Interpreting Sonic: The first L2 on Solana born for gaming, leading the “one-click chain launch” gaming feast

The market is dull and there is a lack of phenomenal new projects to drive narrative changes.

But looking back, Solana is still an ecosystem worth paying attention to. The user demand is obvious, and the transaction frequency and activity have remained at a certain level.

As liquidity and attention accumulate, an opportunity is needed to break the dull market structure.

Currently, games on Solana seem to have been overshadowed by the popularity of Memes, but there is huge room for imagination:

First, there is still no game of equal size to the ETH-related ecosystem; second, in the context of mobility and narrative rotation, the Solana gaming track as a whole needs to be activated to take over the existing liquidity and attention.

From the "dull summer" to the "gaming feast", which projects will become the key drivers and provide promotion in terms of technology, ecology and funding?

Sonic, the first Layer2 built for gaming on Solana, and the first modular SVM chain on Solana, maybe worth paying attention to.

The project proposes a Rollup expansion framework called HyperGrid, which can combine the speed of Solana and the customizability of game-specific rollups to create conditions for the explosion of the gaming ecosystem on Solana.

At the same time, in June this year, Sonic also received $12 million in financing led by Bitkraft, with participation from Galaxy and Big Brain Holding.TokenThe upcoming TGE in October is highly anticipated. According to public information, Sonic is also developing a game and partner cooperation plan, trying to introduce more games into the Solana ecosystem through incentives;

For more Degen users, Sonic has been conducting node pre-sales in recent days, which has added more reasons to pay attention to this project.

In this issue, we will take a closer look at Sonic, explore the rationale for its existence, and conduct research from aspects such as products, technology, and ecological resources.

Times make heroes, Sonic's self-consistency and timing

Don't rush into it yet.

Whether a project is worthy of attention, the "self-consistency" in terms of demand and narrative is very important.

Before you get to know Sonic itself, you must be more confused about:Solana is already fast enough, but it still needsL2?What capabilities does Sonic have to meet these needs?

At first glance, stereotypes seem like problems, but if you think about it, you'll find new market opportunities.

For example, Solana's second-generation mobile phone sales received 60,000 orders within 3 weeks. The market demand for mobile devices is significant. However, although mobile devices are available, games in the ecosystem are absent (regardless of whether Web3 games are fun, whether there are games is the prerequisite):

The main Web3 games at present are basically on Polygon/BNB/ETH. Although Solana is called the so-called retail chain, the game category closest to retail investors has not yet developed.

Data from DappRadar shows that TOP25 UAW (the only activewallet) are not on Solana; nor are any of the top 10 games by market cap on Solana.

This is like the two sides of a coin. You can see the absence of current games, but it also meansProvide seats for the game, great opportunity.

For another question, does Solana need L2In fact, the demand is shown in technology, public opinion and application.

Technically,Solana's main chain L1 faces foreseeable performance pressure and needs a way to share it; while L2's Rollup is an optional option.

As dAPP and DeFi activities on Solana grow faster, the number of on-chain transactions exceeded 200 million per day in January 2024. Some analysts conservatively estimate that the transaction volume will exceed 4 billion in 2026.

Under this foreseeable pressure, Solana's TPS is around 2500-4000, and the average ping time of the Solana cluster fluctuates between 6 seconds and 80 seconds; when TPS becomes increasingly saturated and even exceeds 4000, the success rate of Solana transactions only reaches 70% to 85%.

At the same time, when Meme transactions on the chain are frequent, other applications will be affected; when games interact with high frequency, the performance of L1 will also be dragged down to a certain extent.

In terms of application, some projects have begun to consider Rollup-like designs.

Since Solana lacks advanced data structures for games, project developers need to manuallycontractIt is more difficult to develop games on Sol because of the lack of a caching mechanism. At the same time, it is difficult to perform common operations in games such as cross-transaction calls and data account access, which further increases the difficulty of developing games.

Non-gaming projects, such as Pyth, are building application chains based on Solana, and Grass is packaging high-frequency DePIN data and passing it to L1 through zk aggregation. L2-like behavior is occurring.

The same is true for applications (games). Obviously, they prefer to have their own L2 Rollup, which is more conducive to value capture, privacy and real-time settlement of their own fees.

In public opinion, the founders of Solana-related ecological projects have also been constantly discussing the need for L2.

fromFrom the perspectives of performance, ecology, application, and communication, Solana needs a game chain to expand its ecosystem.

