What is Sonic crypto and what was it called before?

Sonic crypto is a layer 1 blockchain that grew out of the Fantom network, and its native token is S. The Defiant reported that Sonic's mainnet went live on December 18, 2024, completing Fantom's rebrand. It is developed by Sonic Labs, with Andre Cronje, the creator of Yearn Finance, as chief architect, according to ForkLog.

What did Sonic crypto used to be called?

Sonic used to be called Fantom, and its token was FTM. According to a 21Shares migration FAQ, the Fantom Foundation rebranded to Sonic Labs on August 1, 2024, following a plan announced in May 2024. Sonic Labs now runs development and programs for the network. The old Fantom chain, called Opera, still runs, but Sonic's docs say all future development focus has shifted to Sonic.

How did the FTM to S migration work?

FTM holders could convert to S at a 1 to 1 rate. For the first 90 days after launch, swaps worked in both directions. From March 18, 2025, they became one way, FTM to S only. The 21Shares FAQ says the 1 to 1 rate was set for six months after launch, and that S supply began growing on June 18, 2025 under updated tokenomics with yearly inflation of 1.5% for six years.

People could migrate in several ways, as Fireblocks described. Native FTM went through the Sonic upgrade portal, FTM tokens on Ethereum or BNB Smart Chain went through the Sonic Gateway, and many exchange users had the swap handled for them. Binance, for example, stopped FTM deposits on January 13, 2025 and opened S withdrawals on January 16, 2025. Our guide to token migrations explains how these swaps generally work.

What is the Sonic S token used for?

S pays for gas on Sonic and is used for staking by validators. A key feature for builders is Fee Monetization, or FeeM. Sonic's docs say developers earn 90% of the network fees generated by their apps, while validators get the remaining 10%. Builders apply and register their contracts, oracles track the gas each contract uses, and rewards can be claimed with no deadline.

ForkLog reported that Sonic promised throughput of up to 10,000 transactions per second, with finality in under a second. It also described the Sonic Gateway as a native bridge to Ethereum that lets users recover funds on Ethereum after 14 days if the gateway goes down.

Figures in this guide are as of October 2026 and may change as the network develops.