On May 19, 2025, the Binance Alpha platform officially announced: On May 23, it will launch the SOON token ($SOON), and it is the first exchange to support this project. This is not only a significant step for Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) in the Layer2 track but also signifies that modular blockchain technology is entering a phase of real implementation. SOON is one of the hottest projects in 2025, raising over $22 million, adopting a design of 'decoupled SVM + OP Stack + configurable DA layer' aimed at solving Ethereum's performance bottlenecks and cross-chain interoperability issues. Its token mechanism is also noteworthy, with community-led distribution and a lot of optimism about its potential value capture ability.
1. Team Background: From Aleo to SVM, top-tier resources are fully utilized
SOON's core team can be described as a 'superstar lineup' in the blockchain circle.
CEO Joanna Zeng was previously the Vice President of the privacy chain Aleo, where she led the implementation of zero-knowledge proof technology, and has also worked at Coinbase and OP Labs, making her very familiar with Layer2 architecture.
CMO Ruki Hu from Hong Kong's top investment bank JDI Global, has invested in SVM ecosystem projects such as Sonic SVM, and is from Peking University HSBC Business School, with a strong grasp of market strategy.
Technical lead Andrew Z is a Rust expert who has participated in the development of Solana's core client and is experienced in SVM optimization.
The advisory lineup is also impressive: Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko and Mustafa Al-Bassam from Celestia are both involved. This 'technology + capital + ecosystem' triad configuration enables SOON to break through in the Rollup track.
2. Financing history: Community fundraising paradigm innovation, building a moat with $22 million
SOON has taken a very different approach to financing, not relying on traditional venture capital, but instead implementing a new method of 'NFT sales + community co-construction'.
In January 2025, they raised $22 million through layered NFTs. The entire design is quite clever: 51% of the tokens are fairly distributed through three different tiers of NFTs. The $900 tier NFT has a 3-month linear unlock, suitable for those seeking short-term liquidity; the $2,850 version locks for a year, mainly targeting long-term holders; while the $22,500 high-threshold NFT locks for 36 months, directly attracting strategic players willing to participate deeply in ecosystem construction.
This way, it not only avoids the selling pressure on the secondary market from VCs but also cleverly distinguishes different risk preferences based on holding periods.
The investment lineup also reflects the project's industry recognition - top institutions like Hack VC and ABCDE Capital are leading the investment, and strategic support from Solana Ecosystem Fund and Celestia Labs is also in place, even traditional capital like IDG and PAKA are rarely making moves. The use of funds is also quite clear: 40% for developing the mainnet and cross-chain protocol, 30% to incentivize the developer ecosystem, and the remaining 30% as reserves, mainly to cope with market fluctuations and conduct security audits.
3. Technical architecture: Decomposing SVM, reshaping performance boundaries, and establishing new standards through modular design
SOON's technological innovations mainly revolve around three core parts:
1. SOON mainnet: The first SVM Rollup execution layer on Ethereum
SOON has extracted the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) from its original consensus mechanism and run it on Ethereum, achieving 50 milliseconds block time and 30,000 TPS performance, over five times higher than Optimism's OP Rollups. Key technological points include:
Merklization optimization: Using Merkle roots to compress state verification data, cross-chain verification efficiency has improved by 80%;
Horizontal scaling architecture: Distributed nodes process transactions in parallel, combined with data availability solutions like EigenDA, can scale up to 650,000 TPS;
Native cross-chain settlement: Using Ethereum as the final settlement layer, while being compatible with modular DA like Celestia and Avail, with gas costs only one-tenth of Arbitrum.
2. SOON Stack: Multi-chain Rollup rapid deployment framework
Developers can use the SOON Stack to deploy customized SVM Layer2 onto chains like BNB Chain and Ton with one click. Testnet data shows that the svmBNB chain built on this framework can achieve 15,000 TPS and supports high-performance applications like AI automated trading and real-time game engines. This 'Lego-style' architecture makes SOON the first universal Rollup solution to span both EVM and non-EVM.
3. InterSOON protocol: A cross-chain communication layer without intermediaries
This is an improved messaging mechanism based on the Hyperlane protocol, supporting direct interaction of assets and smart contracts across multiple chains, completely bypassing the custodial risks of cross-chain bridges. In tests on Solana and Ethereum, the cross-chain transfer of USDC was reduced from an average of 8 minutes to 22 seconds, saving 95% on transaction fees.
Assessment of investment value of SOON tokens: Unlocking selling pressure + valuation bubble, significant risks
Although SOON has attracted considerable attention through technological innovation and community distribution mechanisms, its investment risk is quite high, especially due to the unreasonable rhythm of token unlocking and valuation models. Let's discuss the potential pitfalls of this project from several aspects.
