Vitalik Buterin praises Soneium as a transparent demonstration of L2 capabilities

Vitalik Buterin praised the Soneium L2 launch as an example of serving the priorities of both businesses and users. In cases of conflict, a business-grade L2 is still transparent and traceable. 

Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, praised Sony’s launch of Soneium as an example of deploying a business-grade L2. The current L2 technology can allow a business to choose how much control to keep or give to users, explained Buterin in an X post. Buterin tried to clarify whether L2 actions reflected on Ethereum and whether censorship was the problem of the entire ecosystem. 

The @Soneium situation is a good live demonstration of how launching an ethereum L2 is great for businesses *and* users.

Businesses can make very fine-grained choices around how much control they keep vs give to users.

But whatever rules they choose, that's what the rules are.… https://t.co/jmaCRDsyF0

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 15, 2025

Soneium joined the long list of over 127 L2 chains, each with a separate culture and use case. The token censorship actions are a precedent that has not been observed in other chains despite the launch of tokens infringing on IP rights.

Buterin’s statement broke his own rule of not mentioning L2 chains in 2025 if they are not at least at Stage 1 of decentralization. Soneium is still a Stage 0 project, part of the Optimism super chain. The new chain is working through the changes needed to move to Stage 2 with fully decentralized security. As of January 2025, only Arbitrum and Optimism are Stage 1 chains, which Buterin has mentioned in previous statements.

Buterin’s post arrives a day after Soneium disclosed its intention to freeze tokens that violate intellectual property rights. Soneium freezes the tokens through its centralized sequencer, preventing the transaction from proceeding. 

Even if the corporate chain decides to control tokens, the actions remain transparent and can be analyzed by L2 data platforms. Buterin believes some form of flow control is possible as long as users are aware of the on-chain limitations. In the case of corporate chains, the fully censorship-free movement of funds and assets may start to resemble web app usage with terms and conditions. 

Soneium’s team lays out rules on meme token creation

After the incident of freezing two tokens, Soneium announced its approach to IP infringement in a blog. The L2 team will not freeze tokens immediately but will have a 12-hour grace period to notify the team and the community. Until then, the meme assets will be added to a suspicious token list with seven addresses.  

Developers will be able to appeal the blacklisting and can once again use their smart contract after achieving compliance. The appeals will be sent to a Soneium committee of core members.

Some of the new tokens launched on DYOR DEX deliberately choose SONY’s brands. Among the frozen tokens is WALKMAN, which stalled all transactions on January 14. Other memes launched by the early adopters include PlayStation 1, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 2, KURO, Crash Bandicoot, and AstroBot.

While Soneium mostly protects SONY’s IP, for some, the list is a bullish case for protecting other meme builders and NFT creators. Copycat tokens and NFT have long been a problem in the crypto space. Verification systems help users identify authentic assets without removing or censoring counterfeit ones.

Soneium goes live – starts to build up value

The Soneium mainnet is live with mass access and is now starting to accrue more value and activity. After the launch, the team reiterated its dedication to protecting creator rights, meaning it would limit meme tokens in their usage of names and images. 

Soneium has also joined the blob economy, so far, with limited rent paid to Ethereum. The chain’s first day incurred under $500 in total fees, though at some point, the L2 switched between blobs and calldata.

One of the reasons for calldata usage is attempts to bypass token censorship. Soneium is an Optimistic roll-up, meaning users can pay extra and force their transactions onto Ethereum, fully bypassing censorship. However, the workaround requires more detailed technical knowledge of Ethereum’s ecosystem and may not be suitable for all users. 

The availability of directly pushing transactions to Ethereum also means that the tokens themselves are not frozen or censored, but Soneium refuses to process the transaction on L2. As Buterin suggested, the process is inconvenient but transparent.

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