The Road to Mainnet

What to Expect from Mainnet Launch

As the leaves turn and the year draws to a close, we're gearing up for one of the most significant milestones in Sophon's journey so far: the launch of our mainnet. We're excited to share that our public mainnet launch is expected before December 2024.

This blog post aims to set expectations and provide a roadmap for what's ahead.

$SOPH Token Deployment

The $SOPH token will be deployed with the mainnet genesis. To ensure a stable and secure launch however, the token will not be publicly accessible in its initial stage. During this time, we’re providing a gasless experience for all users, allowing you to explore and engage with Sophon hassle-free, diving straight into the full potential of our platform.

Please note that this initial token deployment is not considered the official Token Generation Event (TGE), which is expected to take place at a later date to ensure a smooth rollout. More details on $SOPH tokenomics will be shared in the future.

Sophon Guardians and Nodes

Sophon Guardians are the backbone of our network's operational infrastructure. Guardians hold the rights to operate Sophon Nodes through exclusive memberships, initially tied to Sophon Nodes purchased during our node sale. As a Guardian, you can choose to:

• Run a Sophon Node: Actively participate in network operations and security by setting up and maintaining a full node.
• Delegate Your Membership: If running a Sophon Node isn't feasible for you, delegate your Guardian membership to trusted operators who can run Sophon Nodes on your behalf.

Becoming a Guardian isn't just about holding a stake in Sophon; it's about being a protector of the realm. You're entrusted with ensuring that the network remains safe, reliable, and efficient.

Sophon Guardian Membership NFT

Your Guardian status will be represented by a unique NFT (ERC-721 token) on the Sophon network. This NFT grants you the ability to operate Sophon Nodes or delegate that privilege, directly involving you in the network's core functions.

Claiming Your Membership

Participants in the Sophon Node sale will soon be able to claim their Guardian Membership NFTs, subject to KYC requirements as described in the Node Sale Terms and Conditions. An elaborate breakdown of the claiming process will be shared the moment it becomes available.

For a more detailed overview of everything related to Sophon Nodes and their utility, please refer to our documentation.

Partnerships

Starting this week, we'll be announcing the full list of our mainnet launch partners one by one. Already released, in gaming we’ve partnered with Beam, Aethir joins us to lead the charge in distributed compute, and Azuro will be Sophon’s predictions venue. Over the coming weeks, expect to learn about our partners across DeFi, casino and sports betting, social and mobile platforms, ticketing solutions, adtech innovations, and more.

Infrastructure

All essential infrastructure for builders will be ready at mainnet launch. From bridges and indexing services to oracles, explorers, and DeFi primitives, you’ll have everything you need, with more to come.

Developer Experience

Developer experience is equally as important to us as user experience. We've been working closely with other teams to improve ZKsync tooling, such as adding paymaster features to Foundry, and to develop new SDKs and APIs that simplify blockchain development. Our goal is to lower the technical barriers so teams can build onchain without worrying about the complexities, focusing purely on delivering benefits to their end users.

Engage With and Help Build our Community

Sophon becomes what you create. That's why we're excited to endorse community-operated Discord and Telegram channels. These platforms are managed by passionate community members. Please stay vigilant as scam channels are on the rise – the only officially endorsed handles at the moment are listed below:

• Discord: https://discord.com/invite/sophonhub
• Telegram: https://t.me/SophonHub
• Sophon Asia on X: https://x.com/Sophon_Asia

Beware of scams and impersonators. A complete list of official accounts is available in our documentation. For example, the ‘discord(dot)gg/sophon’ handle is unfortunately a scam account.

Looking Ahead

The road to mainnet is paved with exciting announcements, and technical advancements, all designed to deliver the best consumer experiences on the internet. With the mission of empowering you to explore the full depth of what building and engaging on the internet's value layer offers, we couldn’t be more excited to introduce you to Sophon.

Disclaimer: This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, financial or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any digital assets and the use of finance-related terminology are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute any recommendation for any action or an offer to provide investment, financial or other advisory services. This content may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to purchase any digital asset referenced herein. The content speaks only as of the date indicated.