Japanese electronics company Sony is developing its own blockchain, Soneium, in collaboration with Singapore-based web3 infrastructure provider Startale. The company announced the development on August 23, stating that the Soneium testnet will go live in the coming days. This testnet will allow developers to experiment and build applications, paving the way for a future public release.

Sony has positioned the new blockchain as a public network aimed at making web3 technology accessible and mainstream. The company criticized the centralization of the current internet, where information and economic power are concentrated in the hands of a few entities. Sony believes Soneium can help decentralize the internet while addressing two significant challenges facing web3: limited adoption and a lack of meaningful use cases.

According to Startale CEO Sota Watanabe, Soneium’s first year will focus on onboarding core web3 users, as the technology and community are not yet ready for general users. In the second year, the plan is to integrate several Sony products onto the platform, including Sony Music, Sony Pictures, and Sony Bank. By the third year, the team will allow other enterprises and general decentralized applications to build on Soneium.

The Soneium testnet will utilize optimistic rollup technology built with the Optimism OP Stack. It will also integrate Startale’s Astar zero-knowledge Ethereum virtual machine to provide liquidity and support both fungible and non-fungible tokens.

Sony claims that its new blockchain infrastructure will help protect content rights and develop new profit-sharing models for creators.

The electronics manufacturer stated in the press release that it plans to explore how it can integrate Soneium with its other businesses to create a range of decentralized apps and services for new and existing web3 users. Sony’s goal for its new blockchain project is to achieve “internet-level scalability,” making it more adaptable for everyday users.

Earlier this year, Sony announced a partnership with Siemens to create industrial applications for the metaverse. The first product of this collaboration was a mixed reality headset designed specifically for web3 designers and engineers. Additionally, Sony recently acquired Japanese crypto exchange Amber, which has since been rebranded to S.BLOX. The company operates the WhaleFin exchange, also led by Startale CEO Watanabe.

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