We’re excited to announce the launch of the Sonic mainnet, a high-throughput, EVM-compatible layer-1 blockchain platform that offers developers attractive incentives and powerful infrastructure.

With up to 10,000 transactions per second, sub-second finality, and a native decentralized gateway to Ethereum, Sonic enables developers to create the next generation of apps while offering users the smoothest blockchain experience yet.

FTM holders can now upgrade their tokens to S on Sonic on a 1:1 basis using our upgrade portal and unlock access to Sonic’s diverse range of apps. Developers, continue reading to learn how to deploy your apps on Sonic and start earning.

Users: Start Using Sonic
‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎— Network Information
‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎— Upgrade FTM to S
‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎— MySonic Portal
‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎— Sonic Gateway
‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎— Airdrop: Sonic Points

Developers: Build on Sonic
‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎— Deploy Your App
‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎— Fee Monetization
‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎— Airdrop: Sonic Gems

Resources
— Official Links and Contracts
— Frequently Asked Questions

Users: Start Using Sonic

Network Information

Use the following details to add Sonic to your Web3 wallet of choice.

• Network name: Sonic
• RPC URL: https://rpc.soniclabs.com
• Explorer URL: https://sonicscan.org
• Chain ID: 146
• Currency symbol: S

Upgrade FTM to S

FTM holders can now seamlessly upgrade their tokens to S on a 1:1 basis using the upgrade portal on MySonic. Here’s how it works:

1. Connect your Web3 wallet to MySonic
2. Enter the amount of FTM to upgrade
3. Verify that you’re receiving the same amount of S
4. Click Upgrade and approve the transaction

In just a few moments, your S will arrive on Sonic, and you’ll be ready to explore everything the ecosystem has to offer! If you're holding FTM on Ethereum or a CEX? Follow our migration guide.

For the first 90 days after Sonic’s mainnet launch, you can freely swap between FTM and S through this portal. After that, upgrades will only be from FTM to S.

MySonic Portal

MySonic is your all-in-one portal to Sonic, through which you can access:

• FTM to S Upgrade
• App Explorer
• Staking
• Governance (Coming soon)

Sonic Gateway

The Sonic Gateway is a decentralized bridge that facilitates token transfers between Ethereum and Sonic.

The bridging process consists of three steps:

1. Deposit
   Deposit your assets into the bridge, which takes around 10-15 minutes on Ethereum to achieve finalization and only ~1 second on Sonic.
2. Heartbeat
   After your deposit is confirmed, your assets will be bridged at the next heartbeat, which are intervals that bridge user assets in batches to ensure gas efficiency.  A heartbeat occurs at most every 10 minutes from Ethereum to Sonic and 1 hour the other way. You can pay a Fast Lane fee to trigger an immediate heartbeat.
3. Claim
   Claim your bridged assets on the destination chain. That’s it! You’re now free to explore the Sonic ecosystem with your new assets.

As cross-chain activity grows, secure and trustless bridges have never been more important Unfortunately, many layer-1 and layer-2 bridging solutions still rely on centralized systems, leaving billions at risk.

The Gateway addresses these challenges through two methods: a fail-safe and true decentralization. The immutable fail-safe automatically unlocks users’ bridged assets on Ethereum if the Gateway stops transmitting heartbeats for two weeks. This ensures users can always regain custody of their funds in the highly unlikely event of a Gateway failure, protecting user assets under all circumstances.

Furthermore, Sonic’s own validator network operates the Gateway by running clients on both Sonic and Ethereum, which ensures that the Gateway is as decentralized as the Sonic chain itself and prevents centralized manipulation.

We’ll expand the Gateway beyond Ethereum in the future, enabling direct, decentralized access to native assets on many other chains.

Airdrop: Sonic Points

As part of the ~200 million S token airdrop, Sonic Points are designed to reward you for engaging with Sonic and interacting with apps on the chain.

Focused on driving meaningful user engagement, Sonic Points incentivize key activities like early adoption, long-term loyalty, asset ownership, and active participation across the platform's apps.

You can earn Sonic Points by bridging whitelisted assets to Sonic or using them within the ecosystem through eligible apps. Learn more on our official documentation.

Developers: Build on Sonic

Deploy Your App

Sonic gives developers the tools they need to build fast, scalable apps, with 10,000 transactions per second and sub-second finality, ensuring your apps are both fast and scalable.

With full EVM compatibility and support for Solidity and Vyper, Sonic works seamlessly with the tools you already know, like Chainlink, Safe, Pyth, Alchemy, and more. Plus, with features like Fee Monetization, you’ll have the incentives to innovate and succeed in the ecosystem.

Start by testing your contracts on the Blaze testnet, and when you're ready, deploy to mainnet. Dive in and see how Sonic can help bring your ideas to life!

Fee Monetization

Fee Monetization (FeeM) on Sonic rewards you with up to 90% of the network fees generated by your apps, providing a sustainable income stream. This allows you to focus on scaling your app and growing your user base without the constant pressure of fundraising or securing additional financing.

