Fantom Unveils Sonic: Revolutionary Blockchain Unleashes Unmatched Scalability and Speed

On December 27, 2019, Fantom launched its operational network, introducing concepts like CPK and Lamport Time Stamps. The network achieved scalability and finality improvements over Ethereum, reaching 200 TPS and a sub-second finality time. However, demand led to congestion, prompting Fantom to develop Sonic, a new blockchain technology capable of processing 180 million transactions per day with sub-second finality. Sonic will be used as a shared sequencer for L1 and L2 chains, enabling a new era for Fantom with focus on interoperability, simplified participation, innovation grants, and loyalty rewards.

Fantom Unveils Sonic: A Revolutionary Blockchain Technology Unleashing Unprecedented Scalability and Speed

December 27, 2019 marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of blockchain technology with the advent of Fantom's operational network. Grounded in the principles of Concurrent Public Knowledge (CPK) and Lamport Time Stamps, this groundbreaking network introduced a paradigm shift in the industry.

Genesis of an Innovation: Fantom's Operational Network

Spearheaded by the visionary Andre Cronje and Fantom's esteemed technical team, the operational network established Fantom as the forerunner in permissionless Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG)-based protocols. This architectural innovation dramatically enhanced scalability and transaction finality time.

Surpassing the limitations of its contemporaries, namely Ethereum's 12 TPS and 60-second finality, the operational network achieved a remarkable maximum TPS of 200 and finality time of under 600 milliseconds. This quantum leap in performance opened new horizons for blockchain applications.

Emergence of Sonic: A Technological Masterpiece

While the operational network revolutionized the blockchain landscape, Fantom's relentless pursuit of innovation necessitated a solution to address the challenges posed by periods of high demand. Amidst network congestion and diminished user experience, the Fantom team embarked on a two-year journey to develop Sonic, a blockchain technology of unmatched scalability and security.

Sonic's extraordinary technical capabilities elevate it far beyond the operational network. With a prodigious throughput of 2,000 TPS and sub-second finality, Sonic marks a transformative leap in blockchain performance.

The Genesis of a New Era: Fantom Ascends to New Heights

The advent of Sonic heralds a new era for Fantom, empowering the blockchain to evolve and innovate like never before. This groundbreaking technology will serve as the cornerstone of a best-in-class shared sequencer for Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 2 (L2) chains.

With its unparalleled processing capacity of over 180 million daily transactions and sub-second confirmation times, Sonic serves as the foundation upon which Fantom will relaunch as a vibrant community-centric brand. The team is meticulously planning the launch of the new chain, targeting late summer or early fall of 2023.

Governance Proposals: Shaping the Future of Fantom

To usher in this transformative era, the Fantom ecosystem has meticulously crafted governance proposals outlining a bold vision for the future:

- Secure Bridges for a Connected Future: Sonic's integration with Ethereum demands a secure, trust-minimized bridge. Leveraging rollup technology and the existing network security, Fantom has developed a decentralized bridge that inherits Ethereum's economic security. This seamless connection between blockchains will foster interoperability and drive innovation.

- Streamlined Participation and Unleashing Liquidity: Fantom aims to simplify participation by eliminating the dependency of Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on lock time and implementing a fixed 14-day unlocking period. This strategic move unlocks an opportunity for over $1 billion in liquid participation tokens (LPTs), significantly boosting Decentralized Finance (DeFi) activity and total value locked (TVL).

- Fantom Labs Grant Program: Catalyst for Innovation: Fantom's commitment to innovation extends to the expansion of its Sonic Labs grant program. This initiative supports developers building unique and valuable applications and public goods across diverse sectors, including gaming, DeFi, social media, streaming, and distributed artificial intelligence (AI).

- Rewarding Loyalty and Early Adopters: Gratitude and appreciation are paramount for Fantom. To express this, the ecosystem will launch a comprehensive rewards campaign for both the current operational network and the new chain, recognizing the unwavering support of its users and early adopters.

Future Horizons: Unlocking the Potential of Sonic

The introduction of Sonic marks just the beginning of a transformative journey for Fantom. Several groundbreaking advancements are on the horizon, further solidifying its position as a blockchain technology titan.

- Supersets: A Scheduled Performance Boost: Scheduled for late 2024, supersets will significantly enhance Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM) performance. This architectural innovation will unlock even greater efficiency and scalability for applications built on the Fantom platform.

- Parallel FVM: Exploring Unparalleled Processing Power: Professor Bernhard Scholz, Chief Research Officer and virtualization expert, envisions a future where parallelization enhances Sonic's performance. The team's ongoing research in this area holds the promise of unprecedented processing power.

- ZK Execution Scaling: Balancing Efficiency and Verification: Andre Cronje remains dedicated to off-chain execution with on-chain verification. Initial proof-of-concept implementations utilizing zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive arguments of knowledge (zk-SNARKs) have demonstrated promising results. This ongoing research will further optimize the efficiency of Sonic by exploring pre-compiles in the FVM.

Canonical Stablecoin: A Cornerstone of DeFi Success: Both the current operational network and Sonic rely on a canonical stablecoin for the success and stability of DeFi applications. Fantom anticipates the implementation of a canonical stablecoin in the near future, providing a solid foundation for the growth of the DeFi ecosystem.

Conclusion: Fantom's Unstoppable Ascent

The introduction of Sonic marks a watershed moment for Fantom, propelling it to the forefront of blockchain technology. This transformative technology unlocks unprecedented scalability and speed, paving the way for a myriad of groundbreaking applications. With an unwavering commitment to innovation, Fantom is poised to redefine the boundaries of what is possible in the blockchain realm and empower a new era of decentralized solutions.