sDAI

sDAI on Gnosis Chain passes through the interest that bridged DAI earns at MakerDAO, so holders earn the savings rate while using the token in DeFi like ordinary xDAI. The mechanism is simple and the yield source is named, which is more than most products in this survey can say. But with $54M TVL in the 2026-08-14 survey, the Gnosis deployment is below our size floor, so a sleeve-sized position would make up a meaningful share of it. We do not open an individual review until it clears that floor. Size alone decides the judgment, whatever the design’s quality. TVL sustained above the line reopens the file.

Review triggers: events that reopen the verdict
• TVL sustained above the retired TVL threshold for 30 days

Watched nightly: a warning on its venues or files, or a cited document that changes, reopens the memo. The first confirmation is due 2026-11-15.

The research file

Mechanism applicability

Gnosis Chain describes sDAI as an ERC-4626 savings vault for xDAI or wxDAI. The bridge invests DAI in the Ethereum sDAI vault, whose assets enter the Maker savings mechanism, then sends the resulting interest to Gnosis. Depositors receive Gnosis sDAI shares. This makes it a yield-bearing bridged vault in the survey. It is a finding about how the product fits the survey, not a full review of the bridge, Maker/Sky dependencies, or deployed versions.

Current observation and scope

The DefiLlama protocol API read on 2026-08-15 showed about $54.1M of tracked sDAI TVL on Gnosis, below the v1 dossier’s size floor. The official architecture still describes deposits, share accounting, and the interest relay, so the protocol can still be identified. We have not verified contract upgrades, keeper operation, bridge governance, savings-rate policy, audits, or incident history because the protocol remains below the size floor.

Exit applicability

The documented vault lets a holder redeem shares for xDAI or wxDAI. The Ethereum bridge keeps a minimum-cash buffer and may need permissionless refill operations to restore withdrawal liquidity. An exit therefore depends on both ERC-4626 share redemption and the cross-chain bridge’s path for invested DAI and cash management. At the current tracked size, a sleeve could make up a meaningful part of venue liquidity even though the underlying savings mechanism is much larger.

Why the class rule decides

The shared v1 below-materiality dossier decides this case because the surveyed Gnosis product is below the size floor. This is not a negative judgment about sDAI’s design. Reopen the individual review only after a reproducible survey shows TVL at or above the size floor continuously for 30 days. That review must then verify current Maker/Sky migration status, bridge and vault authorities, cash-buffer behavior, security and incident evidence, and stressed xDAI/wxDAI redemption capacity. Clearing the floor would start diligence, not grant approval.

Research status

This is a capacity-unproven record for sDAI, not a quality rejection or approval. Reported TVL says how big the venue is, not what the client owns, who can change the rules, or how a position exits at a proposed size. The individual review opens when the protocol clears the size floor.

Sources

The claims above trace to these. Where a number could not be independently verified, the thesis says so.

• Gnosis Chain Docs — Savings xDAI architecture · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: sDAI vault, Maker savings yield, interest relay, cash buffer, share redemption, keeper operations
• DefiLlama — sDAI survey record · secondary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: current TVL, Gnosis deployment, yield category

Inherited controls

The research above describes the protocol layer. Every position also inherits the asset it holds and the chain it settles on. The layer with the most administrative power sets the position’s effective control; that describes control, not quality or suitability.