Sony’s Soneium blockchain mainnet launched with the goal of simplifying Web3 and enhancing fan engagement using NFTs, but it faced some early challenges.
The Soneium mainnet, developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs, is a layer-2 (L2) blockchain platform designed to offer a seamless Web3 experience. It leverages the OP Stack from the Optimism Foundation and features Sony’s NFT-based Fan Marketing Platform and Soneium Spark, aimed at empowering creators, developers, and fans.
Soneium is committed to protecting creators’ IPs and rights onchain while maintaining the spirit of decentralization!
Our documentation outlines how we safeguard IP rights and combat malicious activities – all while keeping web3's core values of openness and innovation intact.… pic.twitter.com/RHGvNIDXHE
— Soneium 💿 (@soneium) January 14, 2025
Soneium integrates with Sony Pictures, Sony Music, and Sony Music Publishing, using NFTs to provide fans with exclusive content and foster deeper connections. For example, NFTs enable Amazon Prime Video users to access special perks.
Despite its promising features, the launch sparked controversy. While some users highlighted the platform’s potential, others criticized it for “blacklisting” certain contract addresses. The pseudonymous founder of Pump.fun slammed Soneium for “resetting user positions to zero.”
Sony’s new Ethereum L2 is actively blacklisting memecoins they don’t like, instantly nuking everyone’s position to 0
what makes you think that other centralized L2s won’t do the same if push comes to shove?
don’t take your freedoms for granted
— alon (@a1lon9) January 14, 2025
Further backlash arose from allegations that Soneium froze contracts, effectively “rugging users” of up to $100,000 in Ether. This action stems from Soneium’s policy of restricting addresses suspected of intellectual property (IP) violations, as detailed in its official documentation.
.@soneium rugged users >$100k in ETH on launch day
I've never seen anything like it
Want to be a permissioned chain? fine. Instead of whitelisting developers, they chose to instead freeze contracts (effectively rugging users)
Amazing launch! pic.twitter.com/OYWEb7Wiwg
— Kawz (@0xKawz) January 14, 2025
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