A small-cap biotech best known for wound care products is walking away from pharmaceuticals entirely, having just announced a full rebrand to Stablecoin Development Corporation (SDC) and a new ticker, SDEV, expected to begin trading April 3rd.
• The Pivot: The company, formerly NovaBay, disclosed it now holds more than 2 billion SKY tokens, or roughly 8.8% of total supply (~$150 million). The tokens were acquired through open-market purchases and a $134 million January private placement backed by Framework Ventures, Tether Investments, and Sky Frontier Foundation. SDC has begun staking the holdings, having earned ~26.6 million SKY tokens in rewards so far.
• The Model: SDC describes its new approach as an "onchain holding company" focused on long-duration protocol participation, with SKY currently its only approved digital asset. Returns are tied to Sky's staking rate (currently above 10%) plus governance participation rather than token price appreciation alone.
• Sky Context: SKY is the flagship token of the Sky Protocol, formerly MakerDAO, which issues the USDS stablecoin and earns revenue through onchain lending and other DeFi activity. SKY is up nearly 28% year to date even as broader crypto markets have declined.
• Market Reaction: Novabay's shares jumped 19% on the announcement to around $1.38, though the stock remains down more than 95% year to date.