Sony’s Soneium blockchain faces backlash over alleged blacklisting of memecoins on launch day

The launch of Sony’s Layer 2 blockchain, Soneium, has sparked controversy due to its alleged action of blacklisting a few memecoins for infringing on intellectual property rights.This action, reported to have occurred on the network's launch day, apparently resulted in some tokens being restricted, making them untradable and unsupported on the official block explorer.This has caused frustration among some users, as expressed in several posts on X, showing their sudden inability to trade or access these memecoins on the Soneium network.The blacklisting specifically targets tokens that mimic or use branding which Sony or Soneium deems protected. As a result, the trading of these memecoins has been reportedly halted. Users attempting to access these tokens receive a forbidden alert on Soneium's official block explorer.A Soneium representative did not immediately respond to The Block’s request for comment.The situation escalated with remarks from the pseudonymous founder of pump.fun, Alon, who criticized the platform for “actively blacklisting memecoins they don’t like, instantly nuking everyone’s position to 0.”Furthermore, the founder of Time.fun, who goes by Kawz, claimed that the blacklisting had affected users’ funds, accusing the platform of freezing contracts. “Soneium rugged users >$100k in ETH on launch day. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Kawz remarked. He added that so far, two tokens have been frozen.Others raised questions about the level of control that should be held by blockchain developers and the balance between protecting intellectual property and maintaining a permissionless network.One such project is a newly launched memecoin named “Aibo,” which is named after a series of robotic dogs made by Sony and valued at around $700,000, according to DexScreener.Its developers say they are working with Soneium to resolve the issue swiftly and may introduce a new logo.Sony Block Solutions Labs, the Singapore-based blockchain subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate, launched Soneium earlier today.In its announcement, the Soneium developers emphasized enforcing intellectual property rights for creators and fans.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.