Sony’s newly launched Layer 2 blockchain, Soneium, is under fire for allegedly blacklisting memecoins, citing intellectual property rights infringement, on its mainnet launch day.
What’s the significance: The news emphasizes concerns about balancing IP protection with web3’s decentralization ideals, raising fears of censorship and control in blockchain networks.
Key details:
- Soneium launched its mainnet on January 13, 2025, aiming to bridge Web2 and Web3.
- It focuses on protecting creators’ rights and equitable value distribution.
- The blockchain faced criticism for allegedly blacklisting several memecoins due to intellectual property rights violations.
- Some users were unable to trade or access blacklisted tokens on the network, leading to frustration as posts on X (formerly Twitter) revealed the issue.
- Blacklisted tokens appeared to mimic or use protected branding from Sony or Soneium, resulting in restrictions on their trading and use.
Community Backlash: Alon, the pseudonymous founder of pump.fun, criticized Soneium for “nuking” users’ positions and blacklisting memecoins they didn’t approve of.
- The replies on Alon’s X post raised concerns about the centralized nature of Layer 2 solutions and their impact on decentralization.
- Moreover, questions arose about the balance between IP protection and maintaining a permissionless blockchain.
In addition: Kawz, founder of Time.fun, claimed blacklisting affected users’ funds, with tokens restricted at the RPC level, leading to inaccessible funds—over $100k in ETH was reportedly lost.
Affected Token: Aibo, a newly launched memecoin linked to Sony’s robotic dogs, was also reportedly blacklisted, though developers are working to resolve the issue and may change the token’s logo.
Key quote:
“Sony’s new Ethereum L2 is actively blacklisting memecoins they don’t like, instantly nuking everyone’s position to 0. What makes you think that other centralized L2s won’t do the same if push comes to shove? Don’t take your freedoms for granted.”
Alon, Founder, pump.fun
On the other hand: PolinomialFi Co-Founder known as Gautham highlighted in an X thread how Sony’s Layer 2 solution attempted to censor “unapproved” tokens but was quickly countered by OP Stack’s inherent design in 24 hours.
- How it happened: A user, @donnoh_eth, bypassed the sequencer and successfully forced their transaction through Ethereum’s Layer 1 (L1).
- This demonstrated OP Stack’s censorship resistance and Ethereum’s security inheritance by all L2s built on it.
- Gautham stressed that the bypass was not a hack or exploit but a feature of OP Stack’s design.
- OP Stack ensures decentralization and prevents censorship, even at the RPC level.
What is Soneium: It is a public blockchain that aims to be open and accessible to all, using Optimism’s OP Stack and Superchain for development.
- The platform focuses on content creators, fans, and communities, addressing creators’ rights and equitable value distribution.
- Soneium supports initiatives like Sony’s NFT-based Fan Marketing Platform and the Soneium Spark incubation program.
- The platform aims to protect IP, enhance fan engagement, and enable innovation and meaningful connections in web3.
Soneium’s Response: Sony emphasized that its blockchain platform aims to protect IP rights while ensuring openness and innovation within the web3 space.
- “Soneium is committed to protecting creators’ IPs and rights onchain while maintaining the spirit of decentralization! Our documentation outlines how we safeguard IP rights and combat malicious activities – all while keeping web3’s core values of openness and innovation intact,” Soneium wrote.
The numbers: Previously, Soneium’s testnet achieved 15.4 million active wallet addresses and 50 million transactions.
The bottom line: As blockchain evolves, platforms like Soneium balance web3’s ideals with intellectual property protection, sparking concerns over control and censorship as mainstream companies join the space.
Worth reading: This is not the first time Sony dabbled into web3, in 2023 filed a patent for NFTs that can be transferred across games and consoles, enabling cross-generational and cross-platform interoperability.
- In 2022, Sony Music Entertainment filed a trademark application for NFT-authenticated audio and video recordings of live performances, expanding its presence in the NFT space.
This article is published on BitPinas: Sony Blockchain Soneium Faces Backlash Over Blacklisting Memecoins
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