How will TikTok's impending ban in the U.S. affect Sonic SVM's initiative to bring TikTok traffic into Web3?
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How will TikTok's impending ban in the U.S. affect Sonic SVM's initiative to bring TikTok traffic into Web3?
During the "Web3 Gaming TGE" week, Sonic SVM (SONIC) stood out remarkably, quickly becoming the 9th most valuable L2 token upon launch.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Zen, PANews
In the Web3 world, traffic sources often determine a project’s success. As a Layer-2 scaling solution for Solana, Sonic SVM has set its sights on the short-video platform TikTok. By launching the tap-to-earn game SonicX, it has successfully attracted over two million players.
During the recent "Web3 Game TGE" week, Sonic SVM (SONIC) stood out with an impressive performance—no fraud allegations, no continuous price drops. After launching its SONIC token on January 7, it reached a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $1.94 billion the next day, ranking as the 9th most valuable L2 token and the only Solana-based L2 among the top 10. As of January 16, the SONIC price was around $0.72, remaining relatively stable since launch, seemingly unaffected by the looming U.S. ban on TikTok.
Solana L2 Built for Mass Adoption of Blockchain Gaming
Sonic SVM was created by Mirror World Labs, with a founding team including CEO Chris Zhu, Chief Product Officer Alan Zhu, and CTO Jonathan Bakebwa. According to public information, Sonic SVM has raised a total of $16 million across seed and Series A funding rounds, with investors including BITKRAFT, Galaxy Interactive, Big Brain Holdings, Sky9 Capital, and OKX Ventures.
As a Solana-based Layer-2 (L2) scaling solution, Sonic SVM (SONIC) aims to enhance efficiency and interoperability for blockchain gaming platforms by providing dedicated blockspace and improved developer and user tools.
Sonic SVM believes that despite Solana’s strong performance advantages, it will still face significant challenges as more dApps emerge. Particularly during events involving numerous small games or a single large-scale game, thousands or even millions of on-chain interactions could severely impact the performance of Solana’s L1 mainnet—especially during server launches, holiday events, or limited-time promotions. These sudden spikes raise concerns not only about overall network performance but also about individual game playability and user experience, including response speed and data availability.
In March 2024, Sonic SVM officially entered the public eye by leveraging its innovative HyperGrid scaling mechanism to seamlessly integrate with Solana, delivering high-performance gaming experiences and efficient transaction aggregation. Its core features include atomic-level interoperability, the HyperGrid framework for deploying optimistic rollups on Solana, and the Rush ECS framework that simplifies the development of on-chain games and autonomous worlds. Sonic provides commercialization tools for gaming and applications covering payments, settlements, and user acquisition.
First Application: TikTok Tap-to-Earn Game SonicX
In the second and third quarters of 2024, Telegram-based tap-to-earn mini-games surged in popularity within the crypto gaming space. This trend began with Notcoin at the start of the year and peaked with Hamster Kombat, which claimed nearly 300 million player accounts before abruptly crashing after its September airdrop. Similarly, other mini-apps on Telegram attracting millions or tens of millions of users generally met the same fate.
Against this backdrop, Sonic SVM took a different path, targeting another major traffic source—TikTok—and launched the tap-to-earn game SonicX on the platform in October 2024. The game’s art style draws inspiration from the classic video game *Sonic the Hedgehog*. Similar to mini-programs on Telegram, TikTok allows users to open web pages directly within its native browser. Players can log in via social login and begin playing immediately, collecting in-game points.
SonicX expanded its player base by running TikTok ads targeting potential new users, achieving millions of views within a month, with a portion converting into active players. According to Sonic SVM, the game surpassed one million players within a month of launch and now has over two million users.
After seeing countless Telegram mini-games easily reach millions—or even tens of millions—of users, SonicX’s one to two million may seem unremarkable. However, since TikTok requires users to provide phone numbers and undergo identity verification for KYC, while Telegram imposes no such restrictions, SonicX users may be of relatively “higher quality.”
TikTok’s Uncertain Future in the U.S.
Sonic SVM’s vision for SonicX on TikTok goes beyond simply hosting a game—it aims to cultivate a Web3 gaming layer accessible and engaging for mainstream audiences. Sonic SVM offers infrastructure support to developers interested in launching games on TikTok, enabling them to leverage the Sonic Origin and Sonic Frontier networks and deploy games easily through provided guides.
With the SONIC token generation event settling smoothly, Sonic SVM believes TikTok has proven to be an effective user acquisition channel. It now hopes to open up its platform to third-party developers, funded through the SONIC token.
However, TikTok’s future in the U.S. remains uncertain. Recently, many American users have begun a so-called “cyber exodus,” migrating to Xiaohongshu (“Little Red Book”) for refuge. Last year, the U.S. Congress passed the *Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act*. Under this law, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance must divest its stake in TikTok by January 19, or face a nationwide ban. TikTok has repeatedly stated it will not sell its U.S. operations. According to The Information, TikTok plans to shut down its app for U.S. users on the “deadline day.”
TikTok has appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the ban violates the First Amendment rights of its 170 million U.S. users. On January 10, the Supreme Court heard TikTok’s emergency appeal, but justices appeared inclined to uphold the law and enforce the deadline. Unless ByteDance complies, once the ban takes effect, Apple, Google, and web hosting providers must block TikTok’s distribution in the U.S. Bloomberg recently cited sources saying Elon Musk could become the owner of TikTok. TikTok quickly responded, calling reports of a potential sale to Musk “pure fiction.”
President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to return to office, has expressed strong support for TikTok. He said he has great “affection” for the platform, which brought “billions of views” to his campaign, and vowed to “save” it. Last month, Trump urged the Supreme Court to delay its ruling until he returns to the White House on January 20. His legal team submitted a brief stating Trump “opposes banning TikTok” and “seeks the ability to resolve the current issue through political means upon taking office.” A week ago, Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew at Mar-a-Lago, and Chew has reportedly been invited to attend the presidential inauguration, seated in an “honored position.”
Currently, TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users globally, with over 10% from the United States. Based on geographic distribution patterns of previous popular tap-to-earn games, non-U.S. users are expected to form the vast majority of Sonic SVM’s ecosystem.
Additionally, according to Reuters, theoretically, U.S. users who have already downloaded TikTok could still use the app. However, because the law also prohibits U.S. companies from distributing, maintaining, or updating the app starting Sunday, TikTok will no longer be able to release software updates. Over time, bugs will accumulate and performance will degrade.
Sources say the purpose of shutting down services is to protect TikTok’s service providers from legal liability while making it easier for operations to resume if President-elect Donald Trump decides to revoke the ban.
In the face of TikTok’s uncertain future, Sonic SVM—the bridge between TikTok users and the Web3 world—is inevitably facing certain challenges. Yet judging by the recent stability of the SONIC token price, the project appears to have weathered this round of external turbulence.
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