Vitalik Buterin praised the launch of Soneium L2 as an example of serving the priorities of both companies and users. In case of conflicts, an enterprise-level L2 is still transparent and traceable.
Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, praised Sony’s launch of Soneium as an example of the deployment of an enterprise L2. Today’s L2 technology allows a company to choose how much control it wants to retain or give to users, Buterin explains in an X post. Buterin tried to clarify whether L2 actions reflected on Ethereum and whether censorship was the problem of the entire ecosystem.
The @Soneium situation is a good live demonstration of how launching an ethereum L2 is great for businesses *and* users.
Companies can make very fine-grained choices about how much control they retain versus give to users.
But whatever rules they choose, those are the rules.… https://t.co/jmaCRDsyF0
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 15, 2025
Soneium joined the long list of more than 127 L2 chains, each with a distinct culture and use case. The token censorship actions are a precedent not seen in other chains, despite the launch of tokens that infringe on IP rights.
Buterin’s statement broke his own rule of not naming L2 chains in 2025 if they are not at least in phase 1 of decentralization. Soneium is still a Stage 0 project, part of the Optimism superchain. The new chain is going through the changes necessary to move to phase 2 with fully decentralized security. As of January 2025, only Arbitrum and Optimism are Phase 1 chains, as Buterin has mentioned in previous statements.
Buterin’s post arrives a day after Soneium announced its intention to freeze tokens that violate intellectual property rights. Soneium freezes the tokens via its centralized sequencer, preventing the transaction from going through.
Even if the corporate chain decides to audit tokens, the actions remain transparent and can be analyzed by L2 data platforms. Buterin believes that some form of flow control is possible, as long as users are aware of the limitations in the chain. In the case of corporate chains, completely censorship-free movement of funds and assets can become akin to using web apps with terms and conditions.
The team at Soneium creates rules for creating meme tokens
Following the incident where two tokens were frozen, Soneium announced its approach to IP infringement in a blogging. The L2 team will not freeze the tokens immediately, but will be given a 12-hour grace period to notify the team and the community. Until then, the meme items will be added to a suspicious token list of seven addresses.
Developers can appeal the blacklisting and can reuse their smart contract after complying with the rules. The appeals are sent to a Soneium committee consisting of core members.
Some of the new tokens launching on DYOR DEX consciously choose SONY brands. Among the frozen tokens is WALKMANwhich halted all transactions on January 14th. Other memes launched by early adopters include PlayStation 1, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 2, KURO, Crash Bandicoot, and AstroBot.
While Soneium mainly protects SONY’s IP, for some the list is a bullish argument for protecting other meme builders and NFT makers. Copycat tokens and NFT have been a problem in the crypto space for a long time. Authentication systems help users identify authentic assets without removing or censoring fake assets.
Soneium goes live – starts building value
The Soneium mainnet is live with mass access and is now starting to generate more value and activity. After launch, the team reiterated its commitment to protecting the rights of creators, meaning it would restrict meme tokens from using names and images.
Soneium has also joined the blob economy so far, paying a limited rent to Ethereum. The first day of the chain totaled less than $500 in fees, although the L2 switched between blobs and call data at one point.
Soneium typically uses blobs, but users can send transactions via call data to bypass censorship. | Source: L2Beat
One of the reasons for using call data is attempts to circumvent token censorship. Soneium is an optimistic roll-up, meaning users can pay extra and force their transactions on Ethereum, bypassing censorship entirely. However, the solution requires more detailed technical knowledge of the Ethereum ecosystem and may not be suitable for all users.
The availability of pushing transactions directly to Ethereum also means that the tokens themselves are not frozen or censored, but Soneium refuses to process the transaction on L2. As Buterin suggested, the process is difficult but transparent.
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