HTX Research Latest Report | Sonic: A Model for the New DeFi Paradigm

SINGAPORE, April 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As Layer 2 scaling solutions remain a focal point of industry discourse, Sonic presents a fundamental shift in blockchain architecture. HTX Research has announced the release of its latest report, "Sonic: A Model for the New DeFi Paradigm" The report dives into the details of the Sonic public chain.

Sonic's Evolution: 2000+ TPS, 0.7s Confirmation, Near-Zero Fees

The Fantom Opera blockchain, initially recognized for its speed and throughput as a high-performance aDAG-based Layer 1 solution, encountered scalability limitations as its ecosystem expanded. Its traditional EVM architecture struggled with bloated state storage, slow node synchronization, and execution bottlenecks. To overcome these challenges without resorting to sharding or Layer 2 solutions, Fantom developed Sonic — a fundamental redesign engineered to deliver a significant performance leap.

Sonic Labs, a new team led by CEO Michael Kong, CTO Andre Cronje (founder of Yearn Finance), and Chief Research Officer Bernhard Scholz, dedicated two and a half years to the redesign of Fantom's virtual machine, storage, and consensus. They built Sonic, a new, independent EVM-compatible chain capable of processing over 2,000 TPS, achieving 0.7-second finality, and executing transactions at a cost of $0.0001. It also improves storage efficiency by 90% and reduces node synchronization time from weeks to under two days.

Technical Innovations Driving Sonic's Performance

Sonic's enhanced performance is underpinned by three core technological advancements: 

• SonicVM: A newly developed virtual machine fully compatible with the EVM, SonicVM optimizes computationally intensive operations like SHA3 hashing, pre-analyzes jump instructions, delivers significantly faster execution, and supports high throughput.
  
  
• SonicDB: Achieving nearly 90% data compression, SonicDB uses a layered storage strategy that splits the blockchain state into two databases: LiveDB for the current global state and ArchiveDB for historical blocks and states. This reduces node requirements and enhances network resilience through greater decentralization.
  
  
• Sonic Gateway: Functioning like an "L2-like" bridging solution to Ethereum, it uses a batch processing mechanism that strikes a balance between security and efficiency, enabling seamless two-way asset transfers and ecosystem access.

Stablecoin Ecosystem: Nested Yield and Resilient Growth

Defying market trends in 2025, Sonic's on-chain Total Value Locked (TVL) surged by over 500%, with the total stablecoin supply surpassing $260 million. This growth is driven by sophisticated high-leverage yield mechanisms.

• Silo v2 Loop Lending: Use staked S tokens to borrow stablecoins, achieving up to 20x exposure to capture combined incentives alongside stable yield spreads.
• Euler + Rings Protocol Combo: Deposit USDC to mint scUSD, then use leverage to potentially achieve up to 10x yield, along with Sonic points and protocol rewards.
• Shadow DEX Liquidity Provision for Rewards: By facilitating trading activity, particularly with the S/stS pair on Shadow, users can earn up to 169% APY and a share of trading fees.

Looking ahead, the ecosystem will incorporate Real World Asset (RWA) yields and off-chain payment solutions to create a sustainable and widely used stablecoin ecosystem backed by compliant assets and real-world applications.

Conclusion: Sonic - Leading the Charge in DeFi 2.0

Sonic's high performance, nested yields, and accessibility position it for rapid growth, with the potential to exceed $2B TVL and a multi-billion $S token market cap within a year. More importantly, Sonic is championing an "efficiency revolution" in blockchain design—prioritizing performance and capital efficiency to attract liquidity.

The report identifies technical challenges, including the adaptive AMM's reliance on external oracles, which introduces potential vulnerabilities. Furthermore, the inherent risks of high-leverage strategies in volatile markets necessitate the use of hedging instruments, such as short perpetual futures, to mitigate potential liquidations.

From a broader view, Sonic is well-positioned to lead the expected 2025 DeFi resurgence. Its thriving stablecoin ecosystem boosts the value of both the $S token and the network. Even in a bear market, Sonic demonstrates the potential for DeFi to establish resilient "yield havens" through innovation and performance. With its nested yields, developer-focused incentives, and efficient infrastructure, Sonic provides a model for the industry. The integration of RWAs and payment tools could place Sonic as a critical bridge between on-chain yields and real-world utility, driving DeFi toward mass adoption

For full report, please visit: https://square.htx.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/HTX-Research-Latest-Report-1-1.pdf

About HTX Research

HTX Research is the dedicated research arm of HTX Group, responsible for conducting in-depth analyses, producing comprehensive reports, and delivering expert evaluations across a broad spectrum of topics, including cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and emerging market trends.