From the perspective of investment research, the above information put together means:Whoever solves the needs in the Solana ecosystem first will have a better chance of becoming the next Alpha.

This is the consistency and opportunity that Sonic faces.

Hypergrid, the secret weapon for easy "one-click chain release"

Now that we understand the necessity, let’s take a look at how Sonic plans to do L2.

Sonic is unique in that Hypergrid is a horizontally scalable Rollup architecture designed specifically for Solana SVM.

You can understand that Sonic's L2 is built on HyperGrid and is Solana's first concurrent expansion framework; further, the name HyperGrid means that multiple independent grids are allowed to run at the same time, each grid can process transactions independently, but ultimately consensus and confirmation are achieved through the Solana mainnet.

The advantage of this design is that it can greatly improve the scalability and performance of the system.

You can think of it as aAn “autonomous system” that is both autonomous and centralized:

• Standalone operation：Each grid can independently handle its internal transactions, including verification, logging, and state changes. This means that applications in one grid will not affect the operation of other grids.

• Connect to the mainnet：Although the grid can run independently, the final consensus and confirmation still rely on the Solana mainnet. This ensures data consistency andSafetysex.

• Flexible expansion: Developers can choose to use a public grid or create an independent grid to gain greater performance isolation and control based on their needs.

If you still don't understand, a better analogy is a large shopping mall and independently operated shops.

Think of HyperGrid as a large shopping mall, and each grid is an independent store in the mall. Each store (grid) can operate independently and handle its own transactions and customers (application transactions).

Real Estate (Solana Mainnet) is responsible for the entire mallSafetyand management to ensure that the transaction records and status changes of each store can be finally confirmed. If a store's business is particularly busy, a new branch can be opened (a new independent grid can be created) to ensure the smooth operation of the business without affecting other stores.

Specifically in terms of architecture, Hypergrid actually consists of the following parts:

• Solana Base Layer: responsible for the final consensus and data recording,This layer receives batches from HypergridZero knowledge proof(Batch ZK proofs) are used for settlement and sharing of status information.

• Hypergrid: A shared network of orderers that coordinates and manages multiple grids.It also contains multiple validators, each of which is responsible for processing and verifying transactions.

• Different Grids:Each grid can be thought of as an independent application or service (such as a game), handling its specific transactions and state changes.

• user: Transactions are made with Hypergrid, which is responsible for receiving and processing these transactions. Transactions are processed by Hypergrid’s validators and ultimately settled and recorded through the Solana base layer.

The Hypergrid architecture alone is not enough to fully realize its effect. It needs to be equipped with some auxiliary tools to make it easier to use.

The first is the EVM interpreter, which allows existing Ethereum-based games to be deployed on Hypergrid with only minor changes. At the same time, Hypergrid has also developed a native game engine that covers the runtime loop function, game-specific types, containers, and sandbox environments of the game, reducing the various barriers to game access, development, and debugging.

In the final stage of interacting with assets, Hypergrid also provides a complete set of payment and settlement infrastructure, such as an embedded NFT market.TokenSwaps, bridges and liquidity pools, identity verification andwalletAnd other supporting tools.

Therefore, Hypergrid combined with the above tools can achieveDevelopers can quickly build a customized Rollup for their own games without reinventing the wheel from scratch, using the existing architecture and toolkits, you can handle all the aspects required for Web3 games end-to-end.

At the same time, the benefits brought to developers will eventually spill over to all stakeholders around Solana.

Crypto players can get a better trading and gaming experience, but they cannot perceive any changes technically, they just subjectively feel that the transaction speed has become faster. For the entire Solana ecosystem, applications' own customized Rollups can also reduce the performance pressure of the main network, so that project parties are willing to introduce more Solana games. Each game will bring users and liquidity to the in-game assets, which will also penetrate into Solana's basic layer.

It is worth mentioning that as an L2, Hypergrid’s system also adopts a staking design. Validators in the network need to stake SOL to become nodes, which indirectly improves the value capture effect of SOL.

Ultimately, Sonic's Hypergrid design greatly improves system scalability and performance while ensuring data consistency andSafetyIt enables all parties in the Solana ecosystem to benefit, and I believe it is a reasonable choice that multiple parties can participate in and have the motivation to participate.

