Sonic’s Quiet Disruption of Web3: Incentivizing Builders, Not Validators

In Brief

Sonic is transforming the Web3 economic model by redistributing 90% of fees to developers, offering native account abstraction, and dynamic fee structures.

At Hack Seasons in Cannes, Ash V. Khatibi, the Marketing Lead at Sonic, offered a glimpse into how the L1 challenger is flipping the Web3 economic model on its head. With a focus on giving 90% of fees back to developers, native account abstraction, and dynamic fee structures, Sonic is positioning itself as an L1 purpose-built to empower builders, not extract value from them.

Rethinking Incentives at the Base Layer

Over the past two years, many developers launched apps on Ethereum, only to find the costs too high and the user base too thin. The result? A wave of AppChains, custom Layer 2 networks that allowed builders to capture fees and bypass Ethereum’s economics.

“Sonic is doing the same thing,” Khatibi explained, “but on an L1. Instead of pushing 100% of fees to validators, we give 90% back to the builders who actually drive user activity.”

This approach, he believes, fundamentally challenges the AppChain model: “They’re centralized, and they hoard fees. We’re showing it’s possible to build a profitable, decentralized ecosystem where devs are the ones rewarded.”

Dynamic Fees as A New Layer of Control for Developers

Sonic also supports dynamic fees, a feature made possible by EIP-7702. It gives developers fine-tuned control over how they monetize their apps.

“If the base network fee is $1, and the app developer adds a $2 dynamic fee, that’s $3 total—but 90% of that comes back to them,” said Khatibi. “Other networks make you impose a separate fee that just goes to validators. On Sonic, you get to actually own your economics.”

This unlocks a new wave of user experience designs and business models, from personalized fee structures to sustainable free-to-use apps with built-in monetization.

Account Abstraction Is Here, But Builders Must Use It

Sonic is also preparing for native account abstraction, a core UX unlock for mainstream adoption. But Khatibi was clear: the limiting factor isn’t technology.

“The tech is already here. The problem is that developers are not building for the average user,” he said. “Everything is optimized to extract value, not deliver value.”

He argued that blockchain’s infrastructure is mature enough to support seamless, Web2-like user flows, but the mindset of the builders needs to shift. “The experiences where users don’t even know they’re onchain? Totally doable. But right now, that’s not where the money is.”

DeFi Primitives, Summit Announcements, and More

On Sonic’s near-term roadmap, Khatibi hinted at continued expansion into DeFi. “We’re integrating with primitives and central limit order books, and building toward a deeper liquidity ecosystem,” he shared.

The next major milestone? Sonic’s Summit in Singapore this September, where the team is expected to drop some “big news” about what’s next for the platform.

From tokenomics to UX infrastructure, Sonic is quietly setting a new standard for what a Layer 1 blockchain can offer developers. “We don’t want to fill our own pockets, we want to fill the developers’. That’s the difference,” Khatibi said. And if the industry is paying attention, the current generation of AppChains may soon have to rethink their models.