Sonic Labs2026-09-22 04:06:43Sonic Labs says it will end discretionary S token minting and commission a third-party supply auditSonic Labs CEO Matt Visser said the company has completed its business handover and is moving into a new phase that includes internal restructuring and a separate commercialization track built around its public blockchain technology. He also said Sonic V2.2 went live today with bundled transactions, an expanded transaction guarantee mechanism, a higher smart contract limit, and a new execution engine. On strategy, Visser said the company remains focused on building its Layer 1 network, driving on-chain financial activity, and commercializing core infrastructure. SonicVM and SonicDB will be licensed externally, with the business model positioned as not dependent on crypto market cycles. He listed four commercial lines: payments and FX rails, AI, RWA and tokenization, and prediction market infrastructure, while saying perpetual contracts will no longer be pursued as a standalone line. On token policy, Visser said there will be no new discretionary minting of S going forward, with all manual issuance canceled and only automatic emissions for validator payments retained. He added that Sonic Labs has engaged an independent third party to audit S supply and related reporting, with results expected in the coming weeks.400
Sonic Labs2026-09-16 01:39:46Andre Cronje says Sonic Labs post on Michael Kong was "offensive" and unsupportedAndre Cronje, co-founder of Sonic Labs and founder of Flying Tulip, publicly backed former executive Michael Kong after Sonic Labs announced that Kong’s relationship with the company had been terminated with immediate effect. In a post commenting on Kong’s statement, Cronje said Sonic Labs’ related blog post was "offensive" and lacked support. He also argued that Kong’s eight years of contributions should be recognized. Cronje said Kong had raised concerns as early as 2018 about alleged plagiarism within the founding team. He added that after the project had raised $40 million and its funds had fallen to less than $2 million, Kong was the first to give up his salary. Cronje also credited Kong with pushing a roughly $150 million lawsuit in South Korea through to a win. Earlier in the day, Kong said on X that Sonic Labs recently disclosed that its relationship with him had been terminated immediately but gave no reason, which he said could leave the impression that he had been removed for misconduct. Kong said the departure was not voluntary. According to his statement, the two sides had signed a severance and mutual non-disparagement agreement, but Sonic Labs refused to honor it, and an earlier contractor agreement was also not fulfilled. He said he was responding publicly and reserving his right to sue Sonic Labs and affiliated parties.360
Sonic Labs2026-09-16 01:04:39Michael Kong disputes Sonic Labs statement, says exit was not voluntaryMichael Kong, the former CEO of Sonic, has publicly responded to Sonic Labs’ recent statement announcing the immediate termination of its relationship with him. Kong said the company was still asking him for help on the same day the statement was issued and also expressed concern for his well-being, while the public notice gave no explanation for the move. He said that omission created a false impression that he may have been removed over misconduct. According to Kong, his departure was not voluntary. After more than eight years working across Fantom and Sonic, he said he negotiated and signed a severance and release agreement with Sonic Labs and its affiliates. He added that Sonic Labs repeatedly promised over the past two and a half months to honor that agreement, but is now refusing to do so. Kong also said his existing contractor agreement has not been respected. He argued that the release agreement barred both sides from publicly disparaging each other, and said Sonic Labs chose to make public an issue that should have been handled internally, causing damage. Kong added that he reserves all rights to bring claims against Sonic Labs and its affiliates.380
Sonic2026-09-05 13:48:57Sonic CEO says crypto’s old narrative has broken down as blockchains shift toward revenueSonic Labs CEO Matt Visser used a lengthy public letter to argue that crypto can no longer rely on the same storylines that powered the DeFi era. In his view, the market is no longer rewarding promises about a future financial system, and blockchains now have to prove they can ship products that generate real revenue. He said Sonic has organized its work around four focused initiatives — payments, AI, perpetuals and real-world assets, and prediction markets — and plans to disclose named owners, milestones, and kill conditions for each in Q4. Visser also pointed to Aave’s proposal to shut down its Sonic deployment as a practical example of the new standard. He said deposits on Aave’s Sonic market had fallen to about $7.6 million and were contributing less than $5,000 per quarter, not enough to cover maintenance costs. The issue, he wrote, is not optics or chain politics but economics: integrations built for announcements rather than meaningful usage will eventually be cut. The letter also makes clear that Sonic does not plan to lead with tokenomics. Visser said buybacks, burns, fee sharing, and similar mechanisms only matter if there is underlying revenue to route. Until Sonic’s business units can point to actual income, he said, any token value-accrual design would amount to treasury spending dressed up as fundamentals.910
Sonic Labs2026-08-24 15:16:47Sonic Labs Says 40.49 Million S Tokens Returned to Company-Controlled Binance AccountSonic Labs said it has recovered 40,489,729.04 S tokens after its partnership with CMCC Resonance Fund ended, moving the tokens on Aug. 21 to a Binance account it controls. The company said no tokens were sold in the transfer, but acknowledged that the move was disclosed only after it had already been executed. Sonic Labs said future large transfers, exchange transfers and any sales will be announced in advance after internal communication procedures. Foresight News also noted that venture firm CMCC Global launched a $25 million Resonance Fund in September 2025 to accelerate development of the Sonic ecosystem.1460
Sonic Labs2026-08-07 03:03:43Sonic Labs CEO says DeFi Summer will not return, puts token S behind revenue-first product plansSonic Labs CEO Matt Visser used his 50th day in the role to publish a long public letter that rejects the idea of a return to "DeFi Summer" and resets the company around revenue. He argued that crypto has failed to deliver on its original promise to transform financial services, while market narratives that once supported the sector have weakened sharply. As one example, he pointed to Aave’s proposal last week to shut down its Sonic deployment, saying deposits on Aave tied to Sonic had fallen to about $7.6 million and were generating less than $5,000 in quarterly revenue for the protocol, not enough to cover maintenance costs. Visser said Sonic is now pushing four focused product tracks: payments and foreign exchange, AI agent infrastructure, perpetuals and real-world assets, and prediction markets. He added that each initiative will have a named owner, milestones, and clear stop conditions disclosed in Q4. Across all four, revenue is the main operating metric. On token design, Visser said S comes at the end of the sequence, not the beginning. Buybacks, burns, fee sharing, and flywheel structures are easy to announce, he wrote, but without real revenue they amount to moving treasury funds around and dressing that up as value accrual. His message was blunt: build products first, generate revenue second, and only then decide how value should be routed to token holders.700
Sonic Labs2026-07-24 10:50:16Sonic Labs Reshuffles Leadership as Andre Cronje Says He Had No Role in Token Migration or Airdrop DecisionsSonic Labs said Andre Cronje, Michael Kong and David Richardson have resigned from the board, with Matt Visser named CEO. Cronje said his work was focused on architecture and development, not token migration, airdrop planning or tokenomics decisions.1150
Sonic Labs2026-07-23 11:20:14Sonic Labs Launches USSD Stablecoin to Rebuild Liquidity Across Its NetworkSonic Labs has launched USSD, a Treasury-backed stablecoin with zero-fee minting and multichain access, as the network looks to restore liquidity after a sharp decline in TVL and token price.1520
