The Fantom Foundation, the organization responsible for the decentralized Fantom network, has made a financial commitment to support the launch of Sonic, a faster network. On June 20, the Fantom Foundation revealed that it would allocate up to 200 million of its native Fantom tokens (FTM), valued at around $120 million, from its treasury to assist developers and companies in transitioning their projects to Sonic.
These funds will be utilized to seek out and secure high-quality partners who can contribute to the development and expansion of the Sonic network. These partners will include developers building apps directly on Fantom, developers creating decentralized apps (DApps), and partners offering essential tools and services.
It’s important to note that these funds are being provided through smart financial strategies led by Andre Cronje, the creator of the Fantom network, without increasing the overall number of tokens.
Initially, the focus of these allocations will be to provide strategic grants to applications already operating within the Fantom ecosystem, with a preference given to those who have demonstrated a strong interest in utilizing Sonic technology.
This development follows the establishment of the Sonic Foundation, which was created to facilitate the launch of the upcoming Sonic chain. The Sonic Foundation, led by the Fantom Foundation, will oversee the governance of Sonic, manage the network treasury, establish partnerships, and develop the DApp ecosystem.
According to Fantom Foundation CEO Michael Kong and the Fantom development team, Sonic will feature a new layer-1 solution and a built-in layer 2 that directly connects the EVM-compatible network to the Ethereum network. Through the architecture of the Sonic Chain, users of the upcoming Sonic network will reportedly have access to Ethereum’s extensive ecosystem of decentralized applications, liquidity providers, and community.
This is not the first time the Fantom Foundation has provided incentives. In May, the layer-1 blockchain Fantom allocated $6.5 million worth of FTM tokens to reward developers and promote the concept of “safer memecoins.” Additionally, in May 2023, the Fantom Opera network launched the Gas Monetization Program, which pays developers 15% of the total gas fees generated by their apps.
Cointelegraph has reached out to the Fantom network team for further details on the Sonic Labs fund but has not yet received a response at the time of publication.