Focus beyond technology

As an L2 infrastructure project that can benefit multiple parties, technology is certainly important, but what is more critical is how many partners can play together and to what extent one can expand one's business circle.

Therefore, the resources, cooperation capabilities,CommunityFactors such as construction and market entry strategies become more important.

In June this year, Sonic announced that Bitkraft It raised $12 million in a Series A round led by , with participation from Galaxy Interactive, Big Brain Holdings, and others.

而 Sonic 背后的开发者— Mirror World 则拥有着更强的实力。早在22年便获得了400万美金种子轮融资，OKX 和Bybit 等 CEX 也参与了投资。在之前的基础上，如果 Sonic 的代币 TGE，更加增加了上所的预期。

On the other hand, Sonic and the Mirror World also have a close connection with Solana.

Public information shows that Solana’s Asia-Pacific growth team, gaming team, and ecosystem technology leaders are all consultants and angel investors of the Sonic project, which undoubtedly adds legitimacy to the project.

More official organizational connections also mean broader connections and resources, making it easier to collaborate in the Solana ecosystem, thus paving the way for project development.

Specifically, Mirror World's application development platform SDK has been deployed to 50 game clients as initial distribution nodes. It has established a good cooperative relationship with existing games, making it easier to migrate existing games to Sonic and complete the cold start of Sonic's ecosystem.

Currently, more than 10 on-chain games have been successfully deployed on Sonic’s testnet, including the first on-chain Casino Zeebit in the Solana ecosystem and the top shooting game officially invested by Solana. Lowlife Forms.

Meanwhile, the Sonic testnet has taken shape.

According to the official data panel, the number of active wallets on Sonic has exceeded 2 million. With the official launch of Sonic’s mainnet in September, we can expect more games to be introduced. If a phenomenal game emerges, this number will only increase.

But everyone knows that Web3 games will not necessarily attract outsiders at the beginning. It is more important to activate users within the circle and inject initial traffic and attention.

笔者一直强调，对一个基建类项目来说，组局和拉动资源的能力直接决定了项目的下限。在这方面 Sonic 的优势非常明显，其关键的合作优势就是能与其他非游戏类的项目建立良好的合作关系，为这条链提供流动性、流量和Safety性上的支持。

For example, Backpack, OKX wallet, Metaplex, Solayer (more than $25 million of SOL staked in it), Jito, etc.exchange, DeFi and LST projects have now become partners of Sonic, jointly providing blood transfusion for this L2.

In addition to partner connectionsXiaobai Navigation, recently Sonic alsoCommunityContinuously improve your influence to strengthen brand awareness.

作为一个立足全球的 L2 ，Sonic 现在已经在各国招募了推广大使，并且在土耳其和尼日尼亚等 Web3 增量市场召开了社区 meet up，强化项目在用户和开发者心智中的地位。

At the same time, judging from recent actions, Sonic has also accelerated the frequency of exposure. Important activities in the Solana ecosystem, such as the hacker house and breakpoint, are co-organized by Sonic; and whether it is Solana's Chinese community or the global community, Sonic is also actively sharing as a guest.

From these little actions, we finally see that Sonic is a project with multiple VC investments, official support from Solana, global user reach and good activity, as well as strong resource connection capabilities and the initial scale of ecological development.

More importantly, Sonic’s lead in narrative (the first L2 for gaming on Solana) adds up to a lot of reasons why you should pay attention to Sonic.

Current opportunities to participate: HyperFuse Guardian Node NFT sale

Currently, Sonic's token $SONIC is scheduled to be launched in October. Although it is not possible to directly participate in the token at present, we can understand its economic model and utility in advance and participate in the upcoming node pre-sale activities.

First of all, SONIC tokens exist for three types of roles, namelyToken holders, construction contributors, and users and the community.

• Token Holders: $Sonic can be exchanged for $veSonic at a ratio of 1:1, which can be used to participate in ecosystem governance voting or delegated to different validators to obtain additional rewards.

• Builders and Contributors: Builders and contributors can participate in the Sonic Partner Innovation Network (SPIN) and Sonic Accelerator Program to gain ecosystem support to jointly build high-quality games, infrastructure tools, or support the development of other parts of the ecosystem.

• Users and Community: Participate in interactive experiences in ecosystem projects. Through Sonic's activities, users can earn points rewards, which can be exchanged for tokens or other ecosystem rewards.

So, what are the current spaces where users can participate to get the opportunity to receive token rewards?

