In October this year, Binance Labs announced an investment in Sophon, bringing its total funding to over $70 million. The Sophon mainnet is expected to launch next month and the token will be deployed soon.

So, what is unique about Sophon compared to most emerging public chains on the market? How will Sophon attract consumers' attention? To this end, the crypto media Blockmates had an in-depth conversation with SEB, the founder of Sophon, to explore why Sophon is an important direction for future consumer public chains.

The following is the full podcast, which is about 7,000 words and takes about 5 minutes to read.

Current state of the crypto industry

host:

Today, we have Seb, founder of Sophon, to share his insights. Seb, how are things going? What are your goals? Can you tell us about your project?

Before we dive in, I want to talk about the current state of the industry - we are at the peak of financial nihilism. The industry seems to be at some kind of crossroads, people are confused, and MEME coins are currently popular. What do you think of the current state of the industry? We can discuss it from two aspects: the current situation and future development.

Seb:

Thanks for the invitation. In my communication with friends from all over the world, I can feel the change in everyone's mentality. This year, the market is in a weak state. Although many new projects have been launched, the overall change is not significant, especially after the ECC conference. This sentiment began at the end of the bear market last year. Everyone had high expectations for 2024, but the market is still confused this year.

Although Web3 introduced many popular concepts such as account abstraction and zero-knowledge proof in 2023, the market vitality is not as expected. Especially when I went to Asia, many people were asking "what to do next?"

The rise of MEME coin is a product of such a market atmosphere. It provides people with excitement and new excitement points, and also reflects the maturity of crypto culture, integrating various art and pop culture elements.

This culture is rapidly showing up through MEME coins, where people use it to express themselves and try to make a profit. This is similar to the NFT craze in the previous cycle, with various innovative projects emerging. I think if we don’t just take a nihilistic attitude, but explore the motivations behind these phenomena, we will find many opportunities to be explored.

It’s important to focus on the infrastructure that supports these activities. In past cycles, platforms like OpenSea and Blur supported the financialization of NFTs. These are built on solid infrastructure, and now tools like pump.fun make cultural expression easier. We’ll talk more about this later.

Sophon's goal is not to provide a final product directly, but to focus on building a platform and products that support users' self-expression. Cryptocurrency users usually have independent thinking characteristics and desire to express themselves freely. Therefore, if we put aside nihilism and see the potential of cryptocurrency, we will find many opportunities worth looking forward to.

host:

From an outside perspective, Sophon's presentation is very appealing. By watching your brand presentation and talking to the team, I can sense your unique style. Our head of brand and communications is usually critical of projects, but he was full of praise for you, which shows that your brand is really unique.

Even though the current environment is full of changes and challenges, we should not ignore the bright spots. These phenomena are exactly the areas that your team can explore in depth, especially the changes in user and consumer behavior patterns on the chain, which, even if it seems off topic, actually lays the groundwork for our subsequent discussion. Can you briefly describe Sophon for readers who are not familiar with it? We will delve into the details later.

Seb:

Thank you for your recognition of our brand and visual work. This is a deliberate strategy on our part, where our creative team has full autonomy and works with top design studios to create something that is loved.

Sophon is a public blockchain for consumers and entertainment. While technical discussions are essential, I would like the public to understand the non-technical side of it. Sophon represents the next step in the crypto space, and my team is focused on building products using the selected technology stack.

I liken Sophon to early Facebook, which provides a unified account system and user interface where users can fully interact on the platform. However, in the crypto space, fragmentation in all directions poses a challenge to new users. Sophon's core goal is to bring Web2 user experience and intuitiveness to Web3, achieving a more valuable Internet experience.

User experience and infrastructure development

host:

Why has the crypto industry been stuck in an infrastructure development cycle? Do these infrastructure developments pave the way for projects like Sophon and help achieve a better user experience?

Seb:

Infrastructure is boring but critical. Like undersea cables connecting the internet or new building materials supporting tall buildings, users care about intuitive, beautiful experiences, not the technical details behind them. Our mission is to use this infrastructure to make the user experience intuitive and simple. We want new users to use Sophon by logging in with a Google account, getting a non-custodial wallet, and easily recharging their credit cards without having to understand the technical details.

Our goal is to make everything as simple and intuitive as Web2 applications. The crypto world can often seem complex, and our job is to simplify the user experience while protecting their privacy and assets.

host:

Just like the iPhone, through excellent UI/UX, users instinctively know how to operate it. How do you solve these problems? Do you have a vision and team to achieve this goal?

