Sophon announced it is sunsetting its ZK-powered Layer 2 network built on ZKsync's Elastic Network and will be migrating to Base to focus on consumer applications. The transition marks a pivot from infrastructure to the application layer. Sophon noted that L2 network token models are structurally weak because gas token value accrual depends almost entirely on blockchain transaction growth. Deposits to the Sophon chain will be blocked on June 25, though the chain will remain online until at least the end of 2026 to allow users to withdraw their assets via a unified portal.

As part of the shutdown, the SOPH token will no longer serve as a gas fee and staking token. Staking will be discontinued. Unstaked tokens can be claimed on the Ethereum mainnet. Sophon will introduce a buyback and burn program funded by product revenues from its upcoming daily payments app, Pyre. Sophon said it will save on millions in yeary costs it was incurring to run its chain.

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