by Coinstrooper Crypto Articles
Quick Take
  • Andre Cronje and two fellow founders have resigned from the Sonic Labs board, the company confirmed, as the S token trades near record lows.
  • Matt Visser becomes the second chief executive in nine months.
  • Michael Kong and David Richardson stepped down alongside Cronje.
  • The reshuffle lands while S sits about 91% below its January 2025 peak, reviving questions over whether it has bottomed.

What Happened

Sonic Labs framed the exits as an orderly handover. Kong, Cronje, and Richardson keep their stakes but will no longer make business decisions, per the team’s announcement.

The capital flight runs deeper than price. Sonic, which grew from Fantom’s rebrand to Sonic, once hit $1 billion TVL within months of launch.

“I am not here to promise an instant turnaround. I am here to make Sonic 1% better every single day and let that compound. Show up, do the work, prove it in public, repeat,” read an excerpt in the announcement, citing Matt Visser, Sonic CEO.

Market Context

The change caps a turbulent year in the C-suite. Sonic named Mitchell Demeter CEO last September to court institