According to Cointelegraph, Sony Block Solutions Labs (Sony BSL) launched the Soneium Minato public testnet and Soneium Spark incubator on August 28. The Soneium blockchain was developed by Sony subsidiary Startale Labs and is Sony’s boldest move in the Web3 field to date.
Soneium Spark will provide developers with up to $100,000 in investments and other funding opportunities, as well as official support from Sony Group, Astar Network, and Startale.
Astar Network is a “special partner” of the new blockchain and will support Soneium Spark participants along with Circle, Optimism, Alchemy, The Graph, and Chainlink. Soneium uses Optimism’s OP Stack codebase.
Sony's music, film and education divisions, innovation fund and Inzone gaming headset division will also participate in Soneium Spark. Jun Watanabe, chairman of Sony Block Solution Labs, said the testnet was opened to build a fan community centered on creators.
Sony began working with Startale in June 2023, with Sony Network Communications investing $3.5 million. Sota Watanabe is both the director of Sony Block Solutions Labs and the CEO of Startale.
Sony also invested in Epic Games’ Metaverse project in 2021 and in NFT marketplace MakersPlace in 2022. Sony Bank is also experimenting with its own stablecoin.