SINGAPORE, April 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As Layer 2 scaling solutions remain a focal point of industry discourse, Sonic presents a fundamental shift in blockchain architecture. HTX Research has announced the release of its latest report, "Sonic: A Model for the New DeFi Paradigm" The report dives into the details of the Sonic public chain.

Sonic's Evolution: 2000+ TPS, 0.7s Confirmation, Near-Zero Fees

The Fantom Opera blockchain, initially recognized for its speed and throughput as a high-performance aDAG-based Layer 1 solution, encountered scalability limitations as its ecosystem expanded. Its traditional EVM architecture struggled with bloated state storage, slow node synchronization, and execution bottlenecks. To overcome these challenges without resorting to sharding or Layer 2 solutions, Fantom developed Sonic — a fundamental redesign engineered to deliver a significant performance leap.

Sonic Labs, a new team led by CEO Michael Kong, CTO Andre Cronje (founder of Yearn Finance), and Chief Research Officer Bernhard Scholz, dedicated two and a half years to the redesign of Fantom's virtual machine, storage, and consensus. They built Sonic, a new, independent EVM-compatible chain capable of processing over 2,000 TPS, achieving 0.7-second finality, and executing transactions at a cost of $0.0001. It also improves storage efficiency by 90% and reduces node synchronization time from weeks to under two days.

Technical Innovations Driving Sonic's Performance

Sonic's enhanced performance is underpinned by three core technological advancements: 

• SonicVM: A newly developed virtual machine fully compatible with the EVM, SonicVM optimizes computationally intensive operations like SHA3 hashing, pre-analyzes jump instructions, delivers significantly faster execution, and supports high throughput.
  
  
• SonicDB: Achieving nearly 90% data compression, SonicDB uses a layered storage strategy that splits the blockchain state into two databases: LiveDB for the current global state and ArchiveDB for historical blocks and states. This reduces node requirements and enhances network resilience through greater decentralization.
  
  
• Sonic Gateway: Functioning like an "L2-like" bridging solution to Ethereum, it uses a batch processing mechanism that strikes a balance between security and efficiency, enabling seamless two-way asset transfers and ecosystem access.

Stablecoin Ecosystem: Nested Yield and Resilient Growth

Defying market trends in 2025, Sonic's on-chain Total Value Locked (TVL) surged by over 500%, with the total stablecoin supply surpassing $260 million. This growth is driven by sophisticated high-leverage yield mechanisms.

• Silo v2 Loop Lending: Use staked S tokens to borrow stablecoins, achieving up to 20x exposure to capture combined incentives alongside stable yield spreads.
• Euler + Rings Protocol Combo: Deposit USDC to mint scUSD, then use leverage to potentially achieve up to 10x yield, along with Sonic points and protocol rewards.
• Shadow DEX Liquidity Provision for Rewards: By facilitating trading activity, particularly with the S/stS pair on Shadow, users can earn up to 169% APY and a share of trading fees.

Looking ahead, the ecosystem will incorporate Real World Asset (RWA) yields and off-chain payment solutions to create a sustainable and widely used stablecoin ecosystem backed by compliant assets and real-world applications.

Conclusion: Sonic - Leading the Charge in DeFi 2.0

Sonic's high performance, nested yields, and accessibility position it for rapid growth, with the potential to exceed $2B TVL and a multi-billion $S token market cap within a year. More importantly, Sonic is championing an "efficiency revolution" in blockchain design—prioritizing performance and capital efficiency to attract liquidity.

The report identifies technical challenges, including the adaptive AMM's reliance on external oracles, which introduces potential vulnerabilities. Furthermore, the inherent risks of high-leverage strategies in volatile markets necessitate the use of hedging instruments, such as short perpetual futures, to mitigate potential liquidations.

