Sonic Labs is reshuffling its leadership: the new CEO promises to "restore order" amid a 97% collapse in the S token.
The Sonic Labs team has announced a radical change in its management structure. Amid this news, the native S token dropped by more than 6%, further confirming the depth of the trust crisis surrounding the project.
Three key figures have left the board of directors of the company developing the EVM-compatible Layer 1 network: former CEO and director Michael Kong, executive chairman David Richardson, and co-founder and CTO Andre Cronje. In an official statement, they were described as the "architects of the current Sonic," emphasizing that these individuals laid the foundation for future development.
New Leadership: A Focus on Operational Efficiency
The position of CEO has been taken by Matt Visser, while Costa Kourkoulis has assumed the role of COO. The new leadership immediately made it clear that they would not paint rosy roadmaps. Instead, the priority is to bring order to operational activities and restore community trust.
"I'm not going to promise a quick turnaround. My job is to make Sonic 1% better every day and let that effect compound," Visser stated. This statement sounds like a pragmatic approach, but the market is not yet rushing to believe in a swift recovery.
Acknowledging the Problems: S Token Crashed 97%
Sonic Labs has openly acknowledged the deterioration of market metrics and investor sentiment. "The token is dropping. Community sentiment is worsening. We see it and we are not going to pretend the problem doesn't exist," the official statement reads.
The statistics are grim. In January 2025, the S token reached an all-time high of $1.03. At the time of writing, the asset is trading at $0.028 — a drop of 97.2% from its peak. The management suggests viewing the current moment as the "first day" of a new phase, promising to focus on gradual improvements over the next 100 days.
Transparency and Risk Control as the Foundation of the New Strategy
Among the key changes, Sonic Labs cites increased governance 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.
Technical Development Continues
Despite the personnel changes, the Sonic technical team continued working without interruption. Since the beginning of 2026, developers have merged approximately 400 significant pull requests into the main GitHub branch, released two network updates, and continue testing version 2.2.0 on a private testnet. The company emphasizes that technology remains the ecosystem's main asset.
My Expert Opinion: The change in leadership is a necessary but far from sufficient step for Sonic's recovery. A 97% drop is not just a correction but a loss of trust at an institutional level. Until the project demonstrates real metrics of user base growth and transaction volumes, any promises of "gradual improvements" will be met with extreme skepticism by the market.