Why Sony Launched Soneium, an Ethereum L2, and Blacklisted Some Memecoins - Ep. 767
Why Sony Launched Soneium, an Ethereum L2, and Blacklisted Some Memecoins - UnchainedThis week, Sony launched Soneium, an Ethereum layer 2 aimed at supporting creators, fans, and developers—but its decision to blacklist certain memecoins sparked debate. Co-developer Sota Watanabe explains. Posted January 17, 2025 at 9:00 am EST. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. This week, Sony launched the mainnet for Soneium, its Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain built on the OP Stack from Optimism. Soneium is designed to support creators, developers, and fans through tools like Sony’s NFT-based Fan Marketing Platform and Soneium Spark. However, Soneium’s launch has sparked controversy. Its decision to blacklist some memecoins—over intellectual property concerns—has raised questions about the balance between decentralization and protecting creators’ rights. Even Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin weighed in, highlighting the tradeoffs businesses face in Web3. In this episode, Sota Watanabe, director of Soneium, delves into the memecoin controversy, and explains the vision for the platform, their commitment to IP protection, and what’s next for Soneium in entertainment and finance. Plus, at the end of the episode, Laura speaks to Ari Gore, head of communications at Zengo Wallet, about protecting your private keys and your cryptocurrencies from natural disasters. Show highlights: Why Sony decided to launch a layer 2 on Ethereum How Soneium will work with creators to support them Sota’s response to the backlash about blacklisting memecoins How Soneium protects IP rights Why Soneium attracts people from certain demographics What the L2 blockchain will focus on next Thank you to our sponsors! Stellar Build Better Quai Network Polkadot EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Guests Sota Watanabe, founder & CEO of Startale Group, co-developer of Soneium Ari Gore, head of communications at Zengo Wallet Links Soneium Mainnet: Invoking Emotion And Empowering Creativity Tweet by PopPunkOnChain Tweet by 0xKawz Tweet by Vitalik Tweet by donnoh_eth Soneium’s Philosophy for Responsible Innovation