Sonic Labs today announced the launch of the Sonic mainnet, an EVM-compatible first-layer blockchain platform that offers developers attractive incentives and robust 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 surpasses Fantom and FTM in multiple aspects. Through the 1:1 upgrade process from FTM to S, existing FTM holders can seamlessly start using Sonic.
Sonic establishes itself as a DeFi hub with verified expertise and a revolutionary developer incentive mechanism, while providing users with a seamless experience and rich liquidity.
Fee Monetization: Developer Priority
Fee Monetization (FeeM) on Sonic rewards developers with up to 90% of the network fees generated by their applications, adopting a Web2 advertising revenue strategy similar to platforms like YouTube. While many blockchains offer limited developer incentives and primarily focus 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 pocket all network fees. This excludes developers and forces them to charge extra fees to users for revenue. FeeM solves this problem by directly encoding developer rewards 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 earn a share of the network fees based on the traffic and engagement their applications attract, providing a built-in mechanism for ongoing revenue.
Fantom to Sonic: Upgrade FTM to S
Fantom and its FTM token officially transition to Sonic and the S token. Sonic Labs helps FTM holders seamlessly upgrade their FTM to S at a 1:1 ratio by providing a dedicated upgrade portal on MySonic.
"We are proud to launch the new Sonic chain as the next evolution of Fantom, built on an exceptional track record of nearly 100% uptime since 2019. Sonic is a revolutionary platform that prioritizes developers, enabling them to create applications with a seamless user experience while sharing in network fees." — Michael Kong, CEO of Sonic Labs
Within the first 90 days of the Sonic mainnet launch, holders can freely exchange between FTM and S via the upgrade portal. After that, holders will only be able to upgrade FTM to S.
Sonic Gateway: Secure, decentralized interoperability
As cross-chain activity increases, secure and trustless bridges become more important than ever. Traditional first-layer and second-layer bridging solutions often rely on centralized systems, facing risks of potential losses in the billions.
The Sonic gateway acts as a decentralized and trustless bridge between Ethereum and Sonic, addressing these challenges by providing:
Security: If the gateway fails within 14 days, a fail-safe mechanism ensures user funds can be recovered on Ethereum, guaranteeing asset safety.
Speed: Efficient batch asset transfers (every 10 minutes from Ethereum to Sonic, hourly reverse transfers). The fast track feature allows users to pay a small fee for immediate bridging.
Decentralization: Operated by Sonic validators on both chains, the gateway is as decentralized as Sonic itself, preventing centralized manipulation.
"To allow users to effectively and trustlessly control their assets, we developed the Sonic gateway, which provides liquidity from other platforms. Supported by our own validators and secured through a fail-safe mechanism, the gateway enables users and applications to safely leverage the benefits and incentives of bringing new liquidity into Sonic." — Bernhard Scholz, Chief Research Officer at Sonic Labs
Sonic Labs will expand the gateway beyond Ethereum in the future, allowing direct and decentralized access to the native assets of multiple blockchains.
Sonic Airdrop: Distributing S tokens
To encourage network growth, Sonic Labs distributes 190.5 million S tokens through an airdrop program aimed at users and developers. The program includes two incentive structures:
Sonic Points: Rewards end-users for early adoption, asset holding, and overall participation.
Sonic Gems: Rewards developers for creating applications that drive user activity and innovation. Developers can convert gems to S and share tokens with their users to incentivize continued use.
About Sonic
Sonic is an EVM first-layer platform that offers developers attractive incentives and robust 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 Sonic's official website and follow Sonic on Twitter.
