Soneium

Soneium is a public Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs, a joint venture between Sony Group Corporation and Startale Labs. Launched on January 14, 2025, it aims to integrate Web3 technology with everyday internet services, focusing on applications in entertainment, gaming, and finance. Built on Optimism’s OP Stack, Soneium ensures scalability, low transaction fees, and interoperability within the Superchain ecosystem. During its testnet phase, the platform attracted over 14 million accounts and facilitated more than 47 million transactions.

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Overview

Soneium is a public Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain platform developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs, a joint venture between Sony Group Corporation and Startale Labs. The platform was officially launched on January 14, 2025, with the objective of integrating blockchain technology into daily internet services, thereby bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3. Soneium focuses on providing practical applications across various sectors, including entertainment, gaming, and finance, to foster widespread adoption of decentralized technologies. Sony

Technological Foundation

Soneium is built upon Optimism’s OP Stack, a modular development toolkit designed to facilitate the creation of scalable and interoperable Layer-2 blockchains on Ethereum. By leveraging the OP Stack, Soneium ensures compatibility with other Layer-2 solutions within the Optimism Superchain ecosystem, promoting seamless interaction and resource sharing among interconnected networks. The platform employs an optimistic rollup approach, where transactions are processed off-chain and subsequently posted to the Ethereum mainnet. This method enhances transaction throughput and reduces fees while maintaining the security and decentralization inherent to Ethereum. Soneium

Development and Testnet Phase

The development of Soneium commenced in August 2024, followed by the release of its testnet, “Soneium Minato,” which provided a testing environment accessible to developers and creators. During the testnet phase, Soneium Minato achieved significant milestones, including:

User Engagement: Over 14 million accounts were created, indicating substantial interest and participation from the community.
Transaction Volume: The network processed more than 47 million transactions, demonstrating its capability to handle high throughput efficiently.
Application Development: A diverse range of applications, including entertainment, gaming, NFT, social, and financial apps, were developed and tested on the platform.

These achievements underscored the platform’s scalability and reliability, setting the stage for its mainnet launch.

Mainnet Launch and Ecosystem Expansion

On January 14, 2025, Soneium’s mainnet was officially launched, enabling developers to deploy their applications in a production environment. The mainnet closely mirrors the testnet’s specifications, allowing for a seamless transition of applications from Soneium Minato to the live network. This launch marked a significant step toward realizing Soneium’s vision of an open internet that transcends boundaries by connecting cultural differences and onboarding people on-chain.

Team and Partnerships

Soneium is developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs, a joint venture between Sony Group Corporation and Startale Labs. This collaboration combines Sony’s extensive experience in entertainment, gaming, and technology with Startale Labs’ expertise in blockchain development. The partnership aims to create a robust and user-friendly platform that caters to both developers and end-users.

In addition to its foundational partnership, Soneium has established collaborations with various entities to enhance its ecosystem:

Circle Partnership: Soneium has partnered with Circle to integrate the USDC stablecoin into its network, facilitating seamless transactions and expanding its Web3 capabilities. Blockonomi
SNFT Inc.: Starting in February 2025, SNFT Inc. will release a new Fan Marketing Platform as one of the applications compatible with Soneium. This platform will provide one-stop support for companies implementing NFT initiatives, from execution to analysis of NFT-based fan engagement metrics. Companies will be able to use this service to easily issue NFTs, creating new touchpoints and exciting user experiences to deepen fan engagement.
S.BLOX Inc.: S.BLOX Inc. has launched “S.BLOX,” a rebranded and redesigned version of the “WhaleFin” platform, providing an all-in-one experience for trading crypto assets and using apps on Soneium. In addition to a new UI, the company plans to introduce a user-friendly mobile app and expand the range of supported currencies in the future.

Intellectual Property Protection

Soneium is committed to protecting creators’ intellectual property (IP) rights on-chain while maintaining the spirit of decentralization. The platform has implemented policies to safeguard IP rights and combat malicious activities, ensuring a secure environment for creators and users. For instance, Soneium has blacklisted certain tokens that infringe on existing IPs, such as the “Aibo” token, which was named after Sony’s robotic dog series. This action underscores Soneium’s dedication to upholding IP rights within its ecosystem. ReadWrite

Community and Developer Engagement

Soneium actively fosters a vibrant community of developers and creators by providing resources and support for building decentralized applications (dApps) on its platform. The “Soneium Spark” incubation program, launched in September 2024, selected 32 projects from over 1,700 applications, highlighting the platform’s commitment to nurturing innovation. By offering a developer-friendly environment and comprehensive support, Soneium aims to drive the growth of its ecosystem and the broader adoption of Web3 technologies.