What is Sonic?

Sonic is a new high-performance Layer 1 blockchain platform launched by the Fantom Foundation in 2024, marking a comprehensive upgrade of the Fantom Opera chain. Sonic enhances network performance by optimizing the Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM) for parallel transaction processing, achieving a transaction speed of 2,000 TPS (a tenfold increase), reducing transaction confirmation times to under 700 milliseconds, and lowering node storage requirements by 65%, promoting decentralization. Sonic is deeply integrated with the Ethereum ecosystem through its native bridge (Sonic Gateway) and introduces a gas fee sharing mechanism (Fee Monetization), returning 15% of gas fees to developers to incentivize ecosystem migration. As the evolutionary form of Fantom, Sonic aims to address the performance bottlenecks and security vulnerabilities of the original network, becoming an efficient Layer 1 competitor compatible with Ethereum.

Gate.io Now Supports $S Spot Trading

Why Did Fantom Launch Sonic?

The strategic transformation of Fantom into Sonic and the introduction of the new token S stem from multiple technological, ecological, and market competitive pressures, aiming to break the performance ceiling of the original architecture, reconstruct the token economic model, and regain competitiveness in the Layer 1 space.

From a technical perspective, the original Fantom Opera chain’s single-threaded architecture limited transaction processing speed (around 200 TPS) and confirmation times (several seconds), gradually falling behind next-generation high-performance chains like Solana and Sui. Additionally, during the bear market of 2022-2023, Fantom suffered losses of tens of millions of dollars due to cross-chain bridge vulnerabilities, exposing fatal flaws in ecological security and asset isolation. To address these issues, Sonic proposes three solutions: first, by parallelizing the Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM) to increase transaction speed to 2,000 TPS and reduce transaction finality to under 700 milliseconds, directly competing with Solana; second, by introducing the native Layer 2 cross-chain bridge Sonic Gateway, supporting secure asset transfers between USDC, WETH, and Ethereum, with a built-in 14-day fault recovery mechanism allowing users to redeem assets on the Ethereum chain in extreme cases; third, by reducing node storage requirements by 65%, lowering the participation threshold to promote decentralization.

In terms of token economics, Fantom has chosen a “dual-chain separation” model: FTM continues to serve as the native token of the Opera chain, while S becomes the core fuel and governance token of the Sonic chain. This design aims to facilitate a smooth ecological migration—FTM holders can exchange for S tokens at a 1:1 ratio within six months after the launch of the Sonic mainnet, after which the exchange ratio will gradually dilute with an annual inflation rate of 1.5% for S. The initial supply of S matches the total amount of FTM (3.175 billion tokens), with an annual issuance of 1.5% (approximately 47.6 million tokens/year) for developer airdrops and ecological incentives, with unused portions periodically burned to curb inflation.

Moreover, reshaping developer and capital attraction is also a significant reason for this upgrade. Sonic introduces a gas fee sharing mechanism (Fee Monetization) that allows compliant DApp developers to receive up to 90% of transaction fee revenue, significantly higher than the incentive levels of competing chains. Coupled with a 190.5 million S token airdrop plan, Sonic aims to compete for developers and users in the Layer 1 ecosystem, thereby regaining market influence in the 2025 cycle.

Core Differences Between Sonic and Fantom Opera

Performance Improvement

The Fantom Opera chain is based on a traditional single-threaded architecture, requiring transactions to be processed sequentially, which locks the throughput ceiling at 200 TPS, and node synchronization efficiency is limited by full state replication. Sonic reconstructs the FVM virtual machine, introducing parallel transaction processing capabilities that allow multiple transactions to be validated simultaneously, increasing throughput to 2,000 TPS and compressing transaction finality to under 700 milliseconds (compared to several seconds for the original chain). This upgrade positions Sonic in the “sub-second confirmation” category.

Storage optimization is another key breakthrough. Sonic employs state data compression algorithms to reduce node storage requirements by 65%, allowing ordinary consumer-grade hardware to participate in network validation. This not only lowers node operating costs but also enhances the network’s decentralization by expanding the validator base, resisting witch attacks and centralization risks.

Cross-Chain Security

Fantom Opera has long relied on third-party cross-chain bridges (such as Multichain), and in 2023, it suffered a loss of $180 million due to bridge vulnerabilities. Sonic, on the other hand, features the Sonic Gateway—a native cross-chain bridge designed specifically for Layer 1, supporting bidirectional asset transfers between Ethereum and Sonic. Its core innovation lies in the “heartbeat batching” mechanism: asset transfers from Ethereum to Sonic are batched every 10 minutes, while reverse transfers occur hourly, reducing gas costs through scaled processing. Users can pay a Fast Lane fee of 0.1%-0.5% for instant delivery, with the system automatically triggering additional “heartbeats” for acceleration.

