Astar-Soneium Alliance: Case Study on the Process of Web3 Mainstreaming

Summary of key points

• Global entertainment giant Sony Group has entered the Web3 market through the Ethereum Layer 2 network "Soneium". With its huge IP library and global user base, it is expected to lead the process of Web3 mainstreaming.

• As Soneium's core partner, Astar Network has helped its ecological construction with its years of experience in main network operation. ASTR tokens will become Soneium's core asset, and both parties expect to have strong synergies.

• Soneium has attracted more than 170 projects to settle in two weeks after its launch. Cases such as Yay! and entertainment platform Yoake demonstrated the potential of blockchain to seamlessly integrate into life, providing a sample for large-scale applications of Web3.

1. Sony Group opens a new chapter

Source: Tiger Research

In January 2025, Sony Group launched the Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain network Soneium through its subsidiary Sony Blockchain Solutions Laboratory (Sony BSL), officially entering Web3. This move has attracted great attention from the industry because it continues Sony's innovative tradition in the integration of technology and culture.

For large enterprises, self-built public chains are extremely rare, mainly due to the three major challenges of Web3: regulatory uncertainty , unproven business models and high infrastructure costs . Global giants especially need to weigh compliance risks.

Sony's choice to face the challenge is due to its "innovator spirit" engraved with genes. From the pain of the transformation from analog to digital, Sony has learned valuable experience and formed the strategic thinking of "actively creating new growth engines". Today, this thinking is being applied to the Web3 field.

Astar Network has become an ideal partner of Sony Group's Web3 strategy. Since 2019, Astar's technical capabilities and operational experience accumulated in the Polkadot ecosystem will accelerate the implementation of Sony's Web3 vision. It is worth noting that ASTR tokens will become Soneium 's core asset . The two parties will jointly promote the mainstreaming of Web3 through the in-depth integration of technology and ecosystem.

This report will analyze how Soneium and Astar Network reshape the Web3 industry landscape, and explore the synergistic potential of Sony Group and Astar Network and its driving force for the popularization of Web3.

2. Soneium: Going to the mainstream

Source: Soneium

Soneium is the Ethereum Layer 2 main network built on OP Stack, and is jointly created by Sony Group and Startale through the joint venture Sony BSL. Startale contributes the blockchain experience accumulated since operating Astar Network in 2019, while Sony injects global users and IP resources. This combination gives Soneium the potential to accelerate the mainstreaming of Web3.

2.1 Soneium: Sony Group’s core strategic pillar

Soneium is not only a blockchain project, but also an extension of Sony Group's digital strategy, which may become a link to its diversified businesses. Given Sony's leadership in the entertainment industry, this integration may have a profound impact on the popularity of Web3. Understanding Sony Group's strategic vision is key to assessing its potential.

 2024 Sony Group Corporate Strategy Conference, Source: Sony Group

In the "Strategic Plan for 2025-2027" announced in 2024, Sony Group proposed the vision of "transcending boundaries and maximizing group synergy" and emphasized cross-departmental collaboration to accelerate digital innovation and open up new sources of revenue.

Soneium’s blockchain network could become the cornerstone of the digital ecosystem for integrating Sony Group’s assets. The following analysis explores the possibility of its business integration from a short-term and long-term perspective.

2.1.1 Short-term perspective: Strengthen the integration of existing Web3 services

Sony Group's initial integration of Soneium will be based on its existing Web3 business: the NFT platform SNFT launched in 2022, and the cryptocurrency exchange S.BLOX, which was acquired and renamed in 2023.

 2025 Sony Group Web3 Business Conference, Source: Sony

S.BLOX may become a key entrance to the Soneium ecosystem and serve as a bridge between traditional assets and Web3 assets. By integrating Backpack-like exchange-wallet functionality, S.BLOX provides a safer asset management experience than existing Web3 wallets.

 Source: Sony

Several subsidiaries of Sony Group are expanding Web3 projects through SNFT-Soneium:

• Sony Film and Television Entertainment (Japan) : Provides exclusive content access to users who purchase specified content on Amazon Prime Video;

• Sony Music Entertainment France : Release of limited edition NFT to commemorate the second anniversary of the establishment of the music and Web3 community "Sunny B. 1991";

• Sony Music Publishing (Japan) : Launches an NFT event linked to the girl group "SANDAL TELEPHONE" concert.

