sonic

Former Sonic CEO Michael Kong posted a response to Sonic Labs' recent statement of "immediate termination of cooperation." He stated that the company still sought his assistance on the same day and expressed hope for his well-being, but the announcement did not specify the reason, leading to the misleading impression that "he may have been dismissed due to misconduct." Kong indicated that this departure was not voluntary; after working at Fantom/Sonic for over eight years, he negotiated and signed a severance and release agreement with Sonic Labs and its affiliates.Kong mentioned that for the past two and a half months, Sonic Labs repeatedly promised to fulfill the agreement but is currently refusing to do so, and the existing contractual agreements have also not been honored. The release agreement stipulates that both parties shall not publicly disparage each other, yet matters that should have been handled internally were made public by Sonic Labs, causing damage, which is why he chose to respond publicly. He noted that he had almost single-handedly won the company a lawsuit in South Korea worth approximately $150 million, which was described as one of the largest cryptocurrency disputes in South Korea, and cited a written evaluation from David Richardson, the owner of Fantom and Sonic, stating that his work should be appreciated by the foundation.Kong stated that he reserves all rights to make any claims against Sonic Labs and its affiliates.

Sonic Labs released the latest progress update, announcing that the Fantom Opera network will continue to operate until at least the end of 2026, and will continue to provide funding support for the cross-chain bridge during this period.The team stated that this decision was based on community feedback, as there were previous plans to cease operations of Fantom Opera by the end of this month. Meanwhile, Sonic Labs announced a new management structure, appointing Matt Visser as CEO and Kosta Kourkoumelis as COO, and indicated that they will publicly disclose team member responsibilities in the future, gradually phasing out the unified "Contributor" label.In addition, the project team stated that they will begin to lift some restrictions on community accounts, allowing for the expression of normal critical opinions, while establishing dedicated communication channels for disclosure, support, feedback, and developer collaboration, and planning to launch a more comprehensive ticket support system and community engagement activities. The team indicated that they will regularly disclose operational progress in the future.

According to Sonic Labs' official statement, the company has made significant adjustments in its board, leadership, and operational direction. Michael Kong, Andre Cronje, and David Richardson will resign from their positions on the Sonic Labs board, but all three will retain their investments in Sonic and fully transfer their responsibilities, though they will no longer make business decisions for the organization.Sonic Labs also announced that Matt Visser will serve as CEO, and Kosta Kourkoumelis will serve as COO. The primary task of the new management is not to announce a roadmap, but to enforce operational discipline and regain trust. Matt Visser stated, "I am not here to promise an immediate turnaround. I will make Sonic better by 1% every day and let it compound."Sonic Labs indicated that the current token price and community sentiment are both low, and the next 100 days will be regarded as a new first day, with the goal of achieving small improvements daily and allowing them to compound. Sonic Labs is committed to promoting transparent governance, establishing a dedicated risk and compliance committee, prioritizing the community, and reducing vague announcements while providing clearer progress updates.On the technical side, Sonic Labs stated that the engineering team's progress has not been affected. Since 2026, 400 valid pull requests have been merged into the GitHub main branch, two official releases have been published, and major version 2.2.0 is under development, with six candidate versions released so far, and a private testnet has gone live and is undergoing intensive testing.

According to Sonic Labs' official Twitter news, Sonic Labs has allocated $1 million for the repurchase of $S tokens on the Binance platform. These tokens will be deployed in batches for user guidance activities in collaboration with Binance.

Sonic elaborates on its technological path towards the "post-quantum era," pointing out that most current PoS public chains rely on elliptic curve signatures (such as ECDSA, Ed25519), which are at risk of being cracked once quantum computing (like Shor's algorithm) matures.Sonic states that the industry is exploring post-quantum cryptographic solutions (such as hash-based XMSS, SPHINCS+, and lattice-based Dilithium, Falcon), but mainstream consensus mechanisms generally rely on BLS aggregate signatures and threshold signatures, making the transition to post-quantum systems face challenges in performance, bandwidth, and architectural reconstruction. In contrast, Sonic's SonicCS consensus protocol does not rely on aggregate signatures or global randomness, but instead uses single-node signatures and hash functions to construct a DAG structure. Therefore, when switching to post-quantum cryptography, only the signature algorithm needs to be replaced to complete the upgrade, without the need to adjust the consensus logic or network structure. Sonic emphasizes that this design will significantly reduce the complexity of future migrations to post-quantum security, enabling the network to have stronger adaptability when quantum computing threats arise.

