Sophon, a blockchain platform focused on entertainment, has successfully raised nearly $60 million in less than a week through its node sale. The Hyperchain modular blockchain architecture, developed by Matter Labs, the creators of zkSync, the first zk-rollup in the Ethereum Layer 2 space, is utilized by Sophon.
The Sophon node sale, which offered 200,000 nodes for purchase across multiple levels, quickly exceeded $60 million in wETH. Leading the fundraising round were Paper Ventures and Maven 11, with participation from Spartan, SevenX, and OKX Ventures, who had previously disclosed raising $10 million. Sophon is expected to launch in Q3 2024, along with the zkSync ZK Stack toolkit, as an L2 rollup validium.
It’s important to note that the acquisition of 121,000 nodes does not necessarily mean there will be 121,000 validators available on Sophon. Buyers of the ERC-721 tokens will have the ability to:
– Earn Sophon tokens: Node license holders will receive 20% of the entire token supply during the first 36 months after the launch of the Sophon mainnet.
– Participate in the Sophon network validation process: As with other L2 solutions, there will be a centralized sequencer when Sophon starts as an L2 validium rollup using the zkSync codebase. Node license holders can assign their licenses to the node operator to receive their fair share of network fees.
– Influence the operation of Sophon: Node license holders can contribute to indexing the chain or use the DA layer chosen by Sophon to run a light node. In the future, node licenses will be required to run the network in a PoA or PoS configuration if Matter Labs decides to decentralize their consensus.
Thus, Sophon does not require 200,000 nodes to function, and users can delegate and benefit from it without actually running a node. Any unsold or unused node licenses will be burned instead of entering circulation.
The $SOPH token will be extensively distributed through a special airdrop initiative, allowing users to stake assets to receive $SOPH allocations. The first staking asset will be the native token of the Beam network, $BEAM, followed by $ZENT from Zentry. The Sophon team will reveal more information on additional assets and distribution in the coming weeks.
Sophon was co-founded by well-known builders Pentoshi, a former team member at Merit Circle, and Sebastien (‘Seb’), the former Head of DeFi at zkSync. Their aim is to create an entertainment platform that utilizes zkSync features like native account abstraction to provide a seamless user interface and attract new cryptocurrency users. Through strategic alliances and collaboration with top developers in the gaming, general entertainment, and crypto x AI sectors, Sophon aims to differentiate itself from competitors. With its strong track record, the team is positioned as the leading Hyperchain in the zkSync ecosystem, and several projects are slated to launch on the network.
Seb expressed his excitement about the project, emphasizing their commitment to revolutionizing the entertainment industry.
