Just days after its mainnet launch, Sony Group's Ethereum Layer 2 platform Soneium has found itself at the center of its first controversy. The platform attempted to restrict meme coin activities as part of its intellectual property and contract protection policies, but crypto-savvy users quickly found a way around the blockade.
Blocking Measures and User Workaround
Soneium initially implemented restrictions at the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) node level, aiming to prevent meme coin transfers. Many users reported significant losses because they could not exit positions in several meme coins. However, Luca Donno, a researcher at L2beat, successfully bypassed these blocks by leveraging Layer 1 (L1) transactions — sending transactions directly to Ethereum's mainnet, thereby circumventing the sequencer-level censorship on Soneium.
Donno noted that Soneium is a standard OP Stack chain, meaning it must comply with the condition of allowing L1-based workarounds. However, this method is only feasible for skilled programmers capable of editing raw transactions, leaving most ordinary users helpless.
Industry Reactions
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin commented that the situation “demonstrates how launching an Ethereum L2 is great for businesses and users,” adding that businesses can choose the level of control they surrender to users. “This is all free market at play,” he stressed.
Mingshi Song, head of DeFi at Soneium, acknowledged that these rules are “stepping stones” for blockchain to achieve mainstream adoption. “While these rules and their enforcement are not perfect, the goal is always to build frameworks that businesses can trust while preserving the fundamental principle of user sovereignty,” Song said.
Sota Watanabe, CEO of Startale Labs, also chimed in, noting that building such a chain is not easy. “Someone had to initiate these IP rights and protection initiatives to onboard the mainstream business,” he concluded.
Balancing Decentralization and Control
The controversy highlights the ongoing tension in Layer 2 networks between user sovereignty and enterprise-friendly governance. Soneium's attempt to block unauthorized tokens was swiftly undermined by the very nature of decentralized composability — users could still transact via the underlying L1. Buterin's remarks suggest that such friction is a natural outcome of market dynamics, where businesses and users negotiate the boundaries of control.