Soneium Developer Testnet Launched! Collaborating with a VC and infrastructure project to build the Sony universe.

Japanese Web 2 giant Sony's Sony Block Solutions Labs recently announced at Japan's largest blockchain event WebX that its blockchain Soneium will soon launch a developer testnet and kick off the development activities for Soneium Spark. Soneium is an Ethereum Layer 2 solution launched in collaboration between Sony Block Solutions Labs and Startale Labs. We previously reported that this Layer 2 is developed using OP Stack and will also be integrated into Optimism's Superchain project. Imagine Optimism, Base, and Soneium integrated into a seamless chain experience. Sota Watanabe, the founder of Astar and also the director of Sony Block Solutions Labs, boldly stated that the chain launched by Sony has the potential to surpass the Base chain.

(Sony Group Launches L2, Aiming to Build the Most Widely Adopted Blockchain Soneium)

Announcement of Collaborative Infrastructure and VC Lineup, Introducing Sony's Industry

The official introduction of themselves is: Soneium is a public chain, a permissionless open network. Serving as a Layer 2 solution for Ethereum, Soneium is built on top of existing Layer 1 infrastructure, responsible for data processing to address the slow processing speed and high fees typically encountered on the Ethereum mainnet. By leveraging the Op Stack developed by the Optimism Foundation, Soneium has created a scalable, EVM-compatible, and developer-friendly blockchain.

It is understood that Soneium has now launched a testnet bridge, with the developer testnet codenamed Minato, meaning harbor in Japanese. The official statement indicates that Minato provides a fast and cost-effective development environment, offering tools compatible with Ethereum widely used in existing Web3 application development. Currently, Soneium Minato has also attracted some developers and creators, emphasizing shaping the future of this community through user feedback.

The official has announced the first batch of foundational projects in collaboration, including partnering with PYTH to provide oracle services, in conjunction with the previously announced collaboration with Chainlink. They also collaborate with Alchemy Pay, Transak, and other fiat-to-crypto gateways, and other infrastructure projects announced include Privy, Rair Protocol, Reservoir, Sentioxyz, Sequence, Thirdweb, Web3 Auth, as well as contract auditing institutions like QuantStamp.

Additionally, the official has disclosed the VC lineup participating in the testnet, including: BITKRAFT Ventures, Steve Lee, Digital Finance Group, Delphi Ventures, Newman Capital, Mechanism Capital, HashKey Capital, The Spartan Group, and Xcelerator.

Sony Group is also considering introducing its industries into the blockchain space, including Sony Music, Sony Pictures, Sony Innovation Funds, INZONE, and Sony Education Global.

In fact, this move is not difficult to understand. Take Sony Music as an example, a16z recently invested $80 million in Story Protocol, indicating institutions are beginning to focus on using blockchain technology to address copyright issues. According to data from the Taiwan Creative Content Agency, Sony Music's revenue in the first half of the year amounted to a staggering $4.47 billion. With such a large scale, adopting blockchain as a solution is expected to bring about a wide range of applications.

Furthermore, the author speculates that industries like Sony Music and Sony Pictures in the cultural and artistic sectors might adopt NFT technology, aligning with their strong recruitment of creators and their actions in the NFT-related field.

Referring to the leaders in the Layer 2 space, Arbitrum was valued at around $1.2 billion, Optimism at $1.65 billion, and Starknet at $8 billion. With the support of Sony, Soneium's future development prospects are indeed promising.

Blockchain copyright platform Story's funding valuation exceeds $2.2 billion, combating AI illegal misuse is urgent

Soneium Spark Program Unveiled: Developers Have the Opportunity to Receive $100,000 Investment

The official has also launched the Soneium Spark incubation program, targeting foundational infrastructure on the Soneium development testnet, aiming to transform groundbreaking ideas into practical solutions on Soneium. In the Soneium Spark program, new projects can receive:

1. Guidance from industry experts.
2. Rich resources, collaborating with top-tier infrastructure.
3. Establishing strategic partnerships with industry giants.
4. Staying closely connected with the market.

Projects participating in the program can receive a $100,000 investment, which will be done in collaboration with various venture capital institutions. The first batch of Soneium Spark will open for applications in the coming weeks and announce winners in mid-October. The event will be entirely held online, with offline events organized to provide global developers with opportunities.

The official also stated that they would provide a series of customized assistance to the winners of this program, including

1. Marketing Support: Comprehensive marketing support, showcasing projects on high-traffic entry websites, exclusive participation in upcoming Soneium events, powerful social media promotion, and exclusive interactions with the Soneium team at offline events.
2. Business Support: Providing potential intellectual property collaborations, strategic partnerships with industry-leading companies, introductions to top exchanges, and connections with venture capital institutions.
3. Technical Support: Collaborating with top-tier infrastructure on Soneium, providing tools and advice.
4. Financial Support: In addition to ecosystem fund investments, Soneium team and strong partners like Sony offer additional funding opportunities.

Soneium Opens 13 Fields, Winners Will Receive Ecosystem Assistance

The official also mentioned that the current plan focuses on the following areas:

DeFi

1. Decentralized exchanges (automated market maker model)

2. Decentralized exchange aggregators, consolidating liquidity from multiple exchanges

3. Decentralized lending platforms

4. Interest and incentive tasks, rewarding liquidity provision or participation in specific activities

5. Sustainable contract and synthetic asset trading platforms

6. Decentralized options trading platforms

7. Decentralized derivatives trading platforms, including futures, options, etc.

8. Over-collateralized stablecoin protocols, issuing stablecoins by collateralizing crypto assets

9. And other DeFi applications such as insurance, oracles, etc.

Web3 Experience

1. NFTs can be creators or similar to MagicEden's trading marketplace

2. Gaming
- Blockchain-based games, typically involving NFTs or cryptocurrency transactions
Not explicitly described as GameFi, perhaps implying not necessarily fitting into a transaction model?

3. Decentralized entertainment platforms, such as content creation in music, movies, etc.

4. Decentralized social platforms, focusing on privacy and decentralized data management

The official stated that they are looking for solutions that can inspire innovation and focus on the health of the ecosystem. Teams willing to establish native or exclusive projects on Soneium will be their primary consideration, including projects choosing Soneium as their initial chain or migrating from other chains. They will evaluate each team's technology, business, attractiveness, and roadmap, as well as motivation to contribute to Soneium's growth. Projects planning to launch on Soneium's platform will also be a key evaluation point.

Participating teams will receive assistance based on gold and silver awards to expand their influence.