In terms of security, the Sonic Gateway introduces a 14-day fault insurance mechanism: if the cross-chain bridge or Sonic chain experiences continuous downtime for 14 days, users can redeem their original assets on Ethereum through a smart contract, avoiding tragedies similar to the $625 million theft of Ronin Bridge.

Core Innovations of Sonic

Fee Monetization

Sonic’s gas fee sharing mechanism (Fee Monetization) redistributes network value, returning 90% of transaction fees to DApp developers, exceeding the industry average of 0-15%. Its operational framework includes three layers of design:

• Eligibility and Dynamic Sharing: Developers must pass an audit by Sonic Labs (based on technical security, user scale, etc.) to join the FeeM program. Developers can receive a share of 15%-90% based on their DApp’s gas consumption ratio, with top applications eligible for additional ecosystem fund subsidies.
• Anti-Cheating: The system tracks gas consumption of sub-operations within transactions to avoid double counting. For example, in a DEX aggregation transaction, 30% of gas is used for routing calculations (attributed to the aggregator), while 70% is used for liquidity pool exchanges (attributed to the underlying DEX), with profits distributed accordingly.
• Deflationary Burn: Transaction fees from non-FeeM applications will see 50% burned, 45% allocated to validators, and 5% injected into the ecosystem treasury; whereas FeeM applications will allocate 90% to developers and 10% to validators, with zero burn. This design incentivizes developer migration while selectively burning to curb inflation.

If Sonic processes an average of 10 million transactions per day (at a unit price of $0.01), the annual fee revenue would reach $36.5 million, with $16.42 million flowing to developers, $9.12 million being burned, and validators receiving $10.09 million. This model can transform Sonic into a “developer revenue platform” rather than merely an infrastructure provider.

Sonic Gateway

As the native cross-chain bridge connecting Ethereum and Sonic, Sonic Gateway achieves multiple innovations in design and mechanism:

• Batch Processing and Dynamic Heartbeat: By using “heartbeat intervals” to batch cross-chain transactions, this mechanism reduces the gas cost of a single cross-chain transaction by 60%-80%, but may result in delays of 10 minutes to 1 hour. To address this, Sonic introduces a Fast Lane acceleration channel, where users pay an additional fee (approximately 0.1 S) for instant triggering of heartbeats, achieving “second-level delivery.”
• Decentralized Fault Recovery: If the Sonic Gateway or underlying chain experiences continuous downtime for 14 days, users can directly redeem their original assets through Ethereum smart contracts without relying on third-party arbitration. The 14-day threshold is locked through immutable smart contracts, eliminating the possibility of human intervention.
• Native Asset Expandability: Initially supporting four assets (USDC, WETH, FTM, etc.), the bridge will open up permissionless token bridging by Q2 2025, allowing any project to add new assets through a standardized process, breaking the liquidity monopoly of cross-chain bridges.

Parallelization of FVM and Zero-Knowledge Proofs

Sonic’s long-term technical roadmap focuses on two main directions:

• FVM Parallelization Upgrade: FVM 2.0 is set to be released in Q3 2025, introducing multi-threaded transaction processing and state sharding, aiming to increase TPS to over 10,000 while maintaining sub-second finality.
• ZK Technology Integration: The team led by Fantom founder Andre Cronje is exploring the application of zero-knowledge proofs in Sonic, including ZK-Rollup compatibility and privacy transactions, but large-scale deployment is expected to take place after 2026.

Funding Background

On May 24, 2024, the Fantom Foundation announced the completion of a $10 million strategic financing round, led by Hashed, with participation from UOB Ventures, Signum Capital, SoftBank, Aave Foundation, and others.

Sonic Tokenomics

Token Utility

• Transaction Fees: Used to pay gas fees on the Sonic chain.
• Governance: Participate in network upgrades and parameter voting.
• Staking: Secure the network and earn rewards.

Token Distribution

• Initial Supply: 3.175 billion tokens (1:1 mapping with FTM total supply).
• Issuance Rules: An annual issuance of 1.5% for the first six years (approximately 47.6 million tokens/year) for airdrops and ecosystem funds, with unused portions burned periodically.
• Exchange Mechanism:
  • Before March 18, 2025: Bidirectional 1:1 exchange between FTM and S.
  • After that, only one-way exchange from FTM to S will be supported, with the exchange ratio gradually diluted with an annual inflation rate of 1.5% for S.