These projects aim to enhance fan interaction and digital content distribution through NFT, exploring new ways to connect with your audience.

2.1.2 Long-term perspective: deep integration of entertainment and financial industries

Although Sony Group has not announced Soneium’s specific plans outside the mentioned project, its long-term potential is worth paying attention to.

The entertainment business accounts for 60% of Sony Group's revenue, and it controls the entire chain of content production and distribution. Although this concentration poses risks, Web3 technology may open up new growth paths.

Early signs show innovation potential: Sony Interactive Entertainment ’s blockchain patent (especially in-game NFT) suggests that the PlayStation ecosystem may be combined with Web3, such as NFT gaming assets and cryptocurrency payment capabilities.

 Source: Sony Music

Sony Music and Sony Film and Television can activate massive IPs through Web3 technology. Sony Music has tested NFTs based on artist IP and explores Web3 applications for music copyright. With the combination of content such as music, animation, games, etc., Sony may open up new revenue sources through Web3.

 Source: Sony Bank

Although Sony Financial Group has been split, it still maintains close cooperation with Sony Group.

Sony Bank is a pioneer in blockchain applications in the banking industry: it cooperates with SNFT to launch the user-friendly NFT management application CONNECT; pilots the stablecoin project; and becomes the first bank in Japan to provide loan asset securitization tokens (STO).

Soneium may connect to Sony 's business through a new digital service. For example: PlayStation users use stablecoins developed by Sony Financial Group to pay; fans buy and sell tokenized entertainment IP assets. These applications integrate Web3 technology into daily services and support Sony Group's strategic goals.

2.2 Key cases of Soneium Ecology

Soneium is committed to building an inclusive Web3 ecosystem that surpasses Sony Group, focusing on user-experience-friendly application scenarios. Users can access blockchain services through familiar applications without understanding the underlying technology. This strategy has been effective - it has attracted more than 170 projects to settle in two weeks after it was launched, of which consumer-grade applications account for the highest proportion. The following is analyzing representative applications in the Soneium ecosystem.

2.2.1 Yay!: Connect to the Web2 community with SocialFi and inject reward mechanism into daily life

Source: Yay!

Yay! is a popular community platform in Japan. Since its launch in 2020, it has more than 10 million users and has more than 100,000 active communities. The platform shows how Web3 can enhance social media value without changing the user experience: members are rewarded for their community contributions, and all blockchain interactions are automatically completed by the platform backend.

On Yay!, users earn EMPL tokens through community contributions, which can be used to purchase items on the platform, give gifts, or exchanged as EMPL tokens, which can be used to purchase items on the platform, give gifts, or exchanged as YAY tokens to withdraw cash as cash. This mechanism allows users to enjoy the token economic dividend without having to deal with complex crypto transactions.

 Source: Yay!

Yay! serves both Web2 and Web3 users: traditional users earn points and consume in the application; encrypted users can put assets on the chain to participate in staking and provide liquidity and other DeFi activities.

Its appeal to Web3 users has emerged—staking activities linked to Ethereum and ASTR have attracted $20 million in participation. By creating value for two types of users, Yay! has successfully built a bridge between Web2 and Web3.

2.2.2 Yoake: Innovate fan culture with blockchain

Source: Yoake Space

Yoake is an entertainment fan blockchain platform jointly developed by famous Japanese producer Akimoto and Startale. Akimoto Yasumi once created the idol group AKB48, which pioneered the fan voting mechanism. This innovation has enabled Yoake to win entertainment awards in the Soneium Spark incubation program.

 Source: Dune, Tiger Research

Yoake uses blockchain to solve common pain points in the fan community: voting manipulation and royalty allocation opaque. The platform records all votes on the Soneium chain to form a verifiable transparent system. Fans can vote through social media accounts (no wallet required), and blockchain records are automatically completed by the platform. This system supports a variety of activities from idol group performance selection to fashion competition voting.

Yoake embodies Soneium’s blockchain adoption logic: problem solving takes precedence over technology . As Sony BSL director Satoshi Watanabe said, this is a "market pull" strategy - identify the needs first, and then solve them with technology, rather than building a solution first and then finding a scenario (Technology Push). Yoake practices this principle by improving fairness and transparency of the fan community, and blockchain only exists as the underlying solution.

Yoake will launch YOAKE tokens on Soneium to reward active fans and measure community engagement. This model may become an example of the blockchainization of traditional services in the entertainment industry.

