Sony’s Soneium blockchain blacklists memecoins on launch

Japanese tech behemoth Sony launched its Soneium blockchain yesterday, but some unexpected choices led to criticism by crypto users.

Soneium is an Ethereum (ETH) layer-two network developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs, it is meant to provide cheaper and faster transactions to Ethereum users with a focus on gaming, finance and entertainment apps. The network launched with some memecoins blacklisted over alleged intellectual property rights infringement.

Aibo is among the tokens affected by the blacklisting, with its current market cap of about $110,000 after crashing from a high of $2.7 million reported earlier today, according to DexScreener data. Named after a series of robotic dogs made by Sony, it presumably ended on Soneium’s blacklist for infringing on its parent company’s intellectual property.

The token’s developers wrote in an X post that they “believed our tribute coin was within guidelines, but recognized copyright concerns.” The post continues:

“We’re now working closely with Soneium to resolve the issue swiftly. In the meantime; remove any infringing assets and introduce a new logo. Thank you for your understanding.”

Soneium wrote in an X post of its own that it “is committed to protecting creators’ IPs and rights onchain while maintaining the spirit of decentralization.” The announcement continues:

“Our documentation outlines how we safeguard IP rights and combat malicious activities – all while keeping web3’s core values of openness and innovation intact.”

The pseudonymous founder of memecoin creation platform pump.fun Alon heavily criticized the decision. They raised concerns about the centralization implied by a company being able to take such a measure:

“Sony’s new Ethereum L2 is actively blacklisting memecoins they don’t like, instantly nuking everyone’s position to 0. What makes you think that other centralized L2s won’t do the same if push comes to shove? Don’t take your freedoms for granted.”

Time selling platform Time.fun founder Kwaz similarly raised concern that Soneium developers effectively “rugged” users of over $100,000 worth of digital assets. They wrote:

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Want to be a permissioned chain? Fine. Instead of whitelisting developers, they chose to instead freeze contracts (effectively rugging users). Amazing launch!”

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