Written by: 1912212.eth, Foresight News

In the past, L2’s price performance was so disappointing that it was almost forgotten by the industry. However, its ecosystem is still developing, and L2’s profits are far ahead of others, making a fortune in silence. In the past 6 months, its profit margin has even reached 98%.

Data source: growthepie.xye

After venture capital bet on L2 based on OP and Arbitrum, they also began to look at L2 based on ZKsync.

Recently, Binance Labs has once again attracted a lot of attention by purchasing the Sophon token, a ZKsync-based elastic chain. The investment round ended in August. The structure is a simple agreement for future tokens (SAFT).

The last time Sophon received financing was in March this year, with a total of US$10 million, with Paper Ventures, Maven 11, The Spartan Group, SevenX Ventures, OKX Ventures, HTX Ventures, etc. In this fiercely competitive field, what is Sophon relying on?

Sophon, a superchain based on ZKsync

Sophon is a superchain of Elastic Chain based on ZKsync, and it is also based on Validium's L2. Validium can be understood as a ZKRollup that does not use ETH as the DA layer. It uses off-chain DA and computing to increase throughput and reduce transaction costs. Sophon's network architecture can handle high-throughput applications such as social entertainment and games. By invisibly integrating the encryption track into the structure of the platform, users can enjoy the benefits of the chain without facing the usual complexity.

The so-called Elastic Chain is a blockchain architecture that allows for unlimited parallel expansion of network capacity by adding interconnected ZK chains while maintaining interoperability and consistent user experience. This approach leverages recursive zero-knowledge proofs to achieve constant-time verification of computational results, regardless of how many chains there are in the network. The Elastic Chain concept aims to address issues associated with traditional multi-chain setups, such as poor user experience, capital inefficiency, and security vulnerabilities in cross-chain bridges.

Compared with the high threshold and fragmentation of most current on-chain operations, Sophon differentiates itself in user experience, such as porting many convenient experiences in Web2 to web3, automatically helping users create accounts, manage keys, and trade, so that users can truly focus on the on-chain experience and assets. The account abstraction function (AA) on ZKsync has a significant impact on user account operations and transaction interactions, and all native account abstractions on Sophon can turn them into smart accounts.

Additionally, Sophon is creating a system where users can easily create, share, and monetize content, including tools for meme-starting, game development, and more.

In April this year, Sebastiena, the head of ZKsync DeFi, said he had resigned from ZKsync and focused on Sophon, which is built on ZK Stack. In his tweet, he clearly stated that he was optimistic about the super chain and wanted to build his own super chain. It is worth mentioning that Sebastiena is also a member of the Paper Venture team.

Points and Token Economics

Currently, Sophon has opened its staking portal to earn SP points. Users can stake the tokens listed in the list to earn points. According to the official website, its total number of users is close to 30,000, and its TVL exceeds US$280 million.

Officials said that its mainnet will be launched in Q4 this year and the token will be launched. SOPH is the native token of its network and is used to pay gas fees. In addition, the network will allow the existence of a group of decentralized sorters, and the fees will be paid in SOPH. The final distribution, token economics and vesting schedule of its SOPH may also change.

Node rewards account for 20% of the total supply, the Sophon Foundation allocates 25%, seed round contributors account for 20%, 5% is allocated to advisors, and 30% is allocated to the ecosystem reserve.

Full nodes and light nodes

Sophon currently has two types of nodes: full nodes and light nodes. Full nodes maintain a complete copy of the chain and can be used as sequencers or validators. In the early stages of the network, only one node (operated by Sophon Labs) was authorized to submit verification. Officials are working to enable multiple nodes to work together using a consensus mechanism to further decentralize network block creation.

Light nodes are designed to perform simpler tasks in the Sophon network, and initial versions are still under development. These nodes represent a cost-effective way to participate in the network, downloading only the minimum data required for transactions, typically just block headers. In their first version, light nodes will perform DA sampling, helping to ensure that all data is available in the network DA. This makes light nodes the most basic and accessible node type, providing an entry point for users who want to interact with the network without the resource requirements of running a full node.

In early May this year, Sophon raised $60 million in WETH through node sales.