Sonic Unleashes Tokenomics Overhaul to Power Aggressive US Market Expansion

Sonic just dropped the mic on traditional token models—launching a complete economic restructuring timed with its Stateside invasion.

Rewriting the Rulebook

The upgrade slashes transaction friction, pumps utility into every token hold, and strategically reallocates supply toward ecosystem incentives. No more vesting cliffs that spook retail; no more inflationary mechanics that dilute early believers.

Why America—Why Now?

Sonic’s team isn’t just crossing borders—they’re bypassing legacy finance entirely. Targeting regulatory gray zones and partner-ready corridors, they’re positioning where traditional players can’t—or won’t—go. Timing? Impeccable. Ambition? Unmatched.

Because nothing says 'market confidence' like reengineering your entire token economy days before expansion—a move that’d give any traditional CFO night sweats, but in crypto? Just Tuesday.

Sonic’s tokenomics overhaul

According to Tokenomist, Sonic (S) will issue 633.9 million new S tokens, valued at about $196.5 million. The allocation is split across three categories: 150 million tokens for Sonic’s U.S. operations, 322.6 million reserved for a NASDAQ private investment vehicle locked for at least three years, and 161.3 million earmarked for a future ETF partnership with BitGo custody.

1/ 📢 $SONIC Tokenomics Update Thread 🧵

Following the approved governance proposal, @SonicLabs is implementing significant tokenomics changes to enable U.S. institutional expansion, ETF development, and enhanced competitiveness against projects with larger treasury reserves.… pic.twitter.com/3YSRX6w9wb

The changes increase Sonic’s total available supply from 4.12 billion to 4.75 billion, with circulating supply climbing 14% to 3.79 billion. Released supply rises 5.4% to 3.14 billion, while total supply expands by 14% to 3.89 billion. 

Despite this inflationary effect, the project has introduced stronger burn mechanics. 90% of fees from builder-focused transactions will go back to builders, 5% to validators, and 5% will be burned. For non-builder transactions, half of all fees will be permanently removed from circulation.

Supporting U.S. expansion

In addition to giving Sonic Labs the capital flexibility it lacked under Fantom’s original token model, these changes are designed to offset dilution from new issuance and establish long-term scarcity in the S token.

The tokenomics shift is closely tied to Sonic’s U.S. institutional expansion plan. To engage with regulators and capital market players, the project is establishing Sonic USA, a Delaware-based company with a presence in New York. Funding from the new issuance will also seed a U.S.-listed exchange-traded fund tracking the S token and support the NASDAQ PIPE, which locks tokens to align with institutional partners.

Sonic Labs hopes to improve its competitiveness against projects with larger treasuries and create opportunities for regulated investment products by merging modern tokenomics with institutionally friendly structures. 

Passed with nearly 860 million votes and 99.98% in favor, the latest governance proposal demonstrates the community’s strong support for the project.