3. Why choose OP Stack? Stable infrastructure and scalability

Soneium builds Ethereum Layer 2 based on Optimism's OP Stack, rather than developing new chains from scratch. This choice stems from a clear understanding of the Layer 1 development challenges: building network security and ecology requires a lot of resources and time. With Optimism’s mature infrastructure, Soneium can focus on developing user-oriented services and driving adoption.

As Ethereum Layer 2, Soneium inherits the core advantages of Ethereum: EVM compatibility : supports existing Ethereum tools (such as wallets, smart contracts); security : provides reliable protection for Sony IP; developer ecosystem : access to Ethereum Large developer community.

 Source: Optimism

Soneium plans to join Optimism's "Superchain" network through OP Stack, and connect with OP Stack chains such as Base, World Chain, Unichain, and expand the capability boundaries. The proposed Optimism Interop Protocol will enhance direct inter-chain communication (without passing through the Ethereum mainnet).

By relying on Ethereum security and OP Stack expansion technology, Soneium lays the foundation for rapid growth. This pragmatic attitude reflects its goal: to accelerate Web3 adoption with existing solutions rather than repeating the wheel .

**4. Same vision, dual network collaboration: the ensemble between

Soneium and Astar**

Source: Astar Network

Astar Network, operated by Startale, is expected to be in-depth with Soneium. Although Astar is based on Polkadot and Soneium is based on Ethereum, the differences between the two may form complementary advantages and maximize synergies.

Analyzing the advantages of Astar Network helps to evaluate Soneium's potential, especially the possibility of dual network collaboration.

**4.1 Ecological integration: jointly build a mainstream collective

ecology**

Source: Astar Network

Although Astar Network and Soneium operate independently, they can develop complementary capabilities: Astar provides liquidity and ecological resources for Soneium's early growth; Soneium , as OP Stack Layer 2, helps Astar expand from the Polkadot ecosystem to the Ethereum ecosystem.

Astar's dual support for WebAssembly (WASM) and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) enables it to connect Polkadot and the Ethereum ecosystem. Partnering with Soneium may accelerate this cross-chain expansion.

Astar's ecological management experience can provide reference for Soneium: effectively manage ecological liquidity through large-scale token destruction and dApp staking V3, providing better incentives for users and dApp projects; although a 7% base inflation upper limit is set, it is continuously improved Maintain the stability of token levels; start on-chain governance in December 2024, turning to community-led decision-making, and the forum actively discusses ecological development.

Astar shares a vision of transcending technology integration with Soneium: bringing Web3 to mainstream users . Astar's "Evolutionary Stage 1.5" will officially connect to the dual networks to form a shared ecosystem. Through Chainlink's CCIP and LayerZero technology, seamless communication between chains is achieved, and a more sustainable and scalable Web3 ecosystem is built.

4.2 ASTR: Strategic fulcrum for the symbiosis of dual networks

4.2.1 Lay the initial foundation with ASTR tokens

Soneium uses Astar Network's ASTR token to launch the ecosystem to solve common cold startup problems in new networks.

ASTR has been listed on mainstream exchanges such as Binance, OKX, Upbit, etc., providing Soneium with ready-made liquidity. Using mature tokens (rather than issuing new tokens) makes Soneium more efficient in building an ecosystem than networks such as BASE that need to be launched separately, while reducing compliance complexity and attracting existing crypto users.

 Source: Astar Network

ASTR is the core asset of the Soneium ecosystem and plans to add several key features: facilitating DeFi transactions, enabling payments in consumer applications, and supporting stablecoin issuance. This core role enables ASTR to capture the ecosystem value of Soneium, which may directly benefit Astar Network. As of February 1, ASTR accounts for 57% of Soneium’s total locked value (TVS), which shows its importance.

 Source: Astar Network

Astar plans to expand its influence to the Optimism hyperchain based on ASTR's central position in Soneium. ASTR has adopted the Superchain Asset Standard (ERC-7802, SuperchainERC20) to achieve seamless cross-chain transfer. This standardization may help ASTR become an important asset of the superchain ecosystem, and then serve as a bridge between Soneium and a wider ecosystem.

4.2.2 Astar and Soneium’s ecological boosting strategy

Source: Astar Network

Astar Network is working with Soneium to develop its shared ecosystem. Through the Astar Surge activity , ASTR holders can receive rewards by depositing tokens in designated smart contracts, providing initial liquidity for Soneium’s launch. The event has injected 1.68 million liquidity into key projects such as Sake Finance and Yay!.

