Vitalik Buterin Praises Soneium L2 Launch for Balancing Business and User Priorities
Vitalik Buterin recently commended the launch of Soneium L2 as a prime example of catering to the needs of both businesses and users. Despite potential conflicts, a business-grade L2 like Soneium remains transparent and traceable, offering a unique balance of control.
Vitalik Buterin, the renowned founder of Ethereum, lauded Sony’s introduction of Soneium as a significant step in deploying a business-grade L2 solution. In a recent post, Buterin highlighted the flexibility that L2 technology provides businesses in choosing the level of control they wish to retain over their operations. He also addressed the issue of censorship within the ecosystem and its implications on Ethereum’s overall functionality.
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.…
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 15, 2025
Soneium now joins the ranks of over 127 L2 chains, each with its own distinct culture and purpose. While the recent token censorship actions by Soneium are unprecedented, they underline the platform’s commitment to upholding intellectual property rights, a stance not commonly seen in other chains.
Despite Buterin’s self-imposed rule of not discussing L2 chains in 2025 unless they have reached at least Stage 1 of decentralization, Soneium remains a Stage 0 project within the Optimism super chain. The team is actively working towards transitioning to Stage 2 to achieve fully decentralized security. Currently, only Arbitrum and Optimism have attained Stage 1 status, as previously acknowledged by Buterin.
Following Soneium’s recent announcement of freezing tokens infringing on intellectual property rights, Buterin emphasized the importance of transparency in such actions. Even when corporate chains exercise control over tokens, the processes are visible and can be scrutinized through L2 data platforms. However, Buterin cautioned that the movement of funds and assets on corporate chains may eventually mirror web app usage with predefined terms and conditions.
Soneium Sets Guidelines for Meme Token Creation
After freezing several tokens for IP violations, Soneium outlined its approach to handling infringement in a blog post. The team now implements a 12-hour grace period for developers to rectify compliance issues before their assets are blacklisted. Appeals against blacklisting decisions can be made to a committee comprising core Soneium members.
Some of the tokens frozen by Soneium, such as WALKMAN, have disrupted transactions on the platform. Other meme tokens like PlayStation 1, PlayStation 5, and Crash Bandicoot have also been affected. While Soneium’s actions primarily protect Sony’s IP, they also serve as a precedent for safeguarding other meme creators and NFT developers from copycat tokens and counterfeit assets.
Soneium Goes Live and Gains Value
With the Soneium mainnet now operational and attracting increased activity, the platform is steadily accruing more value. The team remains committed to upholding creator rights by restricting the use of names and images in meme token creation. Additionally, Soneium has entered the realm of the blob economy, incurring minimal fees on its first day of operation.
While Soneium predominantly utilizes blobs for transactions, users have the option to bypass censorship by sending transactions through calldata. This workaround enables users to force transactions onto Ethereum, circumventing censorship on the L2 platform. However, this method requires a deeper understanding of Ethereum’s technical nuances and may not be suitable for all users.
Despite the inconveniences posed by token freezing on L2, Soneium’s commitment to transparency and compliance remains unwavering, aligning with the ethos of decentralization championed by Buterin.
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