Ethereum rollup ‘Soneium’ aims to redefine ‘GM’
When Sota Watanabe, the CEO of Startale Labs and founder of Astar Network, sends a “GM,” he doesn’t mean “good morning.” Instead, he wants it to represent “go mainstream.” This is the slogan and goal of Sony Block Solutions Labs as they launch Soneium, a joint venture with Watanabe’s company. The network’s “Minato” public testnet is set to go live after the WebX 2024 conference in Japan.
In positioning Soneium as a cornerstone for mainstream Web3 adoption, Watanabe emphasizes that this new iteration of blockchain technology will onboard the next billion users into crypto. He states that the industry lacks a distribution channel and aims to develop a blockchain based on real customer feedback, catering not only to tech-savvy individuals but also to the general public who will use blockchain in the next decade.
Soneium will be the third blockchain deployment for Startale. It follows the Astar Network layer-1 and the Ethereum layer-2 Astar zkEVM. However, with the launch of Soneium, Astar will evolve once again, this time using the new optimistic rollup based on the OP Stack. This decision is driven in part by the belief that the OP Stack is a more proven solution, especially in light of blockchain reorganizations encountered by Astar and similar problems experienced by Polygon’s zkEVM.
Although OP Mainnet has had some stability issues, Watanabe remains unconcerned, as he believes that customers prioritize a stable and robust network over the underlying technology stack. Astar zkEVM offers three to four transactions per second (TPS), while the OP Stack version is expected to have a higher TPS rate. However, a source suggests that the decision to switch to the OP Stack was primarily influenced by Astar’s joint venture with Sony, where Sony would be compensated by Optimism for the deal.
Soneium’s backers also plan for the network to join the Superchain, aiming to make the ecosystem bigger together rather than competing with Base, the OP Stack rollup leading the Ethereum layer-2 space in active users. The launch of the testnet also marks the beginning of an incubation program called Spark, which provides a supportive environment for developers to build and test their applications and offers mentorship, technical support, and funding opportunities.
Sony has committed significant resources to this project, including its Web3 team of 30-50 software engineers, infrastructure, and seed funding for the joint venture. The collaboration with Optimism has been in the works for about a year and a half, reflecting Sony’s commitment to open-source technology and their shared goal of transforming society.