On September 16, Sonic will launch a sale event called HyerFuse Guardian Node (Visit here). The object of this sale is 50,000 NFTs representing the rights to run nodes in Sonic’s HyperGrid network.

Each NFT represents the operating rights of a Guardian Node, and different levels of NFTs correspond to different node weights and reward ratios.

The first thing we need to figure out is what is the purpose of running this HyperFuse Guardian node?

在 HyperGrid 中，Guardian 节点是维护网络正常运行的重要一环。这些节点的主要职责包括监控网络交易和状态转换，检测异常情况；同时验证 HyperGrid Shared State Network (HSSN) 向 Solana 提交的状态是否正确，并确保 Grids rollup 中的所有操作符合Safety标准。

You can understand it in layman's terms as the role of a "verification node".

It is worth noting that even if users do not have the technical ability to run a node, they can still purchase NFTs and delegate them to other operators to participate in the network and receive rewards.

At the same time, the threshold for running a node is also very low, and you only need a browser to run a lightweight node.

Therefore, participating in HyperFuse Guardian Node operations not only helps maintain network security, but also brings potential financial rewards.

Token rewards: The project allocated 10% tokens for rewards, of which 9% is used for node operation rewards and 1% is used for network expansion rewards, such as referrals and invitations (the unlocking rules for different rewards are as follows).

In terms of specific rules, Sonic divides the pre-sale of the node NFT into three stages:

• Lottery phase: September 16, 2024 13:00 UTC (lasts 24 hours)

• Whitelist sale: September 18, 2024 13:00 UTC (lasts 24 hours)

• Public sale: Starts at 13:00 UTC on September 19, 2024

Different nodes use a dynamic pricing mechanism, with unit prices ranging from $155 to $554. Supports purchases on the Solana network using SOL, USDT, or USDC. Different tiers of NFTs have different purchase caps to ensure broader community participation.

It is worth mentioning that the initial price of the node NFT sale is relatively low. Starting at US$155 is not a very expensive price. At the same time, the nodes of 70% are all within US$300.

From a grading perspective, the sale of Level 1 nodes (the cheapest) adopts the Fair Launch model, which is a relatively fair way of participation for most players. It is bound to have the highest appeal at a low price. Interested players can prepare in advance and participate on the 16th.

In addition, level 2 to level 8 nodes are only sold to white ticket holders, with prices ranging from $166 to $248. White tickets can be obtained through the testnet's odyssey activities and cooperative communities.

Currently known cooperative communities include MadLads, Solayer, Send, MonkeDAOWell-known communities in the Solana ecosystem, as well as a wider range ofcryptoCommunity.

Players who are interested in the specific rules can checkHereLearn more details.

From a valuation perspective, node pre-sales are good news for the community and retail investors, as some of the nodes offer lower costs than VC round financing.

In the first batch of 30% node sales, the fully diluted valuation (FDV) remained below $100 million, which is lower than the valuation of the previous round of VC. This means that early participants have the opportunity to enter the project at a relatively favorable price and gain potential appreciation space.

It can be seen that the nodes also adopt a tiered pricing strategy. Early participants can obtain nodes at a lower price, and as the sales process progresses, the node price gradually increases. This not only rewards early supporters, but also provides investors with different budgets with the opportunity to participate, which is conducive to expanding the community base.

Conclusion

Solana’s Game Summer is still to come, but the people who are paving the way for its arrival are certainly worth paying attention to.

Sonic's powerful resource connection, professional products and activities have given existing liquidity and attention new destinations; whether it is professional freeloaders, ordinary players or game project parties, new, easy-to-use and well-anticipated projects will become the darlings of the market.

But how long it can be pampered also depends on Sonic’s own good operation and subsequent development. Water strives to be the first and to flow continuously. Iterating oneself in the ever-changing market expectations and demands is the survival philosophy for Web3 projects to go further.

The article comes from the Internet:Interpreting Sonic: The first L2 on Solana born for gaming, leading the “one-click chain launch” gaming feast

Related recommendation: The Democratic Party invited a group of Crypto bigwigs to attend the meeting, but the two sides quarreled

Despite the friction, Harris's odds on Polymarket have tied Trump's. Written by Eleanor Terrett, FOX Business Translated by Azuma, Odaily Planet Daily Editor's Note: At 11:45 a.m. EST Thursday (23:45 last night Beijing time), the Democratic House of Representatives…