From a broader view, Sonic is well-positioned to lead the expected 2025 DeFi resurgence. Its thriving stablecoin ecosystem boosts the value of both the $S token and the network. Even in a bear market, Sonic demonstrates the potential for DeFi to establish resilient "yield havens" through innovation and performance. With its nested yields, developer-focused incentives, and efficient infrastructure, Sonic provides a model for the industry. The integration of RWAs and payment tools could place Sonic as a critical bridge between on-chain yields and real-world utility, driving DeFi toward mass adoption

For full report, please visit: https://square.htx.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/HTX-Research-Latest-Report-1-1.pdf

About HTX Research

HTX Research is the dedicated research arm of HTX Group, responsible for conducting in-depth analyses, producing comprehensive reports, and delivering expert evaluations across a broad spectrum of topics, including cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and emerging market trends.

** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **

HTX Research Latest Report | Sonic: A Model for the New DeFi Paradigm

SINGAPORE, March 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- MetaComp Pte. Ltd, Asia's pioneer in unified Web2.5 payments and wealth^[1] group-level platform together with other licensed affiliates, today announced the completion of its Pre-A+ funding round, bringing the cumulative total to US$35 million across two rounds in three months. This accelerates the mission of MetaComp and its affiliates — including Alpha Ladder Finance Pte Ltd (Alpha Ladder), the Capital Markets Services (CMS) and Recognised Market Operator (RMO) licensed entity responsible for all products and services relating to securities and capital markets products — to build Asia's definitive Web2.5 integrated payments and wealth^[1] group-level platform, with stablecoin/fiat hybrid payment and securities/RWA token hybrid wealth^[1] management.

The group serves global enterprises, financial institutions, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) by delivering hybrid fiat and stablecoin payment solutions, access to traditional and tokenised wealth^[1] management products, and AI-enhanced compliant financial services on a single regulated architecture.

This latest round was backed by Alibaba, Spark Venture, and other institutional investors, with existing shareholders co-investing. 100Summit Partners served as exclusive financial adviser. The new capital will accelerate MetaComp's StableX Network expansion across high-growth corridors in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, where demand for compliant, real-time cross-border settlement continues to surge. It will also accelerate MetaComp's AI strategy to develop an Agent-Skills-MCP (Model Context Protocol) architecture — a future-ready infrastructure supporting agentic Web2.5 payment and wealth services.

MetaComp achieved full-year net profitability in 2025, demonstrating the commercial viability of regulated Web2.5 digital financial solutions at institutional scale. Combined with operating cash flows and other capital sources, the close brings MetaComp's immediate available liquidity to over US$100 million, establishing a strong foundation for more efficient fiat/stablecoin hybrid payments and securities/RWA token hybrid wealth^[1] product offering with affiliates.  

Building Asia's Web2.5 Payment and Wealth^[1] Solutions Group-level Platform at Scale

MetaComp's positioning combines comprehensive licensing from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) with proprietary technology purpose-built for the Web 2.5 era, where traditional finance and digital assets converge under unified regulatory frameworks. Licensed as a Major Payment Institution to provide Digital Payment Token (DPT) and Cross-border Money Transfer (CBMT) services, MetaComp provides regulated cross-border payment and settlement capabilities to 1,000+ institutional and accredited clients across a global network of major cities and key financial hubs.

Through Alpha Ladder, the MAS-licensed CMS and RMO affiliate of MetaComp, clients access integrated payment and treasury management (WealthX) capabilities spanning both traditional and digital asset classes.

The proprietary Client Asset Management Platform (CAMP) operated by MetaComp and Alpha Ladder run at a monthly run rate of more than US$1 billion and accounts for more than US$500 million in wealth assets. In 2025, the group-level platform processed over US$10 billion in payments and over-the-counter (OTC) volume across 13+ stablecoins. At its core is the StableX Network — MetaComp's institutional settlement and liquidity network powered by StableX Engine and VisionX Compliance Engine. Through PayX (payments) and WealthX^[1] (treasury and investment access), institutions can move, convert, safeguard and grow capital on one unified Web2.5 group-level platform.

Institutional Validation and Strategic Capital

Tin Pei Ling, Co-President of MetaComp, said: "MetaComp was built on a single conviction: that the future of cross-border finance is neither purely traditional nor purely digital — it's the integrated Web2.5 architecture where fiat rails and stablecoin networks operate as one. Two consecutive funding rounds in three months reflect strong institutional confidence in that thesis. Traditional payment systems remain constrained by multi-day settlement cycles, high costs and limited currency coverage, and that gap is exactly what we were founded to solve. This funding accelerates the StableX Network across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, where demand for compliant, real-time cross-border settlement is growing fastest."

