What is Sonic (S)?

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & Value Proposition

Sonic aims to solve the imbalance between infrastructure providers and developers by directly rewarding builders for ecosystem contributions. Its Fee Monetization program redistributes 90% of transaction fees to app creators, creating sustainable revenue streams without relying on venture funding. This model contrasts with traditional chains where validators or sequencers capture most value.

The network also targets institutional adoption through initiatives like a $50M ETF proposal and partnerships with regulated custodians, positioning itself as a bridge between DeFi and traditional finance.

2. Technology & Architecture

Sonic combines EVM compatibility with proprietary upgrades:
- Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT): Enables 1-block finality (~1 second) and handles up to 10,000 TPS under standard conditions (400,000 TPS for native token transfers).
- Live-pruning database: Reduces validator storage costs by 66% compared to legacy chains like Fantom Opera.
- Sonic Gateway: A fail-safe bridge to Ethereum that unlocks assets within 10 minutes (vs. 7 days for optimistic rollups).

3. Tokenomics & Governance

The S token (3.175B initial supply) powers:
- Network fees: Burned or distributed to validators.
- Staking: 14-day lockup for validator participation (3.5% target APR).
- Governance: Votes on protocol upgrades and treasury allocations.

Deflationary mechanisms include burns from unused ecosystem funds and airdrop penalties for early claims.

Conclusion

Sonic positions itself as a developer-centric chain merging Ethereum’s tooling with Solana-like speed, backed by tangible incentives for builders and cross-chain security. While its rebrand from Fantom provides technical continuity, the success of Fee Monetization and institutional strategies will determine long-term adoption.

Can Sonic’s hybrid model of Web2-style creator rewards and Web3 decentralization attract enough developers to justify its ambitious throughput?