Soneium Soneium
Sony is developing Soneium with Startale Labs. Soneium Twitter Video/Screenshot

KEY POINTS

  • Sony Block Solutions Labs is developing Soneium with Singapore-based Startale Labs
  • The new Ethereum layer 2 solution will be built using the leading OP Stack from Optimism
  • The Soneium blockchain's launch partners include Chainlink and Alchemy

Japanese tech titan Sony's Block Solutions Labs recently announced it is building a public Ethereum layer 2 blockchain ecosystem, marking a significant development as more tech giants expand into the burgeoning Web3 space.

What is Soneium?

Soneium is a layer 2 blockchain that is being designed "to stand as a versatile, general-purpose blockchain ready to serve diverse needs across all verticals and support users globally," Sony Block Solutions Labs said in blog post about the new project.

The ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between users of Web2 – everyday internet services – and the Web3 space, as part of the efforts to make blockchain onboarding much easier for more people.

"We think the development of a comprehensive Web3 solution based on blockchain is very significant to the Sony Group, which has developed a wide variety of businesses under its purpose of 'Fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology,'" said Jun Watanabe, chairman of Sony Block Solutions Labs.

Soneium's technicalities

Sony's new blockchain project will go live on a test network in the next few days and will be built using the Optimism blockchain ecosystem's OP Stack, which is a popular customizable toolkit that allows for the creation of new networks. Notably, the OP Stack was used by cryptocurrency exchange giant Coinbase's Ethereum layer 2 solution Base and crypto-biometrics project Worldcoin.

Soneium has also chosen decentralized blockchain oracle network Chainlink "as its premier launch partner," Chainlink revealed. The integration is expected to leverage the infrastructure necessary to drive adoption as Sonieum splashes into blockchain.

The project will also launch on the Alchemy platform, allowing for developers to build and scale on Soneium with the Alchemy protocol.

On Sunday, AI blockchain development firm Neurolanche X Labs also announced that it will build all its products on Sony's Soneium. Neurolanche X Labs developed Nerox AI, which it calls one of the most advanced AI in the world. It also developed ZkStrike, the largest GameFi title on the Astar Network.

Collaboration with Startale

Soneium is a joint project with Singapore-based Startale Labs, which specializes in Web3 infrastructure development.

Startale has said the partnership "merges" its expertise in Web3 applications and Sony's vast experience in various sectors, including finance, electronics, gaming, and entertainment.

The Web3 company also noted that Soneium is being developed with the empowerment of developers in mind. "By providing comprehensive documentation, third-party tools, and dedicated support channels, Soneium will ensure developers of all levels can start and advance their projects. At the same time, it will allow for a user-friendly community to grow," Startale said in a statement.