Sony has decided to develop its own decentralized ecosystem, while Tether sees no reason to create a separate network
Sony Block Solutions Labs, a joint venture between Sony Group and Singapore's Startale Labs, has announced the development of a new blockchain called Soneium. As envisioned by the developers, it will be an infrastructure network that forms the basis for the development of a decentralized Web3 ecosystem.
The project promises to launch a test network soon. The team intends to attract application developers from various fields, including entertainment, games, cryptocurrency trading, finance and more.
The platform also promises to provide content creators with new opportunities to interact with their audience. And protection of creative rights and new mechanisms for them to generate revenue. Users will have full access to all features once the main network launches.
By launching Soneium, the corporation hopes to carve out a niche in the blockchain industry. Sony expects that the new applications will be used daily by people who have never had the opportunity to interact with Web3. And the new services will permeate the daily lives of many.
At the same time, Tether, the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin USDT, decided to refuse to launch its own network. This position is dictated by the fact that the blockchain market is oversaturated, explained the company's CEO Paolo Ardoino in an interview with Blomberg News.
Tether has raised the issue of launching its own blockchain before. But Ardoino said launching a network now could be “the wrong move” as there are already “very good blockchains” in existence.
The top five blockchains control about 86% of the total value locked (TVL) of crypto assets. The leading networks are Ethereum, Solana and Tron. The latter has issued 49% of USDT tokens.
According to the head of Tether, the company is fine with using different blockchains as long as USDT is traded. “For us, blockchains are just transportation layers,” Ardoino stated.
At the same time, new networks are being launched one after another. As of mid-August, there are 80 L2 blockchains preparing to launch on Ethereum alone. Analysts fear that the market will not be able to assimilate even part of this supply without serious price slippage.
Specialists expect fierce competition among L2-solutions, but also point to the possibility of thousands of such networks in the future.