Just one week after the launch of its Soneium blockchain, Sony has announced the launch of the Soneium testnet, which is now available for all developers and creators.
Following the launch of its own blockchain, Soneium, on August 23, Sony has rolled out the test net, which was hinted at in its press release. According to the announcement details, the testnet is dubbed ‘Soneium Minato’.
“As a first step towards realizing this vision, we have released Soneium Minato, a testnet that serves as a public blockchain accessible to all developers and creators interested in building applications,” said Sony.
Alongside the testnet, Sony has also disclosed the details of its incubation program called Soneium Spark Incubation.
Sony opens Soneium testnet for developers and creators
Sony announced that Soneium Minato is a public blockchain testnet, which is open to all developers and creators who are interested in building apps. Since the testnet is open, anyone can get access to these apps and experience them.
Soneium Minato uses test crypto assets, allowing risk-free exploration of Web3 applications. This aligns with Sony Block Solutions Labs' vision of realizing the open internet that transcends boundaries.
Bridge to Soneium Minato Testnet: https://t.co/5AUNEotO5T
— Soneium 💿 (@soneium) August 28, 2024
Interestingly, Sony mentioned that Soneium Minato uses test crypto assets, which allows for risk-free usage of these web3 apps. The Soneium Spark Incubation program is launched in collaboration with Sony, Sony Music, Sony Pictures, Sony Global Education, Sony Innovation Fund, and Inzone.
To build the Soneium blockchain applications, Soneium has teamed up with Pyth Network, Alchemy Pay, Privy, Rair, Reservoir, Sentio, Sequence, and many others.
Sony announces investments up to $100,000
As a part of the launch of its testnet and incubation program, Soneium has announced an investment of up to $100,000 per team.
Soneium was launched in collaboration with Singapore-based Startale Labs. In addition, Sony collaborated with Chainlink, Alchemy, Astar Network, The Graph, and Circle for the blockchain’s infrastructure.
During its initial release announcement, Startale Labs CEO, Sota Watanabe announced that they have a three phase plan for the Soneium blockchain.
Sony disclosed last week that following the testnet launch, Astar Network would integrate its infrastructure and assets with the Soneium. With this launch, Sony is doubling down on its web3 vision. In August 2023, Sony had purchased crypto exchange Whalefin, which was later renamed to S.BLOX. S.BLOX is likely to be launched soon, with no exact dates revealed yet.