Sonic Labs changes course: new leadership promises order and transparency amid token collapse
The Sonic Labs ecosystem is undergoing a major restructuring of its management structure. The company behind the development of the EVM-compatible Layer 1 network has announced personnel changes that have already triggered a tangible market reaction: the native token S lost more than 6% of its value immediately after the news was published.
Three key figures, whom the company calls the "architects of the current Sonic," have left the board of directors: former CEO and director Michael Kong, executive chairman David Richardson, and co-founder and technical director Andre Cronje. According to Sonic Labs, they laid the foundation for the project's current architecture.
New Team at the Helm
Matt Visser has been appointed CEO, and Costa Kourkoulis has taken the position of COO. Their approach is radically different from the previous one: instead of loud roadmap announcements, the new management is betting on operational discipline and restoring trust within the community.
"I'm not going to promise an instant turnaround. My job is to make Sonic 1% better every day and let that effect compound," Visser stated in his first address.
Acknowledging the Crisis
The Sonic Labs team has openly admitted that the project's situation is far from ideal. An official statement reads: "The token is falling. Community sentiment is deteriorating. We see it and we are not going to pretend the problem doesn't exist." This level of candor is rare in the crypto industry, where negativity is usually downplayed.
The numbers speak for themselves. In January 2025, the S asset reached an all-time high of $1.03. At the time of analysis, the token is trading around $0.028 — a 97.2% collapse from its peak. The management suggests viewing the current moment as "day one" of a new phase and promises to focus on gradual improvements over the next 100 days.
New Priorities: Transparency and Risk Control
Among the key changes, Sonic cites increased management transparency, the creation of a separate risk and compliance committee, and more open interaction with S holders. The company promises to publish more specific information about decisions made and to abandon formal announcements without practical substance.
Technological Foundation Remains
It is important to note that, despite the management turbulence, the technical team continued working without interruption. Since the beginning of 2026, developers have merged about 400 significant pull requests into the main GitHub branch, released two network updates, and are continuing to test version 2.2.0 in a private testnet. The company emphasizes that technology remains the ecosystem's main asset.
As a reminder, in March, the Sonic team also introduced the "institutional" stablecoin USSD, indicating the project's ambitions in the DeFi space.
My expert assessment: A change in leadership is always a signal of high volatility, but in this case, it could be positive. Acknowledging the problems and focusing on operational efficiency instead of marketing promises is exactly what a project that has lost 97% of its value needs. However, restoring trust is a long process, and the market will judge not words but concrete actions in the coming quarters.