Sonic Gems

Sonic Gems are developer-focused airdrop points. As a groundbreaking incentive mechanism for developers within the Sonic ecosystem, Gems reward apps for driving user engagement and innovation based on their performance on Sonic.

These Gems can be redeemed for S tokens, which apps can then distribute as rewards to their users. This system empowers apps to kickstart growth and maintain long-term user activity by encouraging consistent interaction and participation.

Sonic Gems are distributed across multiple seasons, ensuring a sustainable and dynamic rewards structure that continuously incentivizes active involvement. The first season ends in ~June 2025.

— Expanded Explanation ‎‎‎‏‏‎‎— Gems Season 1 — Distribution of Gems — Gems Revocation Policy — Example Distribution of Gems

Expanded Explanation

Sonic Gems are off-chain airdrop points exclusively designed for apps. Each season, a fixed number of Gems is distributed to apps based on various performance factors. Apps can monitor their progress through a leaderboard, which is updated every 24 hours with the latest Gem allocations.

The competitive PvP nature and fixed supply of Gems mean that an app's Gem balance may fluctuate daily, influenced by the performance of other apps on the platform.

Apps that wish to distribute the S tokens earned through Gems to their users must manage the accounting process independently. They have full flexibility in determining how to do so. For example, an app could:

• Mint a new token representing its share of S redeemed through Gems for a specific season.

• Maintain an internal record of user balances.

Unlike Sonic Points, which are airdrop points designed for users, Gems empower apps to claim liquid S tokens instead of vested NFT airdrop position. Once the S tokens are claimed, it’s the app’s responsibility to determine how they’re distributed to their users.

While there’s no strict requirement for apps to share a specific percentage of their claimed S tokens with their users, the design of Gems incentivizes generosity. Apps that share a larger portion of their claimed S with their communities are rewarded more favorably compared to those that do not.

Gems Season 1

A total of 1,680,000 Gems will be distributed during Season 1. Out of this, 262,500 Gems are pre-allocated to Sonic Boom winners. The chart below shows the number of Gems allocated to each tier in Sonic Boom.

Category	Gems Per Winner
Emerald	13,125
Sapphire	8,750
Ruby	4,375

The remaining 1,417,500 Gems will be available for any app to earn throughout the season — whether they’re Sonic Boom winners or not. At the end of Season 1, all eligible apps will be able to claim S tokens based on the number of Gems they have earned.

Distribution of Gems

Sonic Gems are distributed using a structured approach designed to reward apps within the Sonic ecosystem. By considering factors such as category relevance, exclusivity, and effective reward distribution, this system promotes fairness and incentivizes active participation.

Below are the key criteria that will determine an app's share of Gems in Season 1.

Category

Apps are assessed across several weighted categories, with each app assigned a weight based on its primary category. For Season 1, the specific weights are detailed below. If an app falls into multiple categories, the weight of its dominant category will be applied.

Category	Weight
Bridges	5
CLOB DEX	4
Lending Markets / CDPs	4
Fixed Yield / Yield Tokenization	4
GambleFi	3
Perps	3
Derivatives	3
Yield	2
Gaming	2
Spot DEX	2
Tooling, Misc, and Payment	1

Sonic Native

Apps are assigned different weights depending on their level of exclusivity to Sonic:

• Weight 2: Exclusively available on Sonic

• Weight 1: Primarily on Sonic but accessible elsewhere

• Weight 0.5: Available across multiple chains

Note: An app's Sonic-native weight cannot be upgraded during a season. However, if an app takes actions that reduce its Sonic nativeness, its weight will be reduced immediately and remain in effect for the following season as well.

Point Score

Point score is determined by calculating the total amount of Sonic Points that an app has generated for its users. This score is then divided by the total points generated across all eligible apps.

$$\text{Point Score} = \frac{\text{Sonic Points Generated By App}}{\text{Total Sonic Points Generated}}$$

Incentive

Only applicable from Season 2 onwards.

This assesses how effectively an app distributes its claimed S to its users. An app's incentive weight is determined by the percentage of its claimed S that was distributed to its users during the previous season.

$$\text{Incentive Weight} = \frac{\text{S Distributed to Users}}{\text{S Claimed}}$$

For example, if an app distributed 100% of its claimed S to its users, it’ll receive a weight of 1 in the next season, while distributing only 80% would give it a weight of 0.8.

While there’s no requirement for apps to distribute a specific amount of their claimed S to users, it’s mandatory for all apps to publicly disclose the percentage they intend to share with their communities.

This transparency allows users to make informed decisions about allocating their capital. Any instances of false communication or misuse of claimed S will result in blacklisting for subsequent seasons.

Final Gems Calculation

Apps will receive a pro-rata share of Sonic Gems based on their final weights, determined by the calculations below.

Step 1 — Gem Score

$\text{Gem Score} = \text{Category Weight} \times \text{Sonic Native Weight} \times \text{Incentive Weight} \, (\text{N/A in Season 1})$

Step 2 — Point Score

$\text{Point Score} = \frac{\text{Sonic Points Generated By App}}{\text{Total Sonic Points Generated}}$

Step 3 — Final Score

$\text{Final Score} = \text{Gem Score} \times (1 + \text{Point Score})$

Step 4 — Share of Gems

$\text{Share of Sonic Gems} = \frac{\text{App Final Score}}{\text{Total Final Score}} \times \text{Total Gems}$

Gems Revocation Policy

The following actions by the app can cause their Sonic Gems to be revoked.

1. Incentivizing Project Tokens or NFTs with Gems Allocating Gems as rewards for activities like holding, staking, or providing liquidity (LPing) for a project’s token or NFT. For apps that have a voting mechanism to direct emissions, Gems can be used as vote incentives for any pool other than those that contain the project's token.

2. Suspicious Distribution Practices Distributing large quantities of Gems non-transparently, such as allocating them disproportionately to insiders or KOLs without clear disclosure.

3. Misrepresenting Gem Redistribution Providing false information about the amount of claimed S being distributed to users during any season.

Users are encouraged to report any suspicious activity or malpractice to the Sonic Labs team.