Sonic Labs passes proposal to expand to U.S. capital markets

Sonic Labs, the team behind the high-performance Layer-1 blockchain that evolved from Fantom, has secured overwhelming community approval for its first major governance proposal. 

The proposal, officially passed on Aug. 31, paves the way for the project’s expansion into the U.S. capital markets through new financial products, institutional partnerships, and a dedicated American entity.

A landmark governance vote

The vote, conducted on Snapshot from Aug. 20 to Aug. 31, attracted significant participation from Sonic’s community. Nearly 860 million S (S) tokens, well over the 700 million required for a quorum, were cast in favor of the proposal, which received 99.99% approval.

The outcome authorizes Sonic Labs to issue $150 million worth of new $S tokens to fund its expansion. Allocations include $50 million to back a U.S.-listed exchange-traded product (ETP/ETF), $100 million to support a NASDAQ private investment in public equity vehicle, and 150 million tokens earmarked for the launch of Sonic USA LLC.

The Delaware-based subsidiary will establish a New York office and hire a U.S.-based CEO alongside a capital markets and business development team.

From tokenomics constraints to U.S. expansion

The initiative comes as Sonic addresses long-standing challenges from its origins as Fantom. Unlike many rival blockchains that retained up to 80% of their token supply, Fantom, and later Sonic, held just 3% after a community-led takeover. As a result, Sonic had limited treasury flexibility, which hindered its ability to seek capital market opportunities, partnerships, and listings. 

Sonic Labs argued that modern tokenomics were necessary to compete. The project can now add deflationary mechanisms to balance supply and facilitate institutional adoption by generating reserves through the new issuance. The approved changes may increase long-term token scarcity by burning a larger portion of network gas fees. 

Sonic is positioned to bridge the gap between traditional and decentralized finance thanks to the U.S. initiative. Plans include partnering with a top-tier ETF provider and BitGo for custody to create a regulated investment vehicle. At the same time, the PIPE allocation aims to align Sonic with NASDAQ-listed companies that share long-term conviction in its growth.

The establishment of Sonic USA is expected to hasten S adoption in traditional finance, regulatory alignment, and institutional engagement.