TL;DR:
- Sophon announces the permanent closure of its Layer 2 network after evaluating that maintaining the infrastructure did not generate differentiated value for users.
- The tech firm will migrate its operations to the Base network, citing this platform’s leadership in mass adoption and the agentic economy.
- The SOPH token will modify its economic model, eliminating gas and governance functions to implement a permanent buyback-and-burn program.
The tech studio Sophon announced the cessation of operations of its Layer 2 network based on zero-knowledge (ZK) technology. From now on, they will direct their efforts toward developing consumer applications on the Base network. As of Thursday, June 25th, deposits to the old chain have been suspended.
— Sophon (@Sophon) June 25, 2026
This decision was made after 9 months of operations, a period during which the team concluded that the real value for the market is found at the application layer rather than the infrastructure layer.
The company, which raised $60 million to fund its platform, is now adopting the identity of Soph(+). The company’s official announcement indicates that operating its own chain represented millions of dollars in annual costs that did not translate into exclusive benefits for users. The pivot aims to channel treasury resources directly into product design and distribution strategies.
Migration to Base and the launch of Pyre
The selection of Base as the new operational foundation responds to consolidation projections in the Layer 2 network sector. The strategic analysis presented by Sophon reveals that the blockchain environment will experience a process similar to that of operating systems or social networks, where only a few platforms will maintain long-term dominance. Integration with Base’s x402 standard is cited as a decisive factor for the firm’s plans in the automated agent economy.
The first product derived from this restructuring is Pyre, a daily payments application focused on sending, saving, and spending capital. The platform introduces the concept of “entertainment finance” through dynamics where every transaction opens a record that users can settle or play within the interface. Although the release date has not been set by the team, technical development remains in an advanced stage.
The Sophon ecosystem will keep the infrastructure of its old Layer 2 network active until at least the end of December 2026 to ensure an orderly transition of existing assets.
The change in architectural model directly impacts the design of the organization’s native token. Staking utilities and the use of SOPH to pay gas fees on their own chain will be progressively eliminated. In its place, the new economic system will use revenue generated by commercial applications to fund a token buyback program on the open market. The units acquired under this mechanism will be permanently destroyed with the goal of reducing the circulating supply as the products scale their usage volume.
