Sophon Halts Layer 2, Pivots to Base, Cuts Burn by $3M

Sophon terminates its L2 chain to build on Base, saving $3M annually. SOPH token shifts from gas fees to revenue-backed buybacks and burns.

Woofun AI reports that Sophon has ceased operations of its Layer 2 network to focus on consumer application development on the Base chain. Co-founder Seb indicated that maintaining the independent blockchain incurred annual costs of approximately $3.4 million, with the shutdown projected to reduce cash burn by roughly $3 million per year.

The SOPH token utility is transitioning from a gas fee mechanism to direct value accrual via product revenue. Proceeds from applications including Pyre, XP, SophEarn, SophPlay, and SophAI will fund open-market repurchases and burns of SOPH. Sophon intends to launch multiple apps on Base, such as the DeFi game Pyre and yield vault SophEarn, next month.