The Sonic SVM Foundation announced the acquisition of ForgeX, a developer of on-chain market-making tools for the Solana blockchain, and officially open-sourced its core product, ForgeX CLI.ForgeX CLI is a set of on-chain operation tools for Solana developers, project teams, and AI Agents. It supports token creation based on multiple Launchpads, developer atomic purchases, same-block transactions, multi-wallet collaboration, volume management, and on-chain market-making across DEXs. All commands output structured JSON natively, which can be directly invoked and executed by AI Agents. The Sonic team stated that ForgeX CLI has been validated through multiple real projects, and this open-sourcing aims to lower the threshold for on-chain market-making and promote the evolution of the Solana ecosystem towards agent-driven on-chain operations.

Sonic Labs has launched the native stablecoin US Sonic Dollar (USSD), positioned as the core stable liquidity layer of the Sonic DeFi ecosystem. USSD is built on the infrastructure of Frax's frxUSD, backed by institutional endorsements from BlackRock, Superstate, and WisdomTree, and is pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio. It supports gas-free minting across more than 10 chains using assets like USDC and USDT, and is currently live on a total of 12 chains including Sonic, Ethereum, Base, and Arbitrum.Background of the launch: Sonic's TVL has plummeted 97% from its peak of $1.1 billion in May 2025 to $34 million, and the native token S has also dropped about 96% from its historical high of $1.03 in January 2025, with a market cap of only $150 million remaining.Sonic stated that USSD yields will flow back into the ecosystem for buybacks and incentives, aiming to build a self-reinforcing liquidity cycle and reduce reliance on external market makers.

According to PR Newswire, Sonic Labs announced the launch of Spawn, an AI-driven Web3 application building platform that supports the generation, compilation, and deployment of smart contracts through natural language, while automatically generating front-end interfaces and wallet integration features.Spawn can directly convert user-input English descriptions into production-grade smart contracts, complete on-chain deployment, and generate a full front-end interface, achieving a full-stack abstraction from contract logic to UI and on-chain interactions. Users can engage in conversational iterative development through the built-in AI assistant, modifying contract logic, front-end components, and deployment configurations, and deploy applications to the Sonic testnet.

Sonic Labs has issued a statement regarding recent public comments about Andre Cronje and the Sonic network. In 2018, a Korean team initiated an ICO for Fantom (now renamed Sonic), which failed to deliver a fully functional product due to mismanagement, resulting in the depletion of a significant amount of funds. Andre Cronje joined in June 2018 and rebooted Fantom. At the time Andre joined, the treasury held less than $5 million in non-FTM assets, which grew to nine figures between 2020 and 2021.Sonic Labs further stated that Andre did not design the original Fantom token economic model; the model was created by the original Korean team in 2018 and later modified through on-chain governance. Andre does not unilaterally hold or control the Sonic development fund. Andre has never abandoned Fantom/Sonic, designed the original technology, expanded the funding, and continues to serve as a technical advisor, regularly providing guidance to the technical team. There is no instance of fund misappropriation.

The original Layer 1 public chain Sonic, created by the Fantom team, stated that it plans to promote the upgrade of the value accumulation mechanism of the native token S through the establishment and acquisition of core protocol applications and infrastructure, and hinted at possible related mergers and acquisitions in the future.Sonic Labs pointed out in its latest statement that the team will focus on key infrastructure at the intersection of token utility, liquidity, and use cases, reducing the outflow of value from the ecological application layer by internalizing and commercializing core economic activities. At the same time, Sonic will maintain its openness and permissionless characteristics for developers. The team stated that the previous model of relying on "user growth --- increased transactions --- higher Gas consumption --- token value return" has become difficult to sustain. With the development of Rollup, modular architecture, and high-performance public chains, the increase in block space supply has led to continuous compression of transaction fees, making it insufficient to rely solely on Gas revenue to support the long-term value of L1. Sonic is a high-performance public chain compatible with EVM, aiming to achieve near-instant confirmation and extremely high throughput, and is currently attempting to reshape the value capture path of Layer 1 through deeper ecological integration.

According to official news, the unified on-chain financial system Flying Tulip, founded by Sonic Labs founder Andre Cronje, will launch its token sale on CoinList. This public sale aims to raise $200 million, accounting for 20% of the total supply of FT tokens (2 billion), with a token price of $0.10, corresponding to an FDV of $1 billion.The public sale will start on February 3 at 00:00 and end on February 6 at 21:00 UTC, with a minimum purchase amount of $100.It is reported that Flying Tulip aims to integrate spot trading, lending, perpetual contracts, insurance, and a native stablecoin (ftUSD) into a unified protocol architecture. The tokens participating in this sale will be protected by a "Perpetual PUT" structure, and the FT NFTs received by participants will include redemption rights, allowing them to choose to hold, burn tokens to redeem funds at the original price, or unlock tokens for free trading (redemption rights will be lost after unlocking).