Seb:

My background is in philosophy and history, and I have worked in traditional finance. I focus on studying how crypto infrastructure is intuitively used, studying the interaction between users and technology, analyzing the impact of decisions made by tech giants on user behavior, and strive to apply these experiences to the crypto field and make it closer to users. Our goal is to apply these observations to the product level to make cryptocurrency more accessible and appealing to a wider audience.

host:

Is Sophon's onboarding experience significantly different from existing crypto applications? For example, using Rabby to log in to an application may cause you to have a lot of trouble, such as problems determining the security of the website, complex cross-chain operations, etc.

These are the problems that crypto users are facing now. How will Sophon improve these problems by simplifying and optimizing the user onboarding process? Can you solve these difficulties in the short term?

Seb:

There are multiple levels of answers to this question. By using ZK Stack and Elastic Chain, Sophon achieves consistency of cross-chain assets, such as USDC sharing the same contract in all environments using Elastic Chain. This design simplifies multi-chain operations and improves user experience.

Still, users can interact with the blockchain independently through tools like MetaMask. Technically savvy users can drill down into the underlying details, but we prefer to keep these complexities out of the way for most users.

We plan to explore account abstraction and payment technologies to hide the underlying complexity and thus attract more new users to the crypto space. We understand that early adopters are already there, but attracting new users is the key to a sustainable business. These new users are our target group and they want a simple and intuitive experience.

Crypto native users often switch quickly between different projects, and the market is highly competitive. In order to build a sustainable business, we need to focus on attracting new users. By building an attractive user experience, we hope to convince more people to try the new experience of cryptocurrency. This is the direction we focus on and work hard.

What kind of underlying infrastructure does Web3 need?

host:

Is Sophon more like a platform like Coinbase or Binance rather than another L1 or L2?

Seb:

In the cryptocurrency space, Solana and Base are the most popular projects for retail users. Base is a Layer 2 project under Coinbase. As a gateway to cryptocurrency in North America, it improves the developer experience and performs well by leveraging the infrastructure provided by OP Stack. Solana is also constantly innovating, especially in applications such as MEME coin.

While the protocol and network layers are well developed, there is still a lot of room for innovation at the application level. Sophon combines the efforts of the protocol and the network to ensure a comfortable experience for crypto-native users and provide the necessary infrastructure.

New applications such as NFTs for bidding on space seats and AI girlfriends are being tried. Although not all innovations will succeed, they add diversity and interest to the field.

host:

Do you think the core of the public chain needs to start with financial applications and then build other things?

Seb:

I think different business lines can be developed simultaneously. Some focus on short-term gains, others focus on medium-term development. The first users are usually crypto-native users who participate in the early stages of the platform process.

The first users will be crypto-native users because they can exist on the platform and participate in it from the beginning.

For example, if Sony launches Sonium and integrates it into the PlayStation store or other platforms, they may attract non-crypto native users, but this needs to be considered in the construction afterwards.

When users interact with the front end, they are actually interacting with a brand, an image, a culture, a community, a concept. That's what matters, not which technology or system they are using. They care about the core platform and the applications built on top of it. So if you can provide a consumer-relevant product in a very consumer-friendly way, you are more likely to attract non-crypto native users on day one.

As an example, we are currently working with some mobile game teams that have launched ready-made products on Google Play or Apple Store, have product-market fit and have a user base. They have done millions or even hundreds of millions of downloads and are now moving their business logic to the blockchain. Working with companies like this to successfully convert web 2 to web 3 businesses using the actual infrastructure of cryptocurrency will be a game changer.

Prioritize mobile devices

host:

Going a little deeper, are mobile devices important to you? People who often listen to this topic may laugh now because I always bring it up. There are not many people in the crypto industry who are pushing mobile devices, but from what I know, most people in the Eastern world are using handheld devices.

Seb:

I don’t know what the statistic is, so I’m not going to make anything up, but as far as I can remember, eighty percent of activity now happens on mobile devices.

If you look at the advertising industry right now, traditional advertising has some difficulties because from a consumer perspective, advertising now appears mainly on platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and content shot by influencers in their bedrooms. Content production is now widely consumed. Therefore, if we want to build a product focused on consuming entertainment, we must consider the current way people consume it.

Especially think about Gen Z, which is below the Millennials, and Gen Alpha is below them. That’s like my nephew’s age. If you want to build forward-looking products, you have to think about where the market is going to be in five years and ten years, and who the customer groups are and how they consume products. They consume content 100% of the time on mobile devices.

