SOON Network

SOON Network (Solana Optimistic Network) is a modular blockchain infrastructure project built around the Solana Virtual Machine. Its core thesis is that the SVM — Solana's high-performance execution environment — can be separated from Solana's native consensus and redeployed as a rollup layer on top of other settlement chains. The project brands this approach its "Super Adoption Stack," a three-part system consisting of SOON Mainnet, SOON Stack, and InterSOON.

How It Works

SOON's technical foundation rests on three innovations it calls Decoupled SVM, Merklization, and Horizontal Scaling.

Decoupled SVM separates the SVM execution engine from consensus and settlement. Transactions execute inside the SVM environment off-chain, while state roots are posted to a Layer 1 for finality. This allows SOON chains to inherit Solana's parallel execution model — with claimed throughput of over 30,000 transactions per second and 50-millisecond block times — without being bound to Solana's own validator set or fee market.

Merklization adapts Solana's account structure for rollup compatibility. SOON implements Merkle Patricia Tries over Solana's account layout, updating state roots every 450 slots. This makes on-chain fraud proofs possible and allows Ethereum-native verification of SVM state transitions. As of September 2025, SOON became the first SVM rollup to run ZK fraud proofs on a live testnet, using what the team calls the SOON-Kailua architecture.

Horizontal Scaling distributes workload across multiple execution nodes, enabling capacity to grow by adding nodes rather than increasing per-node requirements.

Product Suite

SOON Mainnet is a general-purpose Ethereum Layer 2 powered by the Decoupled SVM. It uses EigenDA for data availability and settles state to Ethereum. Since the mainnet expanded in mid-2025, it also supports settlement on BNB Chain and Base.

SOON Stack is a permissioned framework for teams that want to launch their own SVM-based Layer 2 chains on any underlying L1. The Stack handles sequencing, proving, and data availability integration, with deployment support from Caldera and AltLayer. As of mid-2025, five Stack chains were operational: Lucent Network, svmBNB, Cytonic SVM, CARV SVM, and SOON ETH Mainnet.

InterSOON is a cross-chain messaging layer that connects SOON Mainnet, Stack-deployed chains, and external L1 networks. It is built on Hyperlane's messaging infrastructure and enables native asset transfers and contract calls across the SOON ecosystem.

Team and Funding

The project was founded in June 2024. CEO Joanna Zeng previously worked at Coinbase and Optimism; CTO Yang Zhou has a background in Golang and Rust systems development. The advisory roster includes prominent figures from the Solana and modular blockchain ecosystems: Lily Liu (Solana Foundation President), Anatoly Yakovenko (Solana co-founder), Mustafa Al-Bassam (Celestia co-founder), and Prabal Banerjee (Avail co-founder).

SOON has raised approximately $27 million across multiple rounds. An initial cobuilder round in August 2024 brought in participation from Yakovenko, Liu, Al-Bassam, Robinson Burkey (Wormhole Foundation co-founder), and Coinbase Ventures principal Jonathan King. In January 2025, ahead of mainnet launch, SOON raised $22 million via a "COMMing SOON" NFT collection sale, with institutional backing from Hack VC, ABCDE, Hypersphere, and SNZ Capital.

The Alpha Mainnet launched on January 3, 2025 — approximately six months after the project initiated. The SOON Mainnet transitioned to full launch and the SOON Token Generation Event (TGE) completed on May 23, 2025.

The SOON Token

The SOON token has a fixed initial supply of 1 billion tokens and a 3% annual inflation rate to fund staking rewards and ecosystem growth. Token distribution at launch was: Community 51%, Ecosystem 25%, Team and Co-builders 10%, Foundation/Treasury 6%, and Airdrop and Liquidity 8%. The SOON Foundation subsequently burned 30 million tokens under a governance proposal called SIP-1.

The token serves four functions: governance voting on protocol upgrades and treasury decisions, native fee currency across SOON Mainnet and Stack chains, validator staking (validators earn a share of the 3% annual issuance), and builder incentives distributed through ecosystem grants.

Ecosystem

The SOON ecosystem spans DeFi, gaming, AI, DePIN, and consumer applications. DeFi protocols on SOON include Portal Finance and Solar DEX. Gaming projects include SurviveSOON, Send Arcade, Ponchiqs, and Dobak. Bridge integrations include Comet, Gas.zip, Hyperlane, Layerswap, MemeBridge, and ChainEye. Supported wallets include OKX Wallet, Bitget Wallet, TokenPocket, and Nightly. Infrastructure partners include EigenLayer, SubSquid, Kaito, AIDomains, and Lit Protocol.

On the consumer side, SOON launched Simpfor.fun, a copy-trading application released as a Telegram mini app in August 2025. Simpfor.fun subsequently added a Privy wallet integration, cross-chain deposit support, and a risk management system. In November 2025, SOON announced a partnership with artist and founder Haleek to develop on-chain creator economy applications on the network.

Long-term staking for the SOON token, including options with up to 2x APY multipliers for extended lock periods, launched in September 2025 alongside the ZK fraud proof testnet milestone.