Soneium, the Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain developed by Sony (NYSE: SONY), has finally launched its mainnet, revealing a controversial decision. The blockchain is reportedly censoring and “actively blacklisting” specific tokens such as memecoins and other alleged intellectual property (IP) violations.
Since its first announcement in August 2024, Soneium is one of the most expected developments in the Ethereum ecosystem. This is because the Layer-2 blockchain belongs to Sony, a 78-year-old Japanese technology giant, with a strong market share worldwide.
Until now, Sony’s blockchain had being running in a testnet, without any noticeable restrictions, thriving backed by a reputable brand. However, the mainnet launch, announced on January 13’s night (EST), officially introduced Soneium to the world under significant controversy.
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Sony blockchain Soneium’s controversy: Blacklisting memecoins
The blockchain analyst who goes by alon on 𝕏 was one of the first to comment on the matter. According to him, “Sony’s new Ethereum L2 is actively blacklisting memecoins they don’t like, instantly nuking everyone’s position to 0.”
He then expanded his concerns, questioning whether other “centralized L2s won’t do the same,” threatening users’ freedom to transact. Censorship-resistance and safety to hold any digital asset each user wants is one of crypto’s main appeal, now at risk.
Nevertheless, not all crypto investors share alon’s concerns. For example, the self-proclaimed product KOL under the pseudonym chainyoda called Soneium’s censorship “a feature, not a bug.” As he said, “Appchains (…) should be able to choose their compliance/risk parameters.”
This position was also challenged by prominent blockchain developers like Robert Sasu, who quoted alon’s post and chainyoda’s response.
“This is not a feature,” Sasu posted on X this morning. “Centralisation was never a feature of public decentralised ledger. This world was and should always be about total freedom and total permissionless nature of it. (…) The blockchain world started as a fight against censorship and we should not invite censorship back into the game.”
Another cryptocurrency user to comment on that topic was Pop Punk, who shared a video trying to access a random ERC-20 token on Soneium’s mainnet block explorer. In the video, we can see a “Forbidden” access to the memecoin, while the Wrapped Ethereum (WETH) tokens opens as expected.
Sony really said fuck you memecoins…
— Pop Punk (@PopPunkOnChain) January 14, 2025
ERC20 tokens straight up aren't accessible on the block explorer… but WETH is. pic.twitter.com/LLUvedg4Lg
Finbold checked the blacklisting, getting the same error when trying to access memecoins in the recently launched mainnet. The testnet block explorer, however, does not censor any transactions, and opens all tokens flawlessly.
Sony concerns with intellectual property and contracts restrictions
Indeed, Sony disclosed the reasoning to contracts restrictions, relating them to protecting intellectual property rights, mitigating risks to users, and building a healthy ecosystem through arbitrary and centralized decisions.
“At Soneium, we are committed to fostering a secure and respectful ecosystem for all stakeholders, while safeguarding intellectual property rights and protecting users from malicious activities.”
– Sony
Notably, Sony decisions regarding its Layer-2 blockchain could set a new standard for further developments in the industry. Yet, these standards bring the centralized and permissioned nature of older systems, which crypto was created to fix.
The question here is, why would Sony need to develop a blockchain that thrives in being permissionless, if the company plans to do the opposite of that. Sony and other centralized databases could already achieve what Soneium is supposedly offering today, years before the blockchain was even invented.
As things develop, crypto users and investors, as well with other industry participants, will have to answer this question and make their decisions accordingly.
Featured image from Shutterstock