1. The token unlocking mechanism hides significant selling pressure risk
According to the distribution plan published by SOON, 51% of the tokens are distributed to the community (including NFT pre-sales), the team and co-builders hold 10%, and the foundation and ecological incentives account for 31%. Although the project emphasizes 'linear unlocking', this rhythm can easily trigger a sell-off:
Short-term arbitrage motivation for NFT players: Among the 510 million tokens issued by the community, the first tier (NFT worth $900) can be exchanged for 3,200 SOON tokens, locked for only 3 months. These individuals' costs are between $0.28 and $0.31, and if the price rises above $0.5 during the early launch, they are likely to choose to cash out. Based on previous experiences, the sell-off rate for retail investors can reach 65%-80% within 30 days post-unlocking, potentially increasing circulation by over 50%.
Impact of delayed unlocking for teams and institutions: The 100 million tokens held by the project team have a 12-month lock-up period, but referring to data from similar projects, once the lock-up ends, the team typically sells over 40% of their holdings. Based on the current FDV, this could lead to a potential sell-off of up to $400 million. Furthermore, institutions like Hack VC and ABCDE Capital that have acquired OTC shares may likely sell them early in the OTC market, which will also indirectly increase market supply.
Risk of token dumping from ecological incentives: 25% of the ecological fund (about 250 million tokens) is 'released on demand', but to attract developers, the project party generally over-issues rewards. Referring to data from projects like Optimism, the actual release speed of ecological incentive tokens is usually 2-3 times the planned rate, meaning an additional 50 million SOON tokens might be released each year.
2. Obvious valuation bubble: FDV/TVL seriously deviates from the industry average level
According to data before SOON's launch, it will issue a total of 1 billion tokens, and just based on the minimum tier of NFT pre-sales, the FDV already stands at $90 million. If we assume the mainnet's TVL is $5 million, then its FDV/TVL ratio reaches as high as 18.7. What does this mean? It is far higher than mature Layer2 projects like Optimism (2.3) and Arbitrum (1.8). Even compared to Sonic SVM in the SVM ecosystem (FDV $22 million, TVL $11 million), SOON's valuation is still too high, not to mention it hasn't established a significant moat yet.
It is also important to note that market sentiment has already inflated technical expectations. Although SOON claims its mainnet TPS is 30,000, which appears faster than most Rollups, the underlying Celestia DA it uses has not undergone real large-scale testing, and actual performance may only reach 70% or even lower. If issues arise post-launch, such as downtime or security incidents, the current high valuation could easily collapse.
3. Deteriorating competitive environment: The window of technological advantage is shortening
SOON initially touted its selling point as 'decoupling SVM + modular architecture', but this narrative has now caught the attention of competitors. Eclipse is a typical example - it just secured $50 million in funding led by Polychain and plans to launch its own SVM universal Rollup on Solana. Not only is the technical compatibility stronger, but the ecological resources are also richer, giving it a clear competitive edge over SOON.
Moreover, the cost of Celestia's own DA layer is 60% lower than that of SOON, making SOON's so-called modular advantages appear less attractive.
From the perspective of ecological enthusiasm, SOON's testnet isn't particularly successful, with only over 80 DApps willing to migrate, whereas projects like Arbitrum and zkSync had already attracted over 3,000 developers at the same stage. If this trend continues, SOON is likely to become a 'technical laboratory' rather than a truly operational public chain ecosystem.
4. Investment advice: High volatility phase, pay attention to risk control
In summary, the SOON token will experience a concentrated risk explosion window between May and August 2025:
Short term (1-3 months): Riding on the heat and liquidity premium brought by the launch of Binance Alpha, the price of SOON may surge to $0.4-$0.5. However, around the time of the first NFT unlock (August), market sentiment may shift to panic, leading to a sell-off, with price support likely falling around $0.22.
Medium term (6-12 months): In Q1 2026, the tokens held by the team and institutions will begin to unlock, which may lead to a second wave of selling pressure. If by then the TVL has not surpassed $200 million, the FDV/TVL ratio is likely to converge towards the industry average, and the token price will probably be halved, falling between $0.1 and $0.15.
Long term (more than 1 year): Competition in the modular track is becoming increasingly fierce. If SOON cannot achieve significant breakthroughs in cross-chain interoperability, its tokens may ultimately only serve as 'governance tools', completely losing the ability to capture value.
For investors who do not like high risk, it is advisable to wait and observe the data performance in the first three months after the mainnet launch, such as TVL size, cross-chain asset growth, developer activity, etc. It would be more prudent to consider entering after these fundamentals stabilize.
Conclusion: Don't be blinded by the narrative of innovation
Although SOON's modular vision aligns with the industry's development direction, the current token model combined with a fierce competitive environment leaves little safety net for investors. Once the technology bubble bursts, the combined impact of token unlocking and high valuation could lead to a 'double whammy'.
As the Layer2 war enters the decisive stage of 'application landing', investors should focus more on the genuine value creation of the ecosystem rather than the internal competition of technical parameters.