The basics

Soneium is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allowing developers to port their Ethereum-based dapps effortlessly. Beyond scalability, Soneium prioritizes decentralization and user empowerment. The network is secured by a distributed set of validators and governed through a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), ensuring no single party holds control over its operations.

Mainnet and testnet

SettleMint supports the Soneium Mainnet and the Soneium Testnet.

The Mainnet serves as Soneium’s primary public blockchain, where real-value transactions occur, requiring the SON token for fees. The Testnet, on the other hand, is a sandbox environment for developers to test and experiment without financial risk, using valueless test tokens.

You can think of the Testnet as a sandbox for developers and the Mainnet as the official production network. This setup is similar to the concept of production versus staging servers in software development.

Consensus mechanism

Soneium employs a hybrid consensus model combining optimistic rollups with a coordinator node. Optimistic rollups assume transaction validity by default, processing them off-chain for efficiency, while enabling challenges if fraud is detected. The coordinator node batches transactions and submits them to the network, though it remains untrusted, any validator can dispute invalid batches.

This design ensures Soneium is scalable, secure, and decentralized. However, it may involve a withdrawal delay (typically seven days) and relies on a centralized coordinator for transaction ordering, a trade-off for its performance gains.

More information can be found on the official Soneium website.