Sonic Labs, the masterminds behind the layer-1 Sonic blockchain, just got the green light to issue a whopping $200 million worth of its S tokens and make waves in the US capital markets. This move will include creating a proposed exchange-traded product (ETP) and an investment vehicle listed on Nasdaq.
Voting wrapped up on Sunday with a near-perfect 99.99% approval rate. 105 wallets participated, and the vote met the required quorum of 700 million S tokens. That’s a lot of digital muscle behind this initiative.
$100 Million For Nasdaq and $50 Million For ETP
So what’s the game plan? Sonic is ready to allocate $100 million in S tokens to build a strategic reserve for a Nasdaq PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity) vehicle. And that’s not all; another $50 million will go toward an S token-tracking ETP with a top-tier ETF provider that boasts over $10 billion in assets. To top it off, BitGo will handle the fund’s custody. Sounds like they’re putting their money where their mouth is.
Sonic also plans to set up Sonic USA LLC, hire a CEO in New York, and dive into the heart of traditional finance (TradFi) while engaging with the powers-that-be in Washington, DC. 150 million S tokens (worth $47.7 million) will be used to kickstart Sonic USA.
S🇺🇸nic is coming.
— Sonic (@SonicLabs) August 31, 2025
Governance passed. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/3t3cRFze1u
Flipping the Script on Crypto Treasuries
While many public companies have jumped on the crypto trend to bolster their balance sheets with crypto treasuries, Sonic is doing things differently. They’re using traditional financial instruments to level up in the crypto space. Talk about a power move.
Sonic Needs “2025 Tokenomics” to Thrive
Sonic’s chain launched in December 2024 after rebranding from Fantom Opera. But here's the twist: the Fantom Foundation held less than 3% of the original FTM token supply, preferring to buy tokens instead of selling them for partnerships. That tokenomics setup left Sonic playing catch-up when it came to major opportunities.
As Sonic puts it:
“We have 2018 tokenomics. We need 2025 tokenomics.”
The company is looking to shift gears to capitalize on partnerships and investments that could put it ahead in the game.
📌 Bottom Line
— Sonic (@SonicLabs) August 28, 2025
Developers on Sonic can now integrate U.S. economic data, such as GDP, inflation, and consumption into their contracts.
This will help fuel next-gen lending, derivatives, and risk products.
Sonic’s Plan for Deflationary Tokenomics
Sonic’s looking to up the ante with its S token by making it more deflationary. How? By tweaking its gas fee mechanism to burn a larger share of transaction fees, reducing net inflation, and creating long-term deflationary pressure on the supply. So, Sonic can play with the big TradFi players without throwing holders under the bus.
However, the S token hasn’t been on a winning streak since its January launch, falling nearly 69% according to CoinGecko. A bit of a hiccup, but nothing Sonic can’t bounce back from.
Sonic Joins US Commerce Dept’s Blockchain Program
To add some extra flair, Sonic is also listed as a participant in the US Department of Commerce’s program to publish economic data on-chain, using Chainlink’s and Pyth’s blockchain oracle services. This means developers can now access US macroeconomic stats directly on Sonic without having to dig through government websites. The potential? Trading models based on GDP and inflation data, and macro signals for on-chain lenders.
Sonic might be playing the long game, but with these bold moves, they’re definitely aiming for the top. Keep an eye on this one, it could get interesting.
Roman Zaika
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