Sonic Community Backs $150M U.S. Expansion to Woo Institutions

Sonic Labs has approved a proposal to expand into U.S. capital markets, backed by a 99.98% community vote, which will be funded by a US$150 million issuance of its native S token.
The funds will be used for a new ETF partnership, liquidity, and a Nasdaq private investment vehicle that will create a reserve to buy back S tokens on the open market.
The initiative is part of a strategic shift to correct its initial “2018 tokenomics” and secure more resources for growth, which the firm says were previously limited by its small initial token retention.

Sonic Labs (S) has approved a proposal to expand into US capital markets with near-unanimous community support.

Passed on Aug. 20 with 99.98 % approval, the proposal authorises the issuance of US$150M (AU$228M) in S tokens to fund the push.

There are also plans to include a partnership with a major ETF provider to launch a regulated exchange-traded fund tied to the S token.

About US$50M (AU$76M) will be used for liquidity and operational funding; another US$100M (AU$152M) earmarked for a Nasdaq private investment in public equity (PIPE), creating a reserve to buy S tokens on the open market and through OTC trades (all tokens acquired for the reserve will be locked for three years).

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A Corrective Step for Sonic

The firm framed the governance proposal as a corrective step away from what it called “2018 tokenomics”.

That’s because at launch, the former Fantom Foundation distributed the majority of supply to the community, keeping just 3% for itself compared with the 50–90% typically retained by other projects.

The team said that while community-friendly, the structure limited resources for listings, acquisitions, and partnerships, so the new issuance package is meant to close that gap. It authorises three initiatives:

Under the PIPE arrangement, a Nasdaq-listed entity would hold S tokens locked for at least three years, in return for treasury purchases that strengthen Sonic’s market presence. On the protocol side, Sonic plans to revise its fee structure to increase token burns and reduce inflation, aiming to meet token holder calls for stronger deflationary mechanics.

The S token, launched in August 2024, currently has a market cap of US$958.36M (AU$1.44B) at a price of US$0.29 (AU$0.46), a 4% decrease in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.