Inspired by Web2 ad-revenue models popularized by platforms like YouTube, FeeM ensures you directly benefit from the traffic your apps bring to Sonic. By prioritizing developer rewards, Sonic sets itself apart from many blockchains that offer limited incentives and focus primarily on value extraction.

FeeM is set to launch on Sonic shortly. Stay tuned for more information.

Airdrop: Sonic Gems

As part of the ~200 million S token airdrop, Sonic Gems are developer-focused airdrop points designed to reward apps for driving user engagement and innovation based on their performance on Sonic.

Developers can redeem these Gems for S tokens, which they can then distribute as rewards to their users. Gems empower apps to kickstart growth and sustain long-term user activity by incentivizing consistent interaction and participation.

Are you a developer and want your app to participate in Sonic Gems? Learn more on our official documentation.

Please visit the official Launch Page for contract data and official links. Be careful on X, as there will be plenty of spammers and impersonators. Welcome to Sonic.

 

An unlucky trader has lost $27,000 by FOMOing into the recently-launched Ripple stablecoin RLUSD with his XRP holdings.

The trade occurred yesterday, Dec. 17 shortly after Ripple confirmed the launch of the much-anticipated stablecoin. For context, RLUSD launched on Dec. 17, a few days after reports indicated that the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) had granted its regulatory approval.

Details of the XRP-RLUSD Trade

However, it appears the excitement behind the launch resulted in the unfortunate trade. Notably, data from leading XRPL explorer Bithomp indicates that the trade began when a network participant placed an order to sell his 10,000 XRP tokens for 100 RLUSD.

The order was fulfilled on Dec. 17 at exactly 13:00 UTC, with the trader receiving the 100 RLUSD in his wallet. Notably, XRP was already witnessing an impressive rally during this period, as bullish sentiments followed the launch of the stablecoin. 

As a result of this uptrend, XRP was changing hands at the $2.71 mark when the transaction occurred. This indicates that the trader’s 10,000 XRP tokens were worth a whopping $27,100 or 27,000 RLUSD at the time the system fulfilled the order.

With the market participant receiving only 100 RLUSD in this transaction, this confirms that he lost $27,000. However, this move cannot be regarded as an investment choice with hopes of future returns, as the Ripple stablecoin would always maintain its peg to the dollar, leaving the trader with $100.

RLUSD is Not an Opportunity to Get Rich

The recent transaction highlights the mistakes certain network participants could make as a result of the euphoria surrounding the RLUSD launch. Before the launch, Ripple CTO David Schwartz warned investors not to consider the stablecoin as an investment opportunity, as its value would always remain at $1.

Schwartz noted this while commenting on a disclosure that Xaman (formerly Xumm), a leading XRPL non-custodial wallet, showed a rate of $1,200 for 1 RLUSD. This triggered speculations that XRP’s price could adjust to this value, fueling the hope of a price surge for XRP.

Schwartz dismissed these speculations, explaining that Xaman shows this rate because someone already placed an order to buy a small fraction of RLUSD for $1,200. He cautioned that investors should not regard RLUSD as a potential avenue to get rich.

It bears mentioning that the order referenced by Schwartz is similar to the latest one involving the 10,000 XRP trade. However, in this trade, the investor placed his order to purchase 1 RLUSD for 100 XRP or $271, leading to the massive loss.

It is imperative that investors see RLUSD as just another stablecoin, like Tether (USDT), and not an opportunity to rake in gains. XRPL validator Vet noted in a previous report that RLUSD will always maintain a $1 price. Schwartz also suggested that the stablecoin’s benefit would be to improve liquidity, not to effect prices.

Link

Starting December 18, top-tier Soneium projects will collaborate with Astar for a Pre-Deposit Campaign that rewards ASTR holders and strengthens the connection with the Soneium ecosystem. Here’s everything you need to know:

What is Astar Surge?

Astar Surge is an opportunity for ASTR holders to lock their tokens into pre-deposit contracts on Astar’s Layer 1 network. In return, they’ll earn points redeemable for tokens of participating dApps at their Token Generation Events (TGEs). Tokens will be unlocked after the Soneium mainnet goes live.

Participating Projects
With the prestigious badge of being a Soneium Spark winner, the involved projects are:
Sake Finance
Yay Global
Untitled Bank
SONEX
Kyo Finance

Each of these projects brings unique value to the ecosystem and ASTR token. 

Why Participate?
Be one of the first contributors to the Soneium ecosystem. 
The campaign helps establish a concrete connection between the Astar and Soneium ecosystems by integrating the ASTR token into Soneium dApps.
Earn rewards while supporting the projects driving ASTR web3 adoption.

The campaign kicks off on December 18, 2024! This marks the next step in Astar’s journey as a collective, uniting with Soneium to shape a dynamic, interoperable web3 ecosystem.

❗️Astar Surge is More than a Campaign 
It’s a step toward making ASTR a cornerstone of the Soneium ecosystem. Together, the path towards Soneium mainnet launch seems more exciting while also creating lasting value for all participants.

Link