Why build on ZK Stack?

host:

Why did you choose ZK and Validium as the right technology stack to enable invisible support for crypto infrastructure that enables you to be a more consumer-centric application? Rather than opening a Phantom wallet in a browser extension like everyone else and operating on Solana?

Seb:

ZK Stack has a native account abstraction feature, which is an implementation of the 4337 contract and applies to all blockchains except Starkware and ZK Sync. It exists at the application level and creates a second memory pool. External accounts cannot use it like ZK Sync and Starkware.

The version of account abstraction they use is built at the core network layer, which means that everything that touches the network uses account abstraction. So in practice, when building something like Paymaster, you can sponsor gas fees, pay gas fees with different tokens, etc. This prepares the entire network to be more efficient, creates a memory pool, and external accounts can use it.

This is particularly attractive because the base token of the chain can be ERC20, so the base token of Sophon is the Sophon token. Few chains use their own tokens as base tokens, such as BNB, Mantle and other tokens that have performed well, and these tokens continue to develop because the token is a Gas Token.

This is very important for your token because the token is part of the project and of course you want it to go up in value. So Sophon is designed around consumer and entertainment applications that generate a lot of transactions. So, hopefully there will be applications that generate a lot of transactions and pay directly with Sophon tokens. ZK Stack allows us to achieve this. Although I also looked at other blockchain technology stacks, they were much less efficient and more expensive. We had to buy more ETH in the background and burn more of our tokens, which was not elegant.

User registration and usage journey

host:

So what will the Sophone user onboarding experience be like? Will you have your own native wallet? Can you describe the user flow? Give everyone a visual understanding so that people can imagine it.

Seb: We’re a little different. No one is going to go to Base.com specifically to use Base, I’m doing the opposite, I want people to go to Sophon.xyz.

I would like Sophon to be built in a way that it comes with a wallet and web app functionality with some chat functionality baked in. What makes it unique is that various functions and features will be available to users, allowing them to build a community culture and engage in goal-oriented interactions.

When you visit Sophon.xyz, you can log in using your Google account, key, or secure isolation. Everything is automatically created for you in the background, and if you need to check your settings or find your account, you can of course do so. But generally, the onboarding process is very smooth.

Next, Sophon will be launched as a permissioned chain. This means that only protocols, companies, and projects that we approve can be built on Sophon. Why? Because we are building a consumer and entertainment focused chain, designed to attract new users. I don't want users to face any risk of fraud, using the wrong protocol or transferring money to the wrong person. Therefore, the ecosystem must be closed, at least in the beginning.

This way we can create a friendly, safe environment where new users can experience crypto for the first time.

Sophon’s first day of use and ecosystem collaboration

host:

So what will Sophon look like in its early days? Imagine the first day.

Seb: In the initial stage, there will be a core DEFI ecosystem. Sophon is not a chain focused on DEFI, but DEFI is the foundation of the crypto field, so there will be an AMM, a lending market and a perpetual contract agreement to ensure basic operations. Then we will focus on different verticals and sub-fields that we like, select some companies that we think have potential, and support them as much as we can, including games, crypto technology, AI ticketing, sports betting, social gambling and other tracks.

The upcoming flagship protocol is Aither, and they are migrating all infrastructure to the Sophon platform. Aither not only provides decentralized computing services, but also brings many potential features, such as supporting decentralized or open source LLM, which can be used for various purposes, which is exciting.

In addition, there are other projects, including games, ticketing protocol Open, prediction protocol Rivalry, and social protocol Mirai, which will be launched in collaboration with us. There are also some plans that will be unveiled soon, and we plan to roll them out gradually to show our process of continuous construction and achievements, which is important to the community.

We recently announced an investment from Binance Labs, which came as a surprise to many people, and the community feedback has been very positive, and we’ve received more requests to collaborate and build on it.

However, I don't want to have an ecosystem of 100 projects at the beginning because it's impossible to manage them effectively. I realize this because I've done similar things before, and you can't provide good service, feedback and support to 100 projects at the same time.

So we plan to take our time and build close partnerships with these projects one by one, and then consider the future direction. For me, the most important thing is to have a platform that people can build applications on top of. I think it is very important because it allows people to create their own communities, cultural circles, and culture. When you build culture, people will want to interact, so if the platform and products allow people to express themselves freely, it will be very powerful.

host:

This approach makes perfect sense. Choosing the right chain to deploy on is challenging for both partners and investment firms. There is often feedback that many chains fail to deliver on their promises in terms of technical support, core marketing, etc., and managing 100 projects is unrealistic.

