- Sonic Labs focuses on strengthening the value of its S token.
- Sonic plans to build and acquire core applications and infrastructure, with integrated revenue streams.
Sonic Labs, the blockchain development company formerly known as Fantom Foundation, announced that it is going to focus on measurable value creation by building and acquiring products that directly strengthen the value of the S token.
The article, published on X by Sonic Labs on February 11, titled “Vertical Integration: The Missing Link in L1 Value Creation,” explained that Sonic is changing away from its traditional Layer 1 growth model, which focused on expansion that generates activity but fails to produce lasting economic value
Sonic team said, “We are evolving Sonic into an ecosystem where core infrastructure, applications, and liquidity are intentionally aligned around reinforcing the S token’s economics. This alignment is designed to ensure that usage, liquidity, and incentives translate directly into sustained demand for the S token.”
Gas Fee Model Faces Pressure
Sonic believes that relying solely on gas fees to generate value is becoming less successful. As more blockchains are coming and scaling technology advances, blockspace becomes more accessible and less scarce. This increased competition is pushing transaction prices lower. So, Layer 1 networks struggle to create lasting value, even if they host a lot of activity.
So, the Sonic team stated, “This is why the next chapter of Layer 1 evolution is not just about scalability. It is about vertical integration: a protocol’s ability to own, internalize, and monetize its most important economic activities.”
For that, Sonic cited successful examples like Hyperliquid, which designed the main trading application to be the chain itself, so that each trade and fee directly benefits the HYPE token. According to Sonic, vertical integration allows for this type of design
Vertical Integration: Building Core Applications and Infrastructure
In order to execute, “Sonic will acquire and integrate high-quality application teams from across the industry to develop foundational ecosystem primitives in-house.” Where that application will handle trading, lending, payments, settlements, credit systems, and risk markets. With that, it will ensure that the value created doesn’t leave Sonic, noted in the article.
Also, Sonic Labs noted that its existing Fee Monetization system, FeeM, could be integrated with apps to help the network scale more, while boosting the S token ecosystem
Further, these revenue sources, which are fueled by actual income from integrated core applications and infrastructure that grow with the network, can fund long-term buybacks of the S token
Before Sonic, this buyback plan was recently approved by the Ethereum Layer 2 Optimism, it would redirect 50% of the ecosystem’s revenue toward OP token purchases
Highlighted Crypto News Today:
Hoskinson Confirms Midnight Mainnet Launch in March
Disclaimer: The information on this page may come from third parties and does not represent the views or opinions of Gate. The content displayed on this page is for reference only and does not constitute any financial, investment, or legal advice. Gate does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information and shall not be liable for any losses arising from the use of this information. Virtual asset investments carry high risks and are subject to significant price volatility. You may lose all of your invested principal. Please fully understand the relevant risks and make prudent decisions based on your own financial situation and risk tolerance. For details, please refer to
Disclaimer.
Related Articles
Nous Research Deep Dive: A Decentralized AI Lab That Paradigm Invested in at a $1B Valuation, Comprehensive Breakdown of the Hermes Model and the Psyche Network
Nous Research is an open-source AI lab focused on the Hermes series of models. In 2025, it received a $50 million investment from Paradigm, valuing it at $1 billion. What makes it unique is that it develops AI technology with a crypto-native team and then integrates it with the blockchain. Its core product, the Hermes model, is designed around the goal of reducing the refusal rate, and its data sources rely mainly on synthetic data. At the same time, Psyche Network builds a decentralized AI training network on Solana, incentivizing participants through a token mechanism. Nous Research adopts an open-source and decentralized strategy, aiming to demonstrate its technical capability and feasibility.
ChainNewsAbmedia1h ago
Ondo Finance submits a letter to the U.S. SEC requesting no enforcement action, concerning on-chain record-keeping of tokenized securities rights on the rights chain
Ondo Finance filed a request with the SEC on April 13, seeking confirmation that recording securities interests on the Ethereum mainnet in a tokenized form is compliant under certain patterns. Ondo believes that this on-chain recording can improve collateral monitoring, optimize processes, and simplify reconciliations, with the goal of operating in coordination with traditional finance.
GateNews2h ago
Pi Network Distributes 26.5M PI to 1M KYC Validators
Pi Network has taken another step forward in building its ecosystem. The project recently distributed 26.5 million PI tokens to more than 1 million KYC validators.
These rewards were given to users who helped verify identities on the network. This process is important. Because it ensures that
Coinfomania3h ago
Aave Faces a Major Trust Crisis: Service Providers Exit En Masse, with “Technology, Governance, and Risk Control” Fully Failing
Author: Jae, PANews
Compared with the external pressure of a bear market, Aave has instead seen a “black swan” emerge internally first.
Aave, which has long occupied the throne of lending agreements, is now facing the most severe ecosystem shake-up since its founding. There has been no hacker attack, no code vulnerabilities—only power gone out of control and conflicting interests.
From BGD Labs, a technical cornerstone, decisively leaving, to a public break between governance pioneer ACI (Aave Chan Initiative), and then to Chaos Labs, the risk-management steward, announcing that it is parting ways— a major “service provider retreat” is unfolding.
The depth of this game goes far beyond a mere cooperation dispute; it has triggered
区块客3h ago
Hyperliquid introduces a priority fee mechanism on mainnet; the order priority fee cap is reduced to 8 bps
Hyperliquid founder Jeff announced on Discord that the priority fee mechanism has been live on the mainnet in Alpha mode, including two types: Gossip and Order. Users can pay with HYPE tokens; the order priority fee cap has been reduced from 20 bps to 8 bps. Currently, it only applies to IOC orders for HIP-3 assets.
GateNews5h ago
Byreal launches an on-chain AI trading assistant, RealClaw, supporting third-party skill extensions
Byreal launched an on-chain AI trading assistant, RealClaw, on April 13. The tool is built on the OpenClaw framework, supports third-party skill extensions, and allows users to customize their trading strategies. It is currently in the Alpha testing stage and is only available to invited users.
GateNews5h ago