Astar Network also plans to launch the Astar Contribution Score (ACS) program , issuing 100 million ASTR tokens to reward users' activities in Soneium's DeFi protocol, games and consumer applications. The goal of ACS is not only to distribute tokens, but also to encourage the continued participation and development of the ecosystem.

Using Astar Network’s funds to support Soneium’s development represents a strategic investment: it positions ASTR as a key cross-chain asset in the Superchain ecosystem while expanding its reach in the Ethereum ecosystem. As Sony Group develops mainstream Web3 applications, ASTR can gain real-world use cases, driving adoption of both networks.

4.2.3 Fast endgame layer based on Astar Network

As OP Rollup Layer 2, Soneium faces two time constraints: the transaction takes about 13 minutes to complete hard confirmation on the OP Stack; L1 withdrawal requires a 7-day waiting period due to the OP Rollup feature.

 Source: AltLayer

Soneium will use AltLayer's MACH protocol to solve the latency problem. MACH is an active verification service (AVS), which uses EigenLayer's re-stake mechanism to enhance security and cross-chain messaging. This upgrade will benefit games and financial services that require fast transactions.

The MACH implementation will create new uses for ASTR, making it the same network-contributing asset as restaked ETH. This provides token holders with more ways to participate and receive rewards. Extended utility can enhance network mobility and ecosystem engagement.

**4.3. The integration of technology and vision: the possibilities of a

new unified network**

The Astar Network-Soneium partnership will become stronger over time and develop on its complementary technologies: Astar Network runs on Polkadot with dual EVM-WASM support, while Soneium runs as Ethereum Layer2 . Together they can scale to the Ethereum and Polkadot ecosystems.

The recent Klaytn-Finschia merger demonstrates how two blockchain networks come together, providing a potential model for Soneium and Astar Network. While tighter integration can connect the Ethereum and Polkadot ecosystems, such developments require careful long-term planning. These networks are realizing this possibility through current collaboration that leverages their unique strengths.

5. Soneium’s Challenge: Balancing IP Protection and Network Review

Intellectual property infringement has been a long-term challenge for Web3, as evidenced by recent disputes: NEIRO faces ownership disputes , and CHILLGUY has been criticized for unauthorized use of intellectual property . These events have hurt both investor confidence and industry credibility.

Soneium introduced the concept of “sandbox” to balance openness and protection while building an ecosystem of creators-centric fan communities. The large-scale adoption of Web3 technology requires both the creative freedom of creators and the basic guarantees of intellectual property protection.

Soneium takes a phased security approach: During the warning period, it reviews suspicious contracts and items and adds them to the restricted list if necessary. The system does not block access completely, but allows transactions through Ethereum Layer 1. As Vitalik Buterin describes, this is like a “huge speed bump” – preventing malicious activity while maintaining network accessibility. Once the project resolves the issue, it can regain full access.

This approach strikes a balance between protecting creators’ rights and the core values ​​of Web3 openness and innovation. By implementing management oversight rather than rigorous scrutiny, Soneium aims to combine intellectual property protection with blockchain decentralization—a potential model adopted by mainstream Web3.

6. Conclusion

The launch of Soneium not only represents another blockchain platform, but also marks a large company's commitment to expanding Web3 to less than 7% of the global population at present. For Sony, this move is not just a technical experiment, but also aims to address the fundamental challenges of mainstream adoption.

This time is exactly the same as Sony's past transformation. While Sony revolutionized personal music with Walkman, it initially struggled to adapt to digital technology. Later, the company succeeded by combining entertainment with technology—Web3 can now extend this strategy to a new era.

Soneium goes beyond typical blockchain initiatives to combine Sony Group’s hardware expertise with Startale’s blockchain experience. The partnership between the established company and Startale balances the flexibility of enterprise resources and startups, aiming to create a more practical Web3 ecosystem.

Japan provides Soneium with strategic advantages: relative support policies for the cryptocurrency and Web3 industries, and an environment that encourages global corporate cooperation. These factors provide a stable basis for Soneium's development and international growth.

However, Sony's Web3 business faces significant barriers in terms of technology, regulation and user experience. The key to success is how Sony effectively translates these challenges into opportunities for innovation.

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