Teams usually want to connect directly with the chain because the chain provides them with channels. If the chain builds its own community, these community members are the first users. Users don't want to be exploited, so it is unrealistic to require everyone to experience every project.

We can learn from Web2’s experience on how to attract new customers, build communities, and engage with users. These experiences can be applied to crypto technology, which is a huge opportunity. In order to increase user stickiness and retention, new ecosystems need to provide fresh content when they are launched. Sophon must surpass the use cases of other chains and become a compelling platform.

host:

Are there any interesting projects on the consumer side?

Seb:

There are currently many eye-catching projects, such as AI virtual girlfriends, which show dystopian trends, and some projects involve gambling. Although some repeat similar concepts, some are very bold.

A project called Sarah plans to send lucky winners to space travel through NFT raffles. The concept is very interesting. This activity is placed on the blockchain and uses NFT as a raffle voucher, which ensures the transparency and trustlessness of the activity and stimulates people's imagination.

While many novel ideas may not be feasible, I support this kind of exploration and innovation rather than investing in the tenth Uniswap v3 fork project. I look forward to working with existing brands to introduce Web2 concepts and products into the crypto space. This kind of innovation shows the exploration and creativity of the future, which is exciting.

host:
Do you have any idea of ​​the current interest in integration in the Web2 space? It can be boring to see some small companies paying for global brand endorsements. However, some partnerships do provide a more authentic experience. Do you have any idea of ​​the current interest in integration in this space?

Seb:

In 2021, we saw some unique situations, such as the popularity of "Bored Apes". Well-known figures such as Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Justin Bieber participated in it and even showed it in the music video. Cryptocurrency almost reached the average consumer, and Polygon was also actively working with Starbucks, Instagram and Disney at the time. Although it ultimately came to nothing, we did reach some kind of peak.

This scenario may happen again, and it may be different in the next year or two. What’s important is that brands and companies will have more choices and will no longer be limited to platforms such as ETH, AVAX, Polygon, etc. Companies will consider different platforms, communities, and cultures, understand users, and have a close user base.

At Sophon, we are preparing for this moment by building a vibrant community and culture that keeps users engaged and enjoying our products. We are in a great position to provide the best opportunities for big brands when they decide to pivot. This could happen in industries like automotive, fashion, music, and film. I think the gaming industry will undergo a huge transformation and the play to earn concept will be realized and successful.

Although this model is currently scam-like and built on DeFi protocols, users will definitely choose this model if it can provide the same or even better user experience as ordinary games and add play to earn elements. Just like social networks, users will only switch if the experience is equal or better.

No one wants to degrade the experience. If the user experience and guidance experience of play to earn content is poor, gamers will not accept it. But if the economic and digital value in the game can be activated and implemented in the same way, this model will be more popular.

host:

I always say that we can't dismiss Play to Earn just because the initial attempts had problems. There are some attempts now, such as tap to earn mini-games, but these projects tend to be crypto first and games second, which is the opposite logic. As you said, the development of the industry and the direction you are building, users don't have to realize that they are using crypto infrastructure.

Users simply follow the steps, log in with a passkey or other means, and claim or trade items. Once a few people are making money this way, word spreads and incentives and rewards kick in. I feel like this hasn't been solidly implemented in a gaming environment yet. There are breakthroughs like Godzilla and Off the Grid, but not enough. Whoever can crack this market and potential will have amazing results.

Seb:

This market is huge. We have an unannounced partner who meets all the criteria and is a mobile game, and I am looking forward to the next announcement. This mobile game has been around for many years and has been downloaded hundreds of millions of times. The new version has integrated crypto infrastructure and is being beta tested on the Sophon chain, and the results are very good. I think the successful cooperation with them will prove that the combination of Play-to-Earn and mobile games is feasible, and will expand from mobile games to console games in the future.

host:

Seb, what are your plans next? How is the rollout going? Some people have started token mining and so on. Can you tell us about the current progress?

Seb:

We are preparing to launch the mainnet, the date is not yet determined, but it will be released before the end of this year. The mainnet launch will feature no gas fees. We will demonstrate the maximum potential of the technology and then make arrangements for the token listing, which is expected to be at the end of this year or early next year.

host:

One thing I forgot to ask about the flagship projects in DeFi, are they all native applications built in-house? Are there other projects that joined and built on top of that?

Seb:

Yes, they are all teams with existing products in the market who want to work with us, and they are teams I trust.