Sonic debuts Mobius mainnet, first chain extension on Solana

Sonic has launched its Mobius mainnet, ushering in a new development era for the blockchain ecosystem through the first chain extension on Solana.

As the pioneering Solana Virtual Machine chain, Sonic aims to enhance the gaming and decentralized applications landscape on the Solana (SOL) network. 

The Sonic Mobius mainnet launch, which leverages Sonic HyperGrid technology, introduces layer 2 network capabilities to the SOL ecosystem, the team announced.

Scalability and customizability are key features for the network’s decentralized applications.

Testnet phase saw 8 million users

Mobius’ mainnet follows a testnet phase that saw the platform battle-tested across various games and applications. The testnet also gained significant traction, onboarding over 8 million users, Sonic Solana Virtual Machine co-founder and CEO Chris Zhu noted.

“The launch of Mobius Mainnet—named after the infinite continuity of the Möbius strip—marks the beginning of a new era for Web3 applications on the SVM(Solana Virtual Machine,” Zhu added.

Sonic will target applications eyeing the “attention capital markets” for accelerated development and deployment. This means developers on the layer 2 network will benefit from a system that allows them to customize and scale applications while maintaining native compatibility with Solana.

As a seamless extension, Sonic enables more than just the frictionless migration of decentralized applications. Users can pay gas fees with SOL and benefit from full interoperability with Solana. The platform also allows integration with ecosystem protocols such as Pyth, Metaplex, and Hyperlane.

This mainnet milestone follows Sonic Solana Virtual Machine’s announcement of its $1 million hackathon in mid-February, aimed at incentivizing developer activity ahead of Mobius activation. At the time, Sonic announced that the layer 2 network’s mainnet would go live at 12:00 UTC on Feb. 27.

Projects participating in the hackathon, set to run until March 14, have the opportunity to earn prizes for creating decentralized applications across gaming, artificial intelligence, decentralized finance, and other sectors.

One of Sonic’s main goals is to power web3 TikTok App Layer and help bring the billion users on-chain.