My thesis why @SonicLabs could quietly outperform the big L1s this cycle. $S Not because of hype or VC narratives, but because it's executing on the fundamentals that actually matter: performance, incentives, and developer alignment. Every cycle, a new L1 shows up promising speed and scale. Most vanish once the hype fades. A few execute their way into the next tier. Sonic feels like one of those few. It's not a new chain built from scratch - it evolved out of the Fantom lineage, carrying lessons from years of live-network pain. The rebrand to Sonic Labs wasn’t the story; it was the reset that let the story begin. And now that reset’s starting to pay off. 1. The stack - Throughput & Finality: Sonic claims up to 400k TPS with sub-second finality. Even if real-world throughput lands lower, it's still leagues ahead of most. - EVM-Compatible: Full Solidity/Vyper support. Builders can port apps without rewriting contracts - frictionless migration. - Native Bridge (Sonic Gateway): Seamless flow of liquidity between Sonic and Ethereum. Not a copy–paste bridge, but purpose-built infrastructure. - Proof of Execution: By early 2025 - $1B+ TVL, 150+ live apps, and rising DEX volume. The numbers show builders are already moving. 2. The incentive flywheel Sonic flipped the builder economy on its head. Instead of hoarding fees, it gives up to 90% of app-generated fees back to developers via its Fee Monetization (FeeM) model. That means: - Builders earn from usage. - Users get cheaper transactions. - The network grows organically instead of chasing mercenary yield. It's a clean economic loop that rewards execution, not hype. 3. Why Sonic has room to run SOL, AVAX, and SUI each have their place - but they're maturing. The upside on a percentage basis is smaller. Sonic is early enough to move fast, and credible enough to attract serious devs: - No fragmentation (like AVAX subnets). - No congestion reputation (like SOL). - No ecosystem stagnation (like SUI). It's the same structural setup that let early L1s explode last cycle - undervalued tech + builder migration + liquidity flow. That's the asymmetric bet. 4. Execution Is the edge They’ve already open-sourced their formal verification library, integrated native $USDC via CCTP, and onboarded real dApps with meaningful activity. This is what separates a narrative chain from a performing one. While others are optimizing for perception, Sonic's optimizing for throughput, economics, and developer PnL. 5. Real risks - Usage needs to sustain - TPS is meaningless without real volume. - Competition from L2s tightening the performance gap. - Bridge and security scaling still need to prove reliable under stress. But all of that’s priced into the early stage. That's the beauty of catching a network when fundamentals outpace awareness. TLDR; Sonic sits in that rare window where the narrative hasn't caught up to the execution. It's fast, EVM-native, and dev-aligned - three things most L1s spend years trying to balance. If this chain keeps stacking TVL, bridging volume, and stablecoin flows at its current rate, it doesn't just compete - it redefines the new L1 benchmark imo.