What is Sonic (S)?
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🟢 The simple version
Plain English — no jargon. Start here.
Sonic is the rebrand and complete technical overhaul of Fantom (FTM) — the same team rebuilt the network from the ground up with a new consensus engine targeting 10,000 transactions per second and sub-second finality, launched as a new chain in December 2024 with FTM migrating 1:1 to S.
Fantom to Sonic — what happened?
Fantom (FTM) was one of the leading high-speed EVM chains from 2021-2022, known for its fast finality and low fees. It attracted significant DeFi activity during the bull market. However, Fantom faced stiff competition from newer chains and lost ground. The original Fantom team — led by Andre Cronje (the DeFi builder behind Yearn Finance) — decided that the best path forward was not incremental upgrades but a complete rebuild.
Sonic is that rebuild. It's a new blockchain with a new codebase, new consensus mechanism (Sonic consensus), and new tokenomics. The transition: existing FTM holders could migrate their tokens 1:1 to S via a bridge. The old Fantom chain continues to exist but is essentially deprecated — Sonic is where development and liquidity are focused.
Why does Sonic claim to be faster?
Sonic claims 10,000 transactions per second with sub-second finality. This is achieved through a new database architecture (SonicDB — separating live transaction data from historical data) and a redesigned consensus mechanism. The practical result for users: near-instant transaction confirmation and very low fees, which Sonic claims puts it on par with or faster than Solana for EVM transactions.
S token
S is the native gas and staking token of Sonic. It replaced FTM via a 1:1 migration bridge. S is also used for governance and validator staking. Sonic introduced a fee monetisation model for developers: dApps on Sonic earn back a percentage of the gas fees their users pay — a direct incentive for developers to build on Sonic rather than other EVM chains.
Is S legal in India?
Yes. S (Sonic) qualifies as a Virtual Digital Asset (VDA) under Indian law. A flat 30% tax applies to gains, and 1% TDS applies to qualifying trades. If you migrated from FTM to S, seek guidance on whether that migration is a taxable event under Indian VDA rules.
🟡 A bit more detail
For when you want to go a little deeper.
DeFi on Sonic
Sonic inherited Fantom's existing DeFi ecosystem at migration and attracted new protocols with its developer fee incentive programme. Key DeFi primitives on Sonic in early 2026 include native DEXes, lending protocols, and yield aggregators. Andre Cronje has been active in building and advising Sonic DeFi projects, which tends to attract developer interest.
Fee monetisation — the developer incentive
Sonic's most distinctive feature for developers: dApps earn back up to 90% of the gas fees generated by their users. This is called "Fee Monetisation" (FeeM). On Ethereum or Solana, all fees go to validators/network. On Sonic, a significant cut goes back to the protocol that attracted the transaction. This creates a direct revenue stream for dApp developers and a powerful incentive to build and retain users on Sonic.
If you held FTM on Fantom mainnet, you could migrate to S via the official Sonic bridge (deadline originally set for end of 2025 — verify current status). FTM on other chains (Ethereum ERC-20) also migrates via the bridge. Verify bridge status before attempting migration. Live data: CoinGecko
Where to buy S in India
S (Sonic) is listed on major exchanges including Binance. Indian users can access it via international platforms with INR on-ramp. Check CoinDCX for availability.
🟣 The full technical picture
For the technically curious.
Key facts
- Token: S (migrated from FTM 1:1)
- Type: EVM-compatible Layer 1
- Speed claim: 10,000 TPS, sub-second finality
- Mainnet launch: December 2024
- Predecessor: Fantom (FTM) — complete technical rebuild
- Consensus: Sonic consensus (new, not Fantom's Lachesis)
- DB architecture: SonicDB (live vs. historical data separation)
- Developer incentive: Fee monetisation — dApps earn up to 90% of gas fees
- Key figure: Andre Cronje (Yearn Finance, keep3r, Solidly)
- Total supply: Approximately same as FTM supply at migration (~3.18B)
Sonic vs Fantom — technical differences
Fantom used Lachesis DAG-based consensus with Opera EVM. Sonic uses a new consensus designed from scratch, optimised for the EVM execution environment. SonicDB separates the live state (needed for current transactions) from historical archive data, dramatically reducing node storage requirements and improving sync speed for new validators. These two changes — consensus redesign and database architecture — account for the claimed 10x+ performance improvement over Fantom.