Sonic Labs, the research and development firm behind the Sonic blockchain, announced a leadership overhaul following a prolonged decline in token price, network activity, and investor confidence. Longtime board members Andre Cronje, Michael Kong, and David Richardson resigned, with Matt Visser appointed as chief executive officer and Kosta Kourkoumelis as chief operating officer. The S token traded near $0.028 after the announcement, down approximately 10% over 24 hours and roughly 97% below its January 2025 high of $1.03, leaving Sonic with a market capitalization near $107 million. The changes follow a steep deterioration in network metrics, with total value locked across Sonic's DeFi protocols standing near $26 million, far below the peak of more than $1.1 billion reached in May 2025. The leadership reset marks the second such change in less than a year for the Layer 1 network formerly known as Fantom, as the company seeks to stabilize governance and restore liquidity amid intense competition from Ethereum scaling networks, Solana, and other high-throughput chains.
S Token Declines 97% as Sonic Labs TVL Collapses
The market reaction to the leadership announcement was negative. The S token traded near $0.028, down about 10% over 24 hours. The token is now roughly 97% below its January 2025 high of $1.03, leaving Sonic with a market capitalization near $107 million.
Total value locked across Sonic's DeFi protocols stood near $26 million, far below the peak of more than $1.1 billion reached in May 2025. The company said it would not characterize the changes as a recovery, noting that both the token and community sentiment remain down.
Sonic Labs said the departing board members "remain invested in Sonic's success" but will no longer make business decisions for the organization. Kong previously served as CEO of the Fantom Foundation and as a Sonic Labs director. Richardson was executive chairman, while Cronje served as chief technology officer.
Visser framed his early priorities around operational discipline and rebuilding trust rather than promising an immediate roadmap reveal or quick recovery.
Andre Cronje Clarifies Technical Role and Exits Board
Cronje's departure is notable due to his long association with the project's technical direction and with DeFi more broadly. In a separate statement, he said he led Sonic's technical work, including the design of the Sonic Gateway, but pushed back on the idea that he controlled several disputed business and token decisions.
He said he did not design or execute the migration from FTM to S or the Sonic airdrop, was not the "decision owner" for the token's emissions and incentive structure, and did not support winding down the legacy Opera network. He also said he was "not a founder of the company or original token project," describing his earlier use of the co-founder label as a reference to his technical role.
Cronje said his focus is now Flying Tulip, his DeFi exchange. The project raised $200 million at a $1 billion fully diluted valuation in August 2025 and later added a private token round. He said Flying Tulip has reached about $70 million in TVL across 3 deployments.
Sonic Labs Implements Second Leadership Reset in One Year
This is Sonic's second leadership change in less than a year. The company appointed Mitchell Demeter as CEO in September 2025 to lead a U.S. expansion strategy, including a $150 million proposal to enter U.S. capital markets. Demeter and business head Evan Owens resigned in February 2026, after which the board directly handled operations.
Sonic Labs said it is creating a risk and compliance committee and committing to more transparent governance. The company also said engineering work continued during the leadership transition. It cited 400 pull requests merged in 2026, 2 releases shipped, a 2.2.0 release in development with 6 release candidates, and a private testnet currently under testing.
FAQ
Why did Andre Cronje, Michael Kong, and David Richardson resign from Sonic Labs?
Sonic Labs announced the resignations followed a prolonged decline in token price, network activity, and investor confidence. The company said the departing board members "remain invested in Sonic's success" but will no longer make business decisions for the organization. Cronje clarified in a separate statement that he led technical work but did not control disputed business and token decisions such as the FTM-to-S migration, airdrop structure, or Opera network shutdown.
How much has the S token declined from its peak?
The S token traded near $0.028 after the leadership announcement, roughly 97% below its January 2025 high of $1.03. The token was down approximately 10% over 24 hours following the announcement, leaving Sonic with a market capitalization near $107 million. Total value locked across Sonic's DeFi protocols stood near $26 million, far below the May 2025 peak of more than $1.1 billion.
