Sonic

• Sonic is a Layer 1 that succeeded the Fantom network, with FTM upgraded to S on a one-to-one basis.

• It targets high throughput with sub-second finality while remaining Ethereum-compatible.

• S is the gas, staking and governance token.

• FTM holders upgraded to S at a one-to-one rate.

• A fee monetisation programme pays developers a share of the fees their applications generate.

• Staking secures the network and earns emissions.

Pros:

• Fee sharing with application developers is a genuine incentive most chains do not offer.

• Inherits Fantom's validator set and operating history rather than starting cold.

• Performance improvements over the predecessor chain are substantial.

Cons:

• Fantom's ecosystem had already contracted significantly before the transition.

• Andre Cronje, its most prominent technical figure, left the board in June 2026 after a history of stepping back from and returning to projects.

• High-throughput Layer 1s are numerous and differentiation is thin.

• Exposure to a rebuilt chain with a direct developer revenue share.

• Existing infrastructure rather than a new network bootstrapping.

• Weigh whether the rebrand attracts developers the predecessor lost.

• Application developers receive a share of the gas fees their users generate, making building on the chain directly revenue-generating.

• Developers create the activity that generates chain fees but capture none of it.

• Sharing fees back gives them a recurring reason to build and stay.

• Andre Cronje, the Yearn Finance founder who served as chief technology officer and was Fantom's original technical architect, resigned from the Sonic Labs board in June 2026 along with two other founding directors.

• Sonic Labs is now led by Matt Visser as chief executive, appointed in the June 2026 leadership overhaul.

• FTM was sold via ICO in 2018; S entered circulation through one-to-one upgrade from FTM.

• The founding board departed in June 2026, and both the token and network activity have fallen sharply from their 2025 peaks.

• Ecosystem contraction preceded the transition.

• Crowded field of high-throughput Layer 1s.

• Fee sharing depends on sustained transaction volume.