What is Sophon (SOPH)

I. Project Introduction

1. What Is Sophon?

Sophon is a consumer-centric entertainment blockchain built on the vision of the ZKsync Elastic Chain and the ZK Stack framework. It is dedicated to creating a Web3 consumer application ecosystem for mainstream users, covering scenarios such as gaming, social networking, artificial intelligence, and prediction markets. The project integrates Validium technology, Account Abstraction (AA), the Paymaster zero-gas experience, and innovative zkTLS technology, striving to provide developers and users with high-performance, low-cost, and easy-to-use blockchain infrastructure. Its mission is to bring crypto-powered consumer applications into everyday life so that they become products ordinary users love and are willing to use. At the same time, it aims to ensure that the data users generate through everyday activities can bring real benefits and that users receive the rewards they deserve.

2. How Does Sophon Work?

1) Focus on Consumer Chain and Emphasizing AI+Crypto: Unlike the technology orientation of traditional public blockchains, Sophon's AI strategy focuses on user experience as the core, building a user-centered AI blockchain ecosystem through the integration of AI with consumer scenarios such as trading, gaming, and social networking. In April 2025, Sophon launched the $5 million SIA (Sophon Intelligence Agency) program to support the implementation of experiments on the AI chain, committed to integrating AI agents into people's daily lives and making them a tangible reality within reach.

2）Based on Validium and ZK Stack: Sophon chose to build Sophon based on ZK Stack. ZK proofs provide the strongest security guarantees while maintaining high performance, which is crucial for entertainment applications with millions of daily active users. By adopting Validium technology and moving data availability off-chain (currently Avail), it greatly reduces interaction costs while ensuring security, making it suitable for high-frequency, low-value transactions and particularly fitting the micropayment needs of scenarios such as gaming and ticketing.

3) Interoperability via the Elastic Chain: The Elastic Chain concept created by the ZKsync team addresses one of the biggest challenges in today's multi-chain ecosystem: interoperability. The Elastic Chain architecture enables native interoperability among ZK chains without cumbersome bridging mechanisms, allowing users' reputation and assets to flow smoothly between different applications. Sophon is one of the ZK chains in this interoperable ecosystem and offers a range of advantages. Unlimited scalability and seamless interoperability: users and liquidity can move effortlessly between Sophon and other ZK chains. Composability: dApps and smart contracts can interact in limitless ways, unlocking new possibilities. Additional benefits further enhance Sophon's utility within the ecosystem.

4) Native Account Abstraction + Paymaster: Through native account abstraction and Paymaster, Sophon allows users to access on-chain services using their email or Google login, and complete transaction operations with ERC20 tokens or without Gas, which facilitates the onboarding of non-crypto users.

5) Launch of the zkTLS "Social Oracle" System: zkTLS is more than just a privacy technology; it serves as a bridge, allowing users to verify their Web2 platform account data (such as Spotify and Steam) on-chain without revealing the raw data, thereby enabling more users to securely share verified data. Sophon's Social Oracle functions as a data hub that verifies and brings online achievements, reputation, and social influence on-chain without exposing personal data.

3. Who Founded Sophon?

Sebastien (Co-founder): Formerly a partner at Paper Ventures and the Head of DeFi at zkSync.

oskari ((+)): CMO

Ed Chang (COO): Formerly the Head of Gaming at Ava Labs. Graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Ramon Canales (VP of Product): Previously worked at Matter Labs/ZKsync and served as Head of Product at Aragon. Graduated from the Polytechnic School of South São Paulo.

Funding Details:

In October 2024, Binance Labs announced an investment in Sophon, bringing its total funding to over $70 million.

In May 2024, Sophon raised over $60 million through node sales, selling approximately 121,000 network nodes in total and netting about 20,391 ETH ($62.7 million in value).

In March 2024, Sophon completed a $10 million financing round, with participation from Paper Ventures, Maven 11, The Spartan Group, SevenX Ventures, OKX Ventures, HTX Ventures, and others.

4. Sophon Tokenomics

The total supply of SOPH is 10 billion tokens, with an initial circulating supply of 2 billion tokens (accounting for 20% of the total supply). The distribution is as follows:

Node Operators (20%): Rewards earned from January 1 until prior to the TGE will be locked for 3 months starting from TGE. Rewards earned weekly after TGE will be locked for 3 months starting from that week, and then released over a 7-day period.

Seed Round Investors (18%): 12-month lock-up, followed by a 2-year release schedule.

Core Contributors (25%): 12-month lock-up, followed by a 3-year release schedule.

Ecosystem Reserve (26%): 42% is unlocked immediately, and the remaining 58% is released linearly over 5 years.

Post-Mainnet Liquidity Mining (2%): 6-month lock-up, followed by a 6-month release schedule.

Pre-Mainnet Liquidity Mining Airdrop (6%): 100% released at TGE.

Bonus Airdrop (3%): 100% released at TGE.

5. Token Utility

SOPH is the utility token of the Sophon Network. In the launch phase, SOPH will serve two purposes: paying for network Gas fees and facilitating the decentralization of the Sophon sequencer through staking mechanisms. 1) Gas Payment: All transactions on the Sophon Network will be paid in SOPH. Thanks to ZKsync's native paymaster technology, users do not necessarily need to hold SOPH to complete transactions. A Paymaster is a specialized account designed to subsidize or customize transaction fees for other accounts, providing a smoother user experience and greater flexibility. This means users do not need to frequently bridge assets due to a lack of Gas tokens, and in certain scenarios, users may even enjoy zero Gas fees. 2) Staking: Staking on Sophon secures the network while earning rewards. The ZKsync network is set to implement decentralized sequencing, which will allow Sophon full nodes (operators who receive delegations from at least 1,500 Guardian NFTs) to run sequencers. The Sophon Foundation will operate the sole full node initially, and staking will open after the TGE concludes. Once the ZKsync network supports decentralized transaction sequencing, full node operators will need to stake 100,000 SOPH tokens to participate in operations, allowing them to earn a portion of the Gas fee share. The remaining Gas fees will be distributed to all SOPH stakers.​

II. Token Information

III. Related Links