Why Sonic (S) differs from VC coins: 88% circulating, low inflation tokenomics

02 Sep 2024Quote294 words

BreakdownL1/L2 Sonic Labs Fantom Foundation $S $FTM

Compares S tokenomics to VC-backed tokens: 3,175M max FTM supply with 88% circulating, a 3.5% target block reward without new inflation for four years, then roughly 1.75% annual inflation. Notes governance-approved mints of up to 6% for airdrops and 1.5% per year for ecosystem growth.

Key claims

88% of FTM max supply already circulating

Roughly 1.75% annual inflation after four years

Up to 6% airdrop mint plus 1.5% per year for ecosystem growth

That's why $S (currently $FTM) is different. 3,175M $FTM max supply with all tokens unlocked and 2'800M $FTM (88%) already circulating. The only not yet fully circulating supply bucket is "block rewards", which (after a recent proposal passing) will be migrated from @FantomFDN to @0xSonicLabs. As the majority of validators and stakers migrate to $S, Opera’s remaining $FTM block rewards will subsequently target a rate range of 0%. Sonic’s Annual Percentage Yield (APR) target on the other hand is 3.5% per year. Thanks to the migration of $FTM block rewards to $S, this is achievable without inflation in Sonic’s first four years. At the end of this time period, new $S tokens will be minted to ensure this target rate (and the security of the network) is properly and consistently maintained. This will lead to an annual inflation of roughly 1.75%, which is significantly lower than any of the below-mentioned VC tokens in @CryptoStreamHub's post. Also note that this may be modified by a new governance proposal that passes before this four year period ends. Aside that, recent governance proposals that passed, allow some additional tokens to be minted: ☞ 𝘜𝘱 𝘵𝘰 6% 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘴. ☞ 𝘜𝘱 𝘵𝘰 1.5% 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 / 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 6 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. To avoid inflation, the airdrop will have an innovative decay model on allocations once claim opens and any unused ecosystem growth tokens will be burned. Overall, $S looks like a very interesting play to me. No predatory VC tokenomics, low inflation, and no insiders sitting on 50x seed bags waiting for unlocks to dump on you. Is $S our chance to bet and win against the VCs? DYOR anon. Or just trust in @AndreCronjeTech. Linking my @0xSonicLabs deep dive below. ⤵️ x.com/zerokn0wledge_/status/1829828908868649475

QUOTING @CryptoStreamHub
12-month emissions of popular VC Coins: $ZRO: 7.41% increase (but zero unlocks until June 2025) + some untracked tokens. $SUI: 8.33% increase, right now $60m worth of monthly token unlock, monthly decrease. $APT: 12.24% increase, $71m worth of $APT is unlocked monthly, no time

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What came next · since 02 Sep 2024

Show how the 2 covered assets moved

This breakdown analyzes the project without making a call on the token, so price moves since publication are shown as market context.

Covered, no call

$SSonicsince listing 05 Jan 2025−95%−94% vs BTC

$FTMFantombullish tone, no call−87%−91% vs BTC

Since then

Zero has written 11 more pieces on Fantom and Sonic Labs and $FTM and $S since this one.

24 May 2025Sonic five months in: $1B TVL and highest net inflows YTDOn Sonic
16 Oct 2024Sonic gas fee monetization: up to 90% of fees back to appsBullish call on $FTM
14 Oct 2024FTM to $1 before Sonic mainnet: the bull caseBullish call on $S
25 Sep 2024FTM above $0.7 ahead of Sonic mainnet and S token migrationBullish call on $S

Fantom hub Sonic Labs hub $FTM hub $S hub

Daily closes in USD from DefiLlama and Yahoo Finance. Only a bullish or bearish call in a thesis or market take is tracked; explainers, lists, maps and mentions are neutral context. Not financial advice.

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Why Sonic (S) differs from VC coins: 88% circulating, low inflation tokenomics

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