Sonic posted on X platform, "As planned, a total of 16,027,929.41 S tokens have been successfully burned through the execution of smart contracts that require no permission, which were allocated for unclaimed first season airdrops."

Sonic posted on X platform that in early November 2025, Beets suffered a vulnerability attack. The Sonic Labs team successfully recovered 5,829,196 S, and has now proportionally distributed all the funds to all affected users.

According to OnchainSchool monitoring, about four hours ago the SONIC main team wallet transferred 12 million tokens to a new address, worth approximately 1 million USD. Additionally, another 12 million SONIC tokens were transferred to the same address five hours ago. This address now holds SONIC tokens worth approximately 2 million USD. Furthermore, on-chain data indicates that the SONIC main team has reportedly begun withdrawing tokens from Wintermute and several exchanges over the past week.

Sonic Labs has announced an update to its ETF token allocation execution plan. Previously, the Sonic community authorized through a governance proposal the use of up to $50 million worth of S tokens for a potential U.S. listed ETF to facilitate its entry into the regulated U.S. market. However, following the approval of the proposal, due to the overall weakening market environment and the significant decline in the price of S, Sonic Labs decided to postpone execution and did not mint any related tokens during this period to avoid increasing supply at unfavorable price levels.The announcement stated that if the original plan were executed at the current price, it would require the issuance of over 600 million S tokens, which significantly deviates from the original intent of the governance proposal; therefore, this plan will not be adopted. To better align with the interests of token holders, Sonic Labs has clarified new execution constraints: S tokens will only be minted for ETF allocations when the price of S is above $0.50, corresponding to a maximum of 100 million tokens; the total token value is strictly capped at $50 million, with a preference for issuing fewer tokens at higher price levels; any execution that deviates from the above conditions will not occur.Sonic Labs also emphasized that the S tokens used for the ETF will be locked within regulated products and will not enter circulation in the secondary market, nor will they increase market selling pressure. The team stated that a U.S. listed ETF remains a long-term strategic focus, aimed at providing compliant Sonic exposure for institutional investors, and any future adjustments will continue to be communicated clearly through governance processes.

Sonic has launched the mainnet version v2.1.2, which introduces Pectra compatibility and includes several improvements to the network.

According to official news, Sonic announced that mainnet v2.1.2 is officially launched, introducing Pectra compatibility and making several improvements to the network.

Sonic Labs CEO Mitchell Demeter announced that the company will launch a brand new Fee Monetization (FeeM) system to implement a deflationary model for its native token S. This system establishes a tiered reward mechanism for ecosystem builders, with reward ratios ranging from 15% to 90% based on network usage. Validators will receive a fixed 10% of the fee distribution, while the remaining portion will be burned. Transaction fees on the Sonic chain are paid in S tokens.Demeter stated that this move aims to strengthen long-term value through token burns while incentivizing developers and validators. He pointed out, "Our goal is to increase deflationary intensity and enhance long-term value synergy." The system will be officially implemented through on-chain governance voting. Additionally, Demeter revealed that Sonic is about to enter a "new phase," including a U.S. expansion plan approved by governance and the introduction of certain Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) along with proprietary Sonic Improvement Proposals (SIPs) to enhance developer usability and interoperability.

Sonic Labs CEO Mitchell Demeter shared the next phase plans for the project on the X platform. Demeter stated that Sonic is currently well-funded, with no liquidity concerns, and has the resources needed to execute long-term plans. Sonic's development in this round will be driven by actual use cases, clear economic benefits, and continuous delivery of results, rather than speculative behavior.In addition, Sonic plans to refine its tokenomics, aiming for deflation, and intends to introduce a brand new tiered fee monetization (FeeM) structure, with reward levels ranging from 15% to 90%. Of this, 10% will be allocated to validators, while the remaining portion will be burned. This initiative will reward actual usage and network activity while promoting deflation. Sonic is also advancing plans to establish an office in New York City to solidify its growing team and refocus on institutional partnerships and policy relations.Currently, Sonic's focus will shift towards driving business value upgrades, adopting selected Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), and launching Sonic Improvement Proposals (SIPs).

The Sonic security team received an alert about a suspected attack on the Beets protocol in Eastern Time, and immediately activated the security mechanisms originally planned for the upcoming upgrade.Some involved wallets have been frozen, and the officials are closely collaborating with the Beets team to investigate the incident.