Sophon, the entertainment-focused zkSync Hyperchain, has successfully raised almost $60 million in less than a week from the start of their node sale. The Hyperchain modular blockchain architecture, developed by Matter Labs, the group that created zkSync—the first zk-rollup in the Ethereum Layer 2 space—is used by the blockchain.
With 200,000 nodes available for purchase across many levels, the Sophon node sale swiftly surpassed $60 million in wETH. The fundraising round, which was previously disclosed to have raised $10 million and included participation from Spartan, SevenX, and OKX Ventures, was headed by Paper Ventures and Maven 11. It is anticipated that Sophon will be launched in Q3 2024 along with the zkSync ZK Stack toolkit as an L2 rollup validium.
Although 121’000 nodes have been acquired so far, this clearly does not imply that 121’000 validators will be available on Sophon. The ERC-721 tokens that buyers are buying will enable them to:
– Earn Sophon tokens: During the first 36 months after the launch of the Sophon mainnet, node license holders will get 20% of the entire token supply.
Take part in the Sophon network validation process. – As is now the case in the L2 domain, there will be a single centralized sequencer when Sophon starts as an L2 validium rollup utilizing the zkSync codebase. In order to get their fair portion of network fees, node license holders will be allowed to assign their licenses to the node operator.
Additionally, these holders will be able to take part in how Sophon operates, for example, by indexing the chain or by using the DA layer that Sophon chooses to run a light node on. In the future, node licenses will be necessary to run the network, whether in a PoA or PoS configuration, if and when the Matter Labs team decides to decentralize their consensus.
Therefore, no, Sophon doesn’t need 200k nodes to function, and users may just delegate and benefit from it without of actually running a node. Moreover, any unsold or unused node licenses at the conclusion of the sale will be burnt instead of going into circulation.
The $SOPH token is meant to be extensively distributed right away via a special airdrop initiative. Users will be able to stake assets in order to get $SOPH allotments via this campaign. The native token of the Beam network, $BEAM, is the first known staking asset. The second token comes from Zentry and is $ZENT. In the upcoming weeks, the Sophon team will unveil the mode assets; later on, further information on the distribution will be made public.
Several well-known semi-anonymous builders, including Pentoshi, the renowned Crypto Twitter figure and trader who was a team member at Merit Circle, and Sebastien (‘Seb’), the former Head of DeFi at zkSync, co-founded Sophon.
With the goal of creating an entertainment platform, the Sophon Hyperchain is using zkSync features like native account abstraction to create a smooth user interface that will attract new users to cryptocurrency. By forging solid strategic alliances and drawing in the top developers in the gaming, general entertainment, and crypto x AI sectors, Sophon will set itself apart from competitors. Because of its past performance, the team is positioned as the top Hyperchain in the zkSync ecosystem. In addition, a number of projects are scheduled to debut on the network.
Seb stated:
“When I decided to build Sophon, choosing the ZK Stack was no brainer. I know the product inside-out in comparison to other stacks on the market. It’s all about building for tomorrow rather than yesterday, and I’m convinced that in a few years, looking back at the design and infrastructure choices Matter Labs made will seem obvious. I will continue to work closely with the amazing Matter Labs team.”
