8 questions and answers about Sony’s Ethereum Layer 2 network Soneium

Original | Odaily Planet Daily ( @OdailyChina )

Author | Asher ( @Asher_0210 )

This afternoon, a piece of news sparked heated discussions in major communities: Japanese giant Sony plans to launch Ethereum Layer 2 network Soneium. Sony Block Solutions Labs said on Friday that it will launch a new Layer 2 network called Soneium on the Ethereum blockchain. Soneium is expected to be launched on the test network in the next few days. It will use Optimism Rollup technology and be built using the OP Stack of the Optimism blockchain ecosystem.

Odaily Planet Daily will combine market data, new project Soneium community information, etc. in the form of questions and answers to clarify Sonys upcoming Soneium network .

• Q1: Is this Sony’s first exploration into the Web3 space?
  

A1 : No, as early as 2022, Sony began to lay out in the Web3 field, including the metaverse sector, NFT sector foundation, and infrastructure sector. The most discussed one was in early 2023, when Sony Network Communications, a business unit of Sony Group, cooperated with the multi-chain smart contract network Astar Network to launch a Web3 incubation program for projects focusing on NFT and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) practical applications.

Sota Watanabe, director of Sony Block Solutions Labs, previously said: By 2026, Sony Group will make a unified ID for all Sony-related products and services. It will be very interesting if we can build DID on top of the blockchain, and it will become an interface connecting Web3 and Web2.

• Q2: What is the relationship between Sony, Astar Network and Startale Labs?

A2 : To explain the relationship between the three, we need to know a person, Sota Watanabe, who is the co-founder of Astar Network, CEO of Startale Labs, and director of Sony Block Solutions Labs . Startale Labs inherited the technology and knowledge base that Sota Watanabe gained from the operation of Astar Network. Startale Labs also cooperated with Sony, obtained funds from Sony, and established a joint venture with Sony.

Last September, Sota Watanabe announced that Startale Labs will establish a joint venture with Sony Network Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony, Sony Network Communiations Labs Pte. Ltd. (todays Sony Block Solutions Labs), which will focus on the research and development of blockchain technology . The new joint venture will promote the development of Sony Chain, which has the potential to surpass the Layer 2 network Base released by Coinbase. After nearly a year, Soneium is finally coming out.

• Q3: What are the features of Sony’s upcoming Layer 2 network Soneium?

A3 : Soneium uses the Op Stack and Superchain developed by the Optimism Foundation to create a scalable, EVM-compatible, developer-friendly blockchain. In addition, Soneium plans to become a versatile, general-purpose blockchain that can meet the various needs of all verticals and provide support to users around the world. In the Soneium network, everyone is a creator, no matter where the user is or what kind of work they do. The team hopes to build an open Internet that transcends cultural differences and brings together people with different values.

• Q4 : Will Astar Network be directly converted to the Soneium chain?

A4 : No, the two are closely related but not the same project. Soneium is a new Ethereum Layer 2 project using the Optimism technology stack, while Astar is a Layer 1 project. Due to supporting the development of the Soneium project, Astar zkEVM will transition to Soneium L2, and the ASTR token will play a key role in the Soneium ecosystem.

• Q5 : Does Soneium have any “big moves” in the near future?

A5 ：Yes, the team plans to launch the Soneim testnet with Op Stack in the next few days. Developers and creators can start to experience the Soneium development environment and start creating their own applications on the testnet.

• Q6 : Are there any opportunities to participate in projects early on?

A6 : Yes, on the one hand, you can follow the official X account ( click here to jump to the link ) to get the latest information about the project; on the other hand, the official Discord community has just been opened, and you can currently obtain OG status by actively speaking in the channel.

• Q7 : How to obtain OG status in the official Discord?

A7 : The first step is to join the official Discord community ( click here to jump to the link ); the second step is to become active in the [waiting-room] channel to level 2, which will automatically unlock the [join-main-server] channel; the third step is to click [join-main-server] + verification in the upper left corner of the server to enter the main channel and automatically obtain the OG identity [GM].

• Q8 : Does Soneium have a plan to issue coins?

A8 : Not sure yet. According to the community screenshots, the community administrator said that Soneium will use ETH as the Gas fee for its L2 network, and there is no plan to issue native tokens or token airdrops, but the content has been deleted.