Spark Venture commented:
"MetaComp is building next-generation payment infrastructure at the intersection of fiat and digital assets — a market we believe represents tens of trillions of dollars in opportunity. As regulatory frameworks mature globally and AI converges with blockchain, demand is accelerating fastest in emerging markets, where the conditions exist for an entirely new class of payment leaders to emerge. MetaComp's founding team brings more than 20 years of combined experience across finance, technology, and blockchain, underpinned by a comprehensive licensing framework. We are firmly committed to supporting MetaComp's long-term growth as it builds toward that vision."

Leadership Team

MetaComp's leadership team combines deep expertise across institutional finance, regulatory compliance, payments infrastructure, and digital asset technology, with careers spanning investment banks, major internet platforms, licensed payment institutions, and regulated financial services firms across the globe.

^[1]All products and/or services in relation to securities and capital market products are offered and operated solely by Alpha Ladder Finance Pte. Ltd.

About MetaComp

MetaComp is Asia's pioneer in unified Web2.5 digital financial solutions, bridging fiat and stablecoin capabilities across payments, treasury, and wealth management on an institutional, group-level platform. Licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a Major Payment Institution to provide Digital Payment Token (DPT) and Cross-border Money Transfer (CBMT) services, MetaComp serves more than 1,000 institutional and accredited clients across major financial hubs globally.

In 2025, the group-level platform processed over US$10 billion in payment and OTC volume across 13+ stablecoins, operating at a monthly run rate exceeding US$1 billion. Through the StableX Network, institutions move, convert and manage capital across fiat and stablecoin rails within a compliant, unified Web2.5 financial architecture. Treasury and investment services are provided through Alpha Ladder Finance Pte. Ltd., MetaComp's MAS-licensed affiliate holding Capital Markets Services (CMS) and Recognised Market Operator (RMO) licences, with wealth AUM surpassing US$500 million across its solutions.

MetaComp has raised US$35 million in its Pre-A funding rounds to date and achieved full-year net profitability in 2025, reflecting strong institutional demand for regulated Web2.5 financial solutions.

Learn more at www.mce.sg, or follow MetaComp on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/metacompsg) and X @MetaCompHQ.

SINGAPORE, March 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- MetaComp Pte. Ltd, Asia's pioneer in unified Web2.5 payments and wealth^[1] group-level platform together with other licensed affiliates, today announced the completion of its Pre-A+ funding round, bringing the cumulative total to US$35 million across two rounds in three months. This accelerates the mission of MetaComp and its affiliates — including Alpha Ladder Finance Pte Ltd (Alpha Ladder), the Capital Markets Services (CMS) and Recognised Market Operator (RMO) licensed entity responsible for all products and services relating to securities and capital markets products — to build Asia's definitive Web2.5 integrated payments and wealth^[1] group-level platform, with stablecoin/fiat hybrid payment and securities/RWA token hybrid wealth^[1] management.

The group serves global enterprises, financial institutions, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) by delivering hybrid fiat and stablecoin payment solutions, access to traditional and tokenised wealth^[1] management products, and AI-enhanced compliant financial services on a single regulated architecture.

This latest round was backed by Alibaba, Spark Venture, and other institutional investors, with existing shareholders co-investing. 100Summit Partners served as exclusive financial adviser. The new capital will accelerate MetaComp's StableX Network expansion across high-growth corridors in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, where demand for compliant, real-time cross-border settlement continues to surge. It will also accelerate MetaComp's AI strategy to develop an Agent-Skills-MCP (Model Context Protocol) architecture — a future-ready infrastructure supporting agentic Web2.5 payment and wealth services.

MetaComp achieved full-year net profitability in 2025, demonstrating the commercial viability of regulated Web2.5 digital financial solutions at institutional scale. Combined with operating cash flows and other capital sources, the close brings MetaComp's immediate available liquidity to over US$100 million, establishing a strong foundation for more efficient fiat/stablecoin hybrid payments and securities/RWA token hybrid wealth^[1] product offering with affiliates.  

Building Asia's Web2.5 Payment and Wealth^[1] Solutions Group-level Platform at Scale

MetaComp's positioning combines comprehensive licensing from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) with proprietary technology purpose-built for the Web 2.5 era, where traditional finance and digital assets converge under unified regulatory frameworks. Licensed as a Major Payment Institution to provide Digital Payment Token (DPT) and Cross-border Money Transfer (CBMT) services, MetaComp provides regulated cross-border payment and settlement capabilities to 1,000+ institutional and accredited clients across a global network of major cities and key financial hubs.

