The Next Wave of Sonic Gems
The Sonic Boom program has officially concluded, and we are grateful to all the projects that dedicated their time and effort to apply. With over 1,000 applications submitted, the program was an extreme success and demonstrated the creativity within our community.
Sonic Boom was designed to allocate a portion of the total Sonic Gems to 30 outstanding projects across strategic categories. The program targeted diverse and high-impact categories, aiming to spotlight and reward apps with the potential to drive significant user adoption from day one.
This initial boost in Sonic Gems helps these selected projects attract users, incentivize participation, and create a strong foundation for long-term growth within the Sonic platform, setting them up for success as they scale and expand their user base.
What Are Sonic Gems?
Sonic Gems are developer points in the ~200 million S airdrop that projects can distribute to users as rewards for using their apps. This approach helps projects bootstrap and sustain user activity by encouraging continued use and interaction.
For projects that didn’t make the final 30 or were placed in a lower tier than expected — don’t be discouraged! The majority of Gems are still available on the Sonic mainnet. After our mainnet launch, the remaining Gems will be allocated to apps based on three key factors:
- Category (e.g. DeFi, RWA, gaming, etc.)
- Engagement (e.g. native exclusivity)
- Effective distribution of rewards to users
This distribution formula is designed to reward apps that contribute positively to the Sonic ecosystem, ensuring fair resource allocation and promoting sustainable growth across the network. Almost any app can qualify to receive Gems as long as it has a model to generate points for users and integrates with our points API powered by OpenBlock Labs.
This inclusive approach ensures that all developers — from emerging native protocols to established projects — have an equal opportunity to receive Gems to give to their users. By contributing to the ecosystem, apps can bootstrap user activity, sustain long-term growth, and unlock their full potential. The more users engage and accumulate points within an app, the greater its chance to receive Sonic Gems.
What’s Next?
A detailed breakdown of Sonic Gems will be added to our documentation as we approach the mainnet launch.
We encourage you to continue innovating and building within the Sonic ecosystem. There are many opportunities ahead to receive Gems, and we look forward to supporting your growth on the network. We can’t wait to see what you build next!
