Sonic Labs, the team responsible for the layer-1 Sonic blockchain, has received approval to issue $200 million worth of its S tokens, aimed at entering the US capital markets, which includes plans for a proposed exchange-traded product and an investment vehicle listed on Nasdaq.
The voting concluded on Sunday, securing 99.99% approval from Sonic (S) tokens across 105 wallets. The proposal also achieved the necessary quorum of 700 million participating S tokens.
The company intends to allocate $100 million in S tokens to establish a strategic reserve for a Nasdaq PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity) vehicle, with another $50 million earmarked for an S token-tracking ETP issued by a “regulated, top-tier ETF provider” managing over $10 billion in assets. Sonic noted that BitGo would act as the custodian for the fund.
Sonic will also form Sonic USA LLC, appoint a US-based CEO, and build a team in New York to facilitate its TradFi initiatives and engage with Washington, DC, as detailed in the proposal overview. A total of 150 million S tokens (valued at $47.7 million) will be used to kickstart Sonic USA.
Numerous publicly traded companies have turned to crypto to enhance their balance sheets, primarily by establishing crypto treasuries and investing in spot exchange-traded funds. However, Sonic’s strategy represents a shift by utilizing traditional financial instruments to enhance its competitiveness in the cryptocurrency sector.
Sonic requires “2025 tokenomics”
The Sonic chain was launched in December 2024, following a rebranding from the Fantom Opera network, with Fantom’s FTM tokens swapped for Sonic’s S tokens on a 1:1 basis during the migration.
Nevertheless, the Fantom Foundation held less than 3% of the overall FTM token supply, choosing to purchase its own token rather than sell it for partnerships.
Sonic stated that the inherited tokenomics have hindered its ability to seize significant opportunities, such as collaborations or investments in GameStop, Robinhood, and Polymarket, along with earlier token listings on significant crypto exchanges. “[The] tokens weren’t available when needed,” it expressed.
Sonic highlighted that most teams behind layer 1 and 2 blockchains retain 50% of supply from the initial tokenomics for strategic purposes, while Sonic’s sub-3% distribution has compelled it to acquire S tokens through the open market.
“We have 2018 tokenomics. We need 2025 tokenomics.”
Sonic aims to make the S token more deflationary
Sonic also plans to mitigate new S token issuance by revising its gas fee structure and allocating a larger portion of transaction fees to be burned, which should alleviate net inflation and generate sustained deflationary pressure on the supply.
This approach allows “Sonic to compete with the major TradFi players (ETF/PIPE) without sacrificing holders,” stated the blockchain entity.
The S token has not fared well since its launch in January, experiencing a decline of nearly 69% according to CoinGecko.
Sonic involved in the US Commerce Dept’s blockchain initiative
Additionally, Sonic has been recognized as a participant in the US Department of Commerce’s initiative to publish economic data onchain, utilizing Chainlink’s and Pyth’s blockchain oracle services.
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This collaboration enables developers to reference US macroeconomic statistics directly on Sonic, eliminating the need to access the Department of Commerce’s website.
Sonic anticipates that this arrangement will foster new innovations on its platform — such as creating trading models based on gross domestic product and inflation data and applying macroeconomic signals for onchain lenders.
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