Sonic: The Comeback Layer 1?

If you’ve been following crypto for a few years, you might remember Fantom (FTM). Back in 2020 during the “DeFi summer,” Fantom stood out as a blockchain designed to run smart contracts quickly and cheaply — a big advantage at the time, since Ethereum was struggling with high fees and slower speeds.

At its peak in 2021, Fantom attracted almost $8 billion in value locked on its network, putting it in the same league as blockchains like Solana, Polygon, Avalanche and Binance Smart Chain. Fantom’s price reached $3.46, giving it a market cap of $8.4 billion and putting it inside the top 30 crypto projects — bigger than Tron, Bitcoin Cash and Stellar back then.

But after that boom came the bust. When the crypto market cooled off in late 2021 and 2022, Bitcoin fell almost 80%, and most altcoins dropped by 95% or more. Fantom was one of them, falling to just $0.16. On top of the market downturn, Fantom lost its most well-known figure, Andre Cronje, who is often called the “Godfather of DeFi.” His early exit shook confidence in the project. Cronje is known for building Yearn.Finance, which went from a market cap of $2 million to $3 billion in under a year, so his departure had a big impact.

Eventually, Cronje came back with a plan to upgrade Fantom and keep it competitive. This led to Sonic, the new version of the chain.

By December 2024, the upgrade was live. Fantom’s price had recovered to $1.45 — up over 800% from its lows. However, since the switch, Sonic has struggled to hold that momentum and today trades around $0.33. The big question now is whether Sonic can find its spark again and return as a leading blockchain for decentralised finance.

What’s Happening Under the Surface

So, what’s really going on with Sonic? On the one hand, there’s a lot of positive activity. Developers from Fantom have moved over, and builders from other chains like Solana and Ethereum are now building on Sonic too. Andre Cronje’s vision was always to make a blockchain that’s fast, affordable and friendly for developers, and that part seems to be working.

When Sonic first launched, things got off to a rough start. Some big crypto exchanges described the upgrade as a “delisting” instead of explaining it as a planned migration. This confused everyday investors and created fear, which led to a big sell-off just as Sonic was starting out.

Despite that, the network grew quickly. Sonic’s total value locked (TVL) jumped from zero to over $700 million within a few months, even beating well-known chains like Sui and Avalanche in certain areas. By May, Sonic’s TVL was over $1 billion, putting it ahead of Polygon at the time. But the price did not follow. While other blockchains held their market value or grew, Sonic’s token stayed under pressure.

A big reason for this was the end of Sonic’s long-term relationship with Wintermute, a major market maker that helps provide trading liquidity. After this five-year partnership ended, Wintermute began selling millions of Sonic tokens. This added huge selling pressure and dragged the price down to around $0.30.

Interestingly, Wintermute and other big holders have since started buying Sonic tokens again. This helped the price bounce back slightly. On top of that, Sonic did something Fantom never managed to do: secure a listing on Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US. This is a big deal because it means better access for investors and potentially more trading volume.

Another positive development is Sonic’s new airdrop. The team launched a 200 million token airdrop to reward users for holding and using the network. Unlike many crypto airdrops, Sonic’s is designed to discourage people from immediately selling their free tokens. If you want to claim your tokens early, you lose a big chunk of the reward. The nine-month vesting period encourages users to stick around and stay active. Future airdrop rewards will also depend on how much you actually use Sonic’s apps, not just holding the token passively. You can read more about how the airdrop works here.

One thing many overlook is just how fast Sonic really is. Its blockchain can handle up to 400,000 transactions per second (TPS), which is huge when you compare it to other blockchains and even traditional payment systems.

For context, Sui handles about 297,000 TPS, Solana around 65,000 TPS, Arbitrum about 40,000 TPS, and Avalanche only about 4,500 TPS. Even Visa and Mastercard process far less, with around 24,000 TPS and 5,000 TPS respectively. When you see how fast Sonic is — yet its value and locked funds are still smaller than slower blockchains — it shows there could be more potential if this technology is fully put to use.

When looking at Sonic’s price chart, it helps to include Fantom’s older price history to get the full picture. Over the past five years, Fantom has seen major ups and downs that help explain where Sonic stands today.

After the Covid market crash, Fantom took off during the 2020 DeFi boom. In 2021, it hit an all-time high of $3.48. Then the crypto winter hit, sending the price down by about 95%. In early 2024, Fantom found its footing again, bouncing alongside Bitcoin before dipping once more near its cycle lows. This pullback lined up with a key long-term trendline that has acted as strong support for years.

That trendline, combined with a bullish signal called an engulfing candle, helped trigger a huge 500% rally over six months. After that, Fantom’s price moved mostly sideways through mid-2024, then rallied again during the US election period, setting up the switch from Fantom to Sonic. That rally marked Sonic’s current cycle high.

Since the migration, Sonic’s price action has not been great. Apart from a brief bounce, it’s mostly been drifting lower. Many Sonic charts do not include the earlier Fantom price data, but this old data shows where important support levels still exist. Without it, the chart can look like Sonic has no real floor.

At today’s levels, Sonic’s price is still down about 90% from its 2021 high. For long-term holders, it has been frustrating to watch other coins set new highs while Sonic struggles. Part of this has been Sonic’s own challenges, but broader market factors like global tensions and economic uncertainty have made things harder too.

The good news is that some signals now look more positive. Sonic has once again bounced from that key trendline, which has held for four years. Another potential bullish engulfing candle has appeared, which can suggest a turnaround if it holds. This same pattern led to a big rally in 2023. With Bitcoin staying strong and some macro worries easing, Sonic may have the setup to improve in the second half of the year.

Nothing is guaranteed, of course, but traders watching Sonic see levels like $1 or $1.50 as areas that could be revisited if the crypto market keeps moving higher. A return to its all-time high at $3.48 would need nearly everything to go right, but even getting halfway there would be a major comeback.

Sonic’s story has been a rollercoaster. From huge gains to massive losses, and now a slow rebuild. The big reasons it struggled — from poor communication to unexpected big sell-offs — seem to have been addressed. On-chain activity remains strong, developers are building, and the new airdrop system encourages users to stick around and actually use the network.

Combined with its impressive transaction speed, Coinbase listing and key players buying in again, Sonic has a mix of factors that could help it turn the corner. This is not financial advice, but for everyday investors, it’s one to keep on the watchlist if you’re interested in blockchains with strong communities and lots of development.

Patience and good research are key, as always. The next six to twelve months will show whether Sonic can tap into its full potential and reclaim its place among the top projects in decentralised finance.

Written by Alexandar Artis

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