Sonic Labs today announced the launch of the Sonic mainnet, an EVM-compatible first-layer blockchain platform that offers developers attractive incentives and powerful infrastructure.
The Sonic mainnet supports 10,000 transactions per second (TPS), sub-second finality, and provides a native decentralized Ethereum gateway, enabling developers to build next-generation applications on unparalleled infrastructure and liquidity.
Sonic is developed by the Fantom team, and its S token significantly outperforms Fantom and FTM in several aspects. Through a 1:1 upgrade process from FTM to S, existing FTM holders can seamlessly start using Sonic.
Sonic leverages proven expertise to establish itself as a DeFi hub through a revolutionary developer incentive mechanism, while providing users with a smooth user experience and abundant liquidity.
Fee Monetization: Developers First
The Fee Monetization (FeeM) on Sonic rewards developers with up to 90% of the network fees generated by their applications, adopting a similar strategy to the popular Web2 ad revenue model on platforms like YouTube. While many blockchains offer limited developer incentives and focus primarily on value extraction, Sonic effectively addresses this issue through its FeeM model.
"Recently, we've seen the launch of many new chains, especially centralized second-layer chains, where founders capture all the network fee revenue. This leaves developers excluded, forcing them to charge users additional fees to generate income. FeeM solves this problem by encoding developer rewards directly into the chain, ensuring network fees are shared with developers from the start."—Sam Harcourt, Head of Business Development at Sonic Labs
Developers on the Sonic chain will receive a share of the network fees based on the traffic and engagement their applications attract, providing an inbuilt mechanism for a continuous revenue stream.
Fantom to Sonic: Upgrading FTM to S
Fantom and its FTM token are officially transitioning to Sonic and the S token. Sonic Labs is helping FTM holders seamlessly upgrade their FTM to S at a 1:1 ratio through a dedicated upgrade portal on MySonic.
"We are proud to launch the new Sonic chain as the next evolution of Fantom, building on an excellent track record of nearly 100% uptime since 2019. Sonic is a revolutionary platform that prioritizes developers, enabling them to create applications with a smooth user experience while earning a share of the network fees."—Michael Kong, CEO of Sonic Labs
During the initial 90 days after the Sonic mainnet launch, holders can freely exchange between FTM and S through the upgrade portal. After this period, holders will only be able to upgrade FTM to S.
Sonic Gateway: Secure, Decentralized Interoperability
As cross-chain activity increases, secure and trustless bridges have become more important than ever. Traditional first-layer and second-layer bridging solutions often rely on centralized systems, posing risks of potential multi-billion-dollar losses.
The Sonic Gateway serves as a decentralized and trustless bridge between Ethereum and Sonic, addressing these challenges by providing:
Security: A fault protection mechanism ensures user funds can be recovered on Ethereum if the gateway fails within 14 days, guaranteeing asset safety.
Speed: Efficient batch processing of asset transfers (10 minutes from Ethereum to Sonic, 1 hour in reverse). A fast-track feature allows users to pay a small fee for immediate bridging.
Decentralization: Operated by Sonic's own validators on both chains, the gateway is as decentralized as Sonic itself, preventing centralized control.
"To enable users to effectively and trustlessly control their assets, we developed the Sonic Gateway, providing liquidity from other platforms. Supported by our own validators and secured by a fault protection mechanism, the gateway allows users and applications to safely leverage the benefits and incentives of bringing new liquidity to Sonic."—Bernhard Scholz, Chief Research Officer at Sonic Labs
Sonic Labs plans to expand the gateway to beyond Ethereum in the future, allowing for direct, decentralized access to native assets across multiple blockchains.
Sonic Airdrop: Distributing S Tokens
To encourage network growth, Sonic Labs is distributing 19.05 million S tokens through an airdrop program targeting users and developers. The program includes two incentive structures:
Sonic Points: Rewarding early adoption, asset holding, and overall engagement by end-users.
Sonic Gems: Rewarding developers for creating applications that drive user activity and innovation. Developers can convert Gems to S and share the tokens with their users to incentivize continued usage.
About Sonic
Sonic is an EVM first-layer platform that offers developers attractive incentives and powerful infrastructure. The chain provides over 10,000 TPS, sub-second confirmation times, and a secure Ethereum gateway to enhance liquidity and asset safety.
For more information, users can visit the official Sonic website and follow Sonic's Twitter.
