influence the environment USDS lives in.
1) Fintech and payments keep shipping stablecoins into the real world
Several Dec. 18 headlines underscore that stablecoins are increasingly treated as mainstream settlement tools:
- SoFi announced the launch of “SoFiUSD,” a dollar-pegged stablecoin, as part of a broader push into crypto and payments infrastructure. [16]
- Intuit announced a multi-year partnership with Circle to integrate stablecoin technology (USDC) across its financial platforms. [17]
- A report citing Delphi Digital said stablecoin transaction volumes now exceed Visa and PayPal on a monthly adjusted basis, alongside supply growth past $300B. [18]
For USDS, that trend doesn’t imply price appreciation—but it can support greater stablecoin acceptance, more on/off-ramps, and more competition (which is healthy… and occasionally brutal).
2) Regulation is moving from “bill” to “implementation”
In 2025, the U.S. moved toward a clearer stablecoin framework via the GENIUS Act, including explicit reserve expectations in official communications. [19]
And the follow-through is now getting specific:
- A major U.S. bank regulator (OCC) conditionally approved national trust bank charters for several crypto firms tied to stablecoin infrastructure, including Circle and Ripple, according to Axios. [20]
- Sullivan & Cromwell summarized an FDIC move to propose application requirements for certain bank subsidiaries seeking to issue payment stablecoins, explicitly tied to GENIUS Act implementation. [21]
For decentralized stablecoins like USDS, regulation can matter indirectly: it influences bank partnerships, exchange support, market structure, and how institutions treat on-chain dollars.
3) Macro conditions: “risk appetite” moves fast, stablecoins are where traders park
Reuters reported that the dollar moved after U.S. inflation data and major central bank decisions, highlighting a classic end-of-year macro setup where rates, FX, and risk sentiment can shift quickly. [22]
In crypto markets, that kind of uncertainty often increases demand for stablecoins as traders rotate between volatile assets and “cash on-chain.” That tends to show up more in stablecoin volumes and supply changes than in price.
Sky ecosystem signals: supply growth, savings yield, and protocol momentum
If you want a “forecast driver” for USDS, watch the ecosystem metrics rather than the price candle.
USDS supply growth has been notable into year-end
Messari reports that a Sky ecosystem year-end analysis (based on data as of Dec. 15, 2025) showed USDS supply increased by 86% from $5.3B to $9.86B, alongside a sharp reduction in annualized operating expenses and higher annualized operating profits. [23]
If accurate, that’s a meaningful signal: growing supply typically implies growing usage (or at least growing demand to hold USDS in DeFi strategies), which can improve liquidity and resilience—though it can also increase systemic importance.
The Sky Savings Rate (SSR) is part of the “USDS demand loop”
On Sky’s own site today, the Sky Savings Rate (SSR) is shown at 4.00%, with “Save USDS” positioned as a core use case and TVL shown around $5B for that module. [24]
That matters because stablecoins increasingly compete on:
- trust and redemption,
- liquidity,
- and yield / utility (especially in DeFi).
USDS price forecast: what to expect next (and what could break the peg)
Because USDS is a stablecoin, most “price forecasts” are really peg-stability forecasts.
Base case forecast (next 24 hours to 30 days): USDS stays near $1.00
Given today’s tight trading range across trackers and the stablecoin’s design purpose, the most likely near-term path is continued trading very close to $1, with small deviations driven by liquidity and venue-specific flows. [25]
A realistic expectation under normal conditions is something like:
- Typical range: ~$0.998 to $1.002
- Short-lived wicks (brief moves beyond that band) are possible during market stress, exchange outages, or temporary on-chain liquidity imbalances.
Risk case forecast: mild depeg episodes remain possible in broader market stress
Two credible, non-hype reminders:
- The Federal Reserve published research this week noting that during the Silicon Valley Bank episode, multiple stablecoins (including Dai) lost their peg, and the depegs were alleviated after coordinated government actions to protect depositors. [26]
- The Bank Policy Institute (BPI) explains that stablecoin pegs can break when institutional arbitrage and redemption dynamics don’t function smoothly in stress, even if assets are “high quality,” because market structure and redemption access can choke. [27]
USDS is not USDC, and Sky’s architecture differs from fully custodial stablecoins—but the general lesson travels: pegs are behavioral and structural, not magical.
What published “USDS price predictions” say today (and how to read them without getting hypnotized)
A lot of crypto sites publish “price predictions” for everything—including stablecoins. On Dec. 18, 2025, several widely indexed pages show forecasts such as:
- Bitget’s model projects USDS around $0.9999 today and similar levels across upcoming dates/months (i.e., essentially $1). [28]
- Kraken’s prediction tool produces values like $1.05 in 2026 based on a user-supplied assumption of 5% annual change—important context, because stablecoins are designed not to trend upward like that. [29]
- CryptoPredictions publishes a much wider, volatile range (including sub-$0.80 numbers in its December view), which reads more like a generic crypto model than a stablecoin-specific framework. [30]
- CoinDataFlow similarly shows a scenario-style forecast that can dip below $1 in coming weeks. [31]
Here’s the sober interpretation: for stablecoins, “price prediction” pages often reflect template-driven models that aren’t truly designed around peg mechanics, redemption pathways, collateral quality, or liquidity structure. The more meaningful “forecast” is whether USDS:
- remains liquid on major venues,
- retains confidence in collateral and governance,
- and maintains functioning conversion/redemption routes during stress.
How to track USDS safely (and avoid the wrong token)
If you’re following USDS price today and forecast content for publishing or trading, do these two things every time:
- Verify you’re tracking Sky Dollar (USDS) by contract address, not ticker alone. MetaMask lists Sky Dollar (USDS) with the Ethereum contract address
0xdc035…7384f. [32] - Cross-check price with at least two independent trackers (e.g., CoinGecko + CoinMarketCap, or MetaMask + another feed). Small deviations are normal; bigger deviations deserve investigation. [33]
Bottom line
USDS USD price today (Dec. 18, 2025) is effectively $1.00, with minor fluctuations inside a tight band. [34]
The bigger “forecast” story is about stablecoins becoming mainstream plumbing—with today’s headlines spanning new launches, payments integrations, and the ongoing build-out of U.S. regulatory implementation. That environment can shape USDS’s growth and resilience even when the price stays pinned near $1. [35]
References
1. metamask.io, 2. www.barrons.com, 3. metamask.io, 4. www.coingecko.com, 5. coinmarketcap.com, 6. metamask.io, 7. coinmarketcap.com, 8. metamask.io, 9. makerdao.com, 10. developers.sky.money, 11. www.okx.com, 12. metamask.io, 13. makerdao.com, 14. developers.sky.money, 15. bpi.com, 16. www.barrons.com, 17. www.investing.com, 18. stocktwits.com, 19. home.treasury.gov, 20. www.axios.com, 21. www.sullcrom.com, 22. www.reuters.com, 23. messari.io, 24. sky.money, 25. metamask.io, 26. www.federalreserve.gov, 27. bpi.com, 28. www.bitget.com, 29. www.kraken.com, 30. cryptopredictions.com, 31. coindataflow.com, 32. metamask.io, 33. www.coingecko.com, 34. metamask.io, 35. www.barrons.com
