By Michael Scott
Solana ushers Sonic X into its ecosystem, with the tap-to-earn game natively within TikTok. Is it the next Notcoin?
The tap-to-earn games have become popular projects in the crypto gaming landscape in 2024 summer. The space has seen the Telegram-based mini apps emerge as a popular constituent with over 300 million players. Solana-based project enters the tap-to-earn arena by launching SonicX to match Notcoin levels.
Sonic SVM involves a layer-2 gaming chain running on Solana, intending to partner with content creators. Also, it runs advertisements on TikTok, facilitating players to click and unlock the SonicX game natively on the social media platform.
Solana Ushers Sonic SVM Gaming Ecosystem
Similar to the mini apps running on Telegram, TikTok is enabling users to unlock webpages within the native browser. The gamers will earn in-game points following the social login.
The game replicates the premise similarly deployed in the tap-to-earn genre. The gamers tap screens to collect rings, acquire upgrades, and passively progress. The in-game progression is possible by inviting friends to scale higher ranks.
The participants are optimistic about future token airdrops, though awaiting confirmation. It occurs within the world branded similar to the typical Sonic The Hedgehog game series clip. Nonetheless, there are no official links to Sega.
The new initiative adds an interesting element enabling every in-game tap recording similar to the on-chain transaction. It mirrors the experience witnessed in the tickle-toearn cat game identified as Tapos on Aptos. The game realized 115M transactions daily back in May from just a 63,000-player base. A comparative glance shows Ethereum realized just 1M transactions days prior.
Sonic SVM chief executive Chris Zhu considers a million users to be a lower bar. The co-founder indicated that if they tap just 1% of the TikTok population, it would yield 10 million users.
TikTok boasts 1 billion active users monthly, with Shopify anticipating growth to 2.35 billion by 2029. In comparison, Telegram, though the epicenter of tap-to-earn activity, has 950 million active users monthly. Zhu considers that TikTok remained relatively untapped despite its ease of reach via advertising.
Zhu acknowledges that GenZ and Aplha are executing meme coins trade as they forage for content on TikTok. Telegram offers a very shitty experience when advertising on the platform. As such, the executive is optimistic about TikTok’s realization of the largest traffic pool.
What is Sonic SVM?
Sonic SVM involves a crypto games publisher that mirrors the model deployed by Ronin on Ethereum. The Solana layer-2 network delivers extension and currently hosts 67 playable games.
The team considers TikTok the best launchpad for SonicX. Such arises from experience with Bytedance behind TikTok development. Zhu believes the platform will optimize usage.
The players embrace tap-to-earn gaming to transform the in-game progress into token rewards. SonicX mirrors such a pathway, with Sonic token likely on the horizon for the players, though the team has yet to advertise such plans officially.
Other tap-to-earn games appear to avoid potential regulatory squabbles, though SonicX will contend with the advertising restrictions. Sonic SVM could see the primary distribution channel eliminated.
Notcoin unveiled the Telegram tap-to-earn movement, and the game unveiled the NOT token later on, The Open Network (TON). Notcoin would scale to $3 billion in market value to become the leading crypto gaming token this year. Moreover, Notcoin’s reinvention is evident in its partnership with other initiatives as it eyes becoming the Netflix of viral yet social games.
Sonic aims to replicate the Notcoin model though TikTok. Zhu envisions onboarding other games into the genre by sharing audience across the Sonic SVM ecosystem. It intends to deploy social tasks that reward players, including those who follow its account. Such mirrors the approach that many Telegram tap-to-earn games utilize, which Zhu identifies as decentralized advertising.
SonicX deploys a growth strategy design on TikTok, eyeing the optimization of Sonic’s SVM gaming ecosystem. The team intends to record all in-game clicks on-chain. Such could become the advertisement for scalability levels Sonic SVM offers, provided it secures a sizable audience.