Today we are excited to welcome Soneium to the Superchain.

Soneium, by Sony Block Solutions Labs, is building an Ethereum Layer 2 using the OP Stack, designed to be a versatile, general-purpose blockchain, that empowers developers, creators and communities, and connects blockchain technology to everyday consumer applications in entertainment, gaming, and finance. It’s an exciting moment in the growth of Optimism and the evolution of the Superchain. By collaborating with this joint venture including Sony Group, one of the most recognizable brands in the world, Soneium and the Superchain are accelerating blockchain adoption like never before.

Soneium is planned to be a public, general-purpose network aimed at bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3 by nurturing creativity and openness.

By joining the Superchain, Soneium will become part of a network of chains that share a common codebase in the OP Stack and contribute revenue back to the Optimism Collective. That revenue fuels the sustainable development and growth of the entire Superchain ecosystem.

We’re excited that Soneium plans to find their home with the Superchain, building alongside some of the most innovative projects and skilled developers in the space. The Collective is mission-aligned to create efficient and accessible Ethereum-powered ecosystems to welcome the next wave of users. The Superchain is how we build and grow together.

Soneium’s testnet will go live soon, providing developers hands-on access to an environment closely mirroring mainnet conditions. Soneium will support advanced smart contracts alongside scalable infrastructure for high-volume applications. Developers will also benefit from extensive documentation, third-party tools, and dedicated support channels.

Developers are invited to learn more about building on Soneium here.

By committing to the Superchain, Soneium will join a group of values-aligned builders who are committed to scaling Ethereum together, with each team building towards something bigger than any one of them alone.

Startale will also transition its Astar zkEVM to the Soneium L2 chain, tapping into the strength of both ecosystems and the OP Stack to drive forward their vision. Astar Network’s community will play an important role in accelerating Soneium’s early adoption, and benefit from access to new applications on the network.

“Sony Block Solutions Labs, the joint venture between Sony Group and Startale chose to build with Optimism for its world-class tech, strong builder community, and thriving ecosystem,” shared Sota Watanabe, CEO at Startale and Director of Sony Block Solutions Labs. “We believe in Optimism’s vision for the Superchain and look forward to supporting it through governance and core development. Together, we will create the foundation that makes Web3 accessible to the masses.”

Superchain participants are united by the OP Stack, all benefiting greatly from this open source technology. Shared upgrades and a shared standard mean improvements made by each impact all.

By building on the OP Stack, Soneium benefits from scalability, composability, and low fees. Optimism’s ecosystem gets a share of network revenue generated by Soneium, and that revenue goes back to funding open source development and other ecosystem upgrades, benefitting builders and users alike. This economic model gives the Superchain the super power to scale Ethereum’s tech, via the OP Stack, and its values as a self-sustaining network.

As Optimism rolls out native interoperability for the Superchain, Soneium will be able to seamlessly interact with other OP Chains.

As we provide the infrastructure to fuel Soneium’s momentous blockchain launch, we look forward to working closely with their team to achieve our shared vision for the Superchain’s future.