Through Alpha Ladder, the MAS-licensed CMS and RMO affiliate of MetaComp, clients access integrated payment and treasury management (WealthX) capabilities spanning both traditional and digital asset classes.

The proprietary Client Asset Management Platform (CAMP) operated by MetaComp and Alpha Ladder run at a monthly run rate of more than US$1 billion and accounts for more than US$500 million in wealth assets. In 2025, the group-level platform processed over US$10 billion in payments and over-the-counter (OTC) volume across 13+ stablecoins. At its core is the StableX Network — MetaComp's institutional settlement and liquidity network powered by StableX Engine and VisionX Compliance Engine. Through PayX (payments) and WealthX^[1] (treasury and investment access), institutions can move, convert, safeguard and grow capital on one unified Web2.5 group-level platform.

Institutional Validation and Strategic Capital

Tin Pei Ling, Co-President of MetaComp, said: "MetaComp was built on a single conviction: that the future of cross-border finance is neither purely traditional nor purely digital — it's the integrated Web2.5 architecture where fiat rails and stablecoin networks operate as one. Two consecutive funding rounds in three months reflect strong institutional confidence in that thesis. Traditional payment systems remain constrained by multi-day settlement cycles, high costs and limited currency coverage, and that gap is exactly what we were founded to solve. This funding accelerates the StableX Network across Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, where demand for compliant, real-time cross-border settlement is growing fastest."

Spark Venture commented:
"MetaComp is building next-generation payment infrastructure at the intersection of fiat and digital assets — a market we believe represents tens of trillions of dollars in opportunity. As regulatory frameworks mature globally and AI converges with blockchain, demand is accelerating fastest in emerging markets, where the conditions exist for an entirely new class of payment leaders to emerge. MetaComp's founding team brings more than 20 years of combined experience across finance, technology, and blockchain, underpinned by a comprehensive licensing framework. We are firmly committed to supporting MetaComp's long-term growth as it builds toward that vision."

Leadership Team

MetaComp's leadership team combines deep expertise across institutional finance, regulatory compliance, payments infrastructure, and digital asset technology, with careers spanning investment banks, major internet platforms, licensed payment institutions, and regulated financial services firms across the globe.

^[1]All products and/or services in relation to securities and capital market products are offered and operated solely by Alpha Ladder Finance Pte. Ltd.

About MetaComp

MetaComp is Asia's pioneer in unified Web2.5 digital financial solutions, bridging fiat and stablecoin capabilities across payments, treasury, and wealth management on an institutional, group-level platform. Licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a Major Payment Institution to provide Digital Payment Token (DPT) and Cross-border Money Transfer (CBMT) services, MetaComp serves more than 1,000 institutional and accredited clients across major financial hubs globally.

In 2025, the group-level platform processed over US$10 billion in payment and OTC volume across 13+ stablecoins, operating at a monthly run rate exceeding US$1 billion. Through the StableX Network, institutions move, convert and manage capital across fiat and stablecoin rails within a compliant, unified Web2.5 financial architecture. Treasury and investment services are provided through Alpha Ladder Finance Pte. Ltd., MetaComp's MAS-licensed affiliate holding Capital Markets Services (CMS) and Recognised Market Operator (RMO) licences, with wealth AUM surpassing US$500 million across its solutions.

MetaComp has raised US$35 million in its Pre-A funding rounds to date and achieved full-year net profitability in 2025, reflecting strong institutional demand for regulated Web2.5 financial solutions.

Learn more at www.mce.sg, or follow MetaComp on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/metacompsg) and X @MetaCompHQ.

** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **

Singapore's MetaComp Raises Pre-A+ Round Backed By Alibaba, Closing Total US$35 Million Pre-A Funding in 3 months to Accelerate Asia's Regulated Web2.5 Pay and Wealth[1] Group-Level Platform

Singapore's MetaComp Raises Pre-A+ Round Backed By Alibaba, Closing Total US$35 Million Pre-A Funding in 3 months to Accelerate Asia's Regulated Web2.5 Pay and Wealth[1] Group-Level Platform

Singapore's MetaComp Raises Pre-A+ Round Backed By Alibaba, Closing Total US$35 Million Pre-A Funding in 3 months to Accelerate Asia's Regulated Web2.5 Pay and Wealth[1] Group-Level Platform