1. Sophon Ecosystem Positioning: Consumer-Level Ambition Backed by Capital

Sophon is a modular chain designed for consumers and entertainment, seamlessly integrating with consumer applications to redefine the online experience.

Characteristics of Consumer Cryptocurrency

Reverse approach to mass-market scenarios: Targeting universal scenarios such as gaming, ticketing, and social networking.
User experience as a priority: Shifting from speculation to entertainment and interactive experience design.
User-centric design philosophy: Positioning users as value subjects rather than data objects.
Typical application scenarios: Gamified platforms, decentralized ticketing systems, social networks, AI Agent applications.

Development History

March 30, 2024: Sophon completed a $10 million funding round, with participation from Paper Ventures, Maven 11, The Spartan Group, SevenX Ventures, OKX Ventures, HTX Ventures, and others.
April 15, 2024: zkSync DeFi head @0xsebastiena announced on social media that he would leave his position at the end of April to focus on Sophon, a modular blockchain built on ZK Stack.
April 15, 2024: Sophon released the tokenomics of its $SOPH token.
May 8, 2024: Sophon raised $60 million worth of WETH through node sales.
June 19, 2024: Sophon began its Farming phase, allowing participants to stake certain assets to earn SOPH. 10% of the total SOPH supply will be distributed as Farming rewards, including 6% on Ethereum and 4% on the Sophon mainnet. Sophon Points (SP) are earned based on staking duration, activated boosters, and deposit amount, qualifying participants for SOPH airdrops.
October 03, 2024: Binance Labs invested in Sophon.
December 18, 2024: Sophon Mainnet Launched.
December 29, 2024: Sophon completed mining migration, and began second phase, with mainnet mining opened.
February 11, 2025: Launched the $5 million AI Agent program Sophon Intelligence Agency (SIA), integrating blockchain technology and strategic partnerships to promote AI Agent popularization. Core focus and deep collaboration with Cod3x, supporting the development of Anomaly (AI-driven experience), ScorePlay (intelligent interaction), SPHNX (autonomous evolution system) and other projects.

Mainnet Token $SOPH

The $SOPH token will be the primary utility token of the Sophon Network. Initially, $SOPH tokens are non-transferable and transactions are free. It will be used to pay gas fees on the network and reward node operators. The total supply of $SOPH tokens is 10 billion (10,000,000,000).

The emission plan is as follows:

Node Rewards: 20% of the supply, distributed over 36 months.
Sophon Foundation: 25% of the supply, 12-month lock-up, 36-month vesting.
Investors: 20% of the supply, 12-month lock-up, 24-month vesting.
Advisors: 5% of the supply, 12-month lock-up, 36-month vesting.
Ecosystem Reserve: 3% of the supply, used for grants, incentives, ecosystem initiatives, etc.

2. Sophon's Technical Architecture

Adoption of Validium

Based on the ZK Rollup-based Validium solution, Sophon achieves three core advantages through an off-chain data availability mechanism:

High throughput: Supports massive concurrent transaction processing.
Low cost: Reduces Gas fees by over 90% compared to the Ethereum mainnet.
Secure scaling: Inherits Ethereum's security while breaking through performance bottlenecks. Validium, as a core component of ZK Stack, establishes a technological moat in privacy protection and cost control through zero-knowledge proofs and off-chain data collaboration.

Key Features of Validium

Off-chain transaction processing: Validium can process most transactions off-chain, reducing the load on the base layer. Only limited transaction data is published to the Ethereum mainnet, optimizing performance and reducing costs.
Validity proofs: To ensure the integrity of off-chain transactions, Validium uses validity proofs on the Ethereum mainnet. These proofs ensure that transaction data is trustworthy and has not been tampered with.
Transaction verification: Each batch of transactions is accompanied by a validity proof before being published to the Ethereum mainnet. The Ethereum mainnet only accepts and verifies these transactions if they are accompanied by valid proofs, confirming the correctness of the data.

Differences from Other Common Layer 2 Solutions

Unlike Rollups, Validium's data is stored entirely off-chain.
Sacrifices some data availability for higher performance and lower costs.
Located Under Elastic Chains Architecture.

Elastic Chains' architecture is supported by 3 core components:

1\. ZK Router
Transaction verification mechanism.
Strict filtering of all cross-chain transactions in the network.
Similar to natural filtration systems (such as sand and silt).
Ensures that only verified "clean" transactions can pass.
Security interception function.
Identifies and blocks potential malicious transactions.
Prevents unauthorized asset transfers.
Reduces security risks and the possibility of attacks.
2\. ZK Gateway
Inter-chain connections.
Establishes secure channels between different ZK chains.
Enables seamless and secure movement of users and assets.
Eliminates the risk of reliance on third-party bridge protocols.
End-to-end security assurance.
Provides encryption and verification mechanisms.
Ensures the integrity of cross-chain transactions.
Real-time monitoring and management of asset transfers.
3\. ZK Co-Chains (Co-Chains Architecture)
Dynamic adaptability.
Adjusts network block space in real time based on transaction demand.
Prevents network congestion and potential attacks.
Maintains an efficient and secure transaction environment. * Unified security standards.
All ZK chains follow the same security protocols.
Establishes an inherently trusted ecosystem.
Reduces security risks and complexity.

Key Features of Elastic Chains

1\. Seamless Interoperability
ZK chains (Rollups, Volition, or Validiums like Sophon) are connected at the protocol level:
Enables instant cross-chain movement of assets and users.
Sophon enables frictionless interaction between itself and other ZK chains.
Users and applications can operate across chains without liquidity fragmentation.
2\. Elastic Scalability
The network dynamically adapts to demand by:
Increasing block space when transaction volume increases.
Reducing block space when demand decreases.
3\. Unified User Experience
From the user's perspective:
Feels like interacting with a single chain.
Low fees and high security.
Unlimited composability across all chains.

3. Project Progress

Node Status

Raised $60 million worth of Wrapped Ether (wETH) through node sales in May 2024\.

Node Operation Requirements

Participated in the Sophon node sale on April 30, 2024\.
Membership is non-transferable for the first year after genesis.

Node Types and Rewards

Full Nodes: Running a full node on Sophon is the same as running a node on zkSync, receiving full node rewards.
Light Nodes: Can be run without purchasing an NFT, receiving partial rewards.
Additional rewards: additional subsidies from the incentive pool.

Sophon Ecosystem Development Status and Outlook

Currently, the Sophon mainnet ecosystem is still in its early stages of development, but it has shown diversified potential. Its ecosystem layout covers multiple vertical tracks, and detailed information can be found on its official website, Sophon Portal. Sophon actively cooperates with leading projects in various industries in ecosystem construction. In the field of Web3 identity and data, it has reached cooperation with CARV; in the GameFi field, it has joined hands with Beam; in terms of AI and decentralized computing power support, it has received strong support from Aethir and Anomaly; in wallet services, Dynamic and Safe provide professional support; in the Prediction Market field, Azuro provides assistance. In addition, since the Sophon team comes from the zkSync team, relatively mature projects in the zkSync ecosystem, such as SyncSwap and LayerSwap, have also been deployed on the Sophon chain. In the Gaming track, Sophon has a relatively rich native application, and has recently launched its own mini-game platform, Sophon Play. Here are some key native game project introductions:

Mirai Labs: This is a pioneering Web3 diversified game studio headquartered in Vietnam, dedicated to creating unforgettable gaming experiences for the next generation of players, with influence spanning the globe. Currently, its app wallet downloads have exceeded 10k, and the official website states that over 27 million wallets have been registered. Its game, Petopia, is a top-down Roguelike FPS game, available on Android and iOS platforms, with over 10k downloads on the Google Store.
Animix: This is Sophon's first AI-generated pet fusion game, where players can mix DNA to create fantastical pets and engage in intense battles in the ultimate creature collection adventure. Currently, Animix Beta is live, a TG Mini App game featuring pet synthesis, upgrades, PK, task completion, and other functions. It has launched the $MUP token, with a total supply of 550B, currently priced at $0.00000698, and a total market capitalization of $3.84M. Of this, 58% of the total supply will be distributed through airdrops and game rewards to enhance community power, with these rewards starting to be distributed on March 21, 2025\.
GAMP: The world's largest gaming social platform, bringing together over 400 million players, covering various types of games and popular titles. As a dynamic decentralized platform, GAMP has an active user base and is committed to promoting real social interaction, competitive experiences, and community building, creating an immersive space for players to build deep connections while pursuing achievements. Players need to create their own accounts, enter account information for different games, complete GAMP tasks to achieve achievements and earn points, which can be exchanged for tokens in the future.

In terms of consumer products, Sophon welcomes the addition of the established product OPEN Ticketing. OPEN Ticketing is building a new global ticketing system, helping artists and event organizers regain control of their performances and events. Since 2016, OPEN has provided an easy-to-use on-chain ticketing platform, enabling transparent ticket sales and supporting events to obtain funding through decentralized means.

In terms of DeFi products, the emerging yield-generating stablecoin Noon has joined the Sophon ecosystem. Noon is a smart and fair yield-generating stablecoin, with a current TVL of over $31M, launched on the Ethereum, Sophon, and ZKsync 3 chains, with a TVL of $9.23M on the Sophon chain. Its core stablecoin, USN, is pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 value, and introduces the staking derivative sUSN, allowing users to mint USN by staking USDT or USDC, while holding sUSN to capture protocol revenue. The platform's built-in smart rebalancing system invests the USN in the staking pool into a series of pre-set, low-risk, market-neutral strategies. As these strategies continuously generate "native yield," the platform automatically adds the extra generated USN to the staking pool, thereby increasing the asset share represented by each sUSN. In terms of revenue sources, Noon draws on Ethena's delta-neutral strategy, with initial strategy combinations including funding rate arbitrage and tokenized treasury bond investment. Funding rate arbitrage captures the market's cyclical funding rate revenue through hedging operations between spot and perpetual contracts; tokenized treasury bond investment relies on low-risk, fixed-income treasury bond assets to provide basic yield stability for the platform.

Sophon Farming

Phase 1 - Ethereum Mainnet
6% of the total $SOPH token supply is allocated. This is the stage where users deposit assets and start accumulating Sophon Points (SP). Points will continue to accumulate until these assets are bridged to the Sophon mainnet (December 18, 2024), which has ended.
Phase 2 - Sophon Mainnet
4% of the total $SOPH token supply is allocated. After the Sophon mainnet launches, all deposited assets are automatically transferred to the mainnet and can be used directly. On the mainnet, users can continue to deposit assets and earn bonuses, but assets that have been boosted on the Ethereum mainnet will be locked to provide liquidity support. Accumulated Sophon Points will be converted into $SOPH rewards according to the ratio, which is ongoing.

4. Bottlenecks and Outlook

Although Sophon's consumer-level positioning has imagination, the consumer-level concept ecosystem is difficult to differentiate, and the concept's advancement may become a double-edged sword. Currently, most consumer applications in the ecosystem are transformations of traditional scenarios, with insufficient native applications, and most infrastructure applications are multi-chain projects or migration projects. Consumer-level scenarios require high-frequency experiences, and the user activity of existing games/ticketing applications needs to be verified. Currently, Sophon is also actively embracing the AI Agent narrative, building a self-learning AI Agent network, covering three vertical scenarios: financial strategy optimization, game NPC evolution, and social relationship prediction. Through computing power support, funding incubation, and technical empowerment, it builds a self-learning AI Agent network, covering three vertical scenarios: financial strategy optimization, game NPC evolution, and social relationship prediction. Currently, the user's cautious and optimistic participation strategy, in addition to the current Sophon Mainnet Farming, can also obtain incentives by running light nodes, or interact with ecosystem native applications to obtain potential token airdrops in the future.

Sophon Ecosystem: Revolutionizing Consumer-Centric Blockchain with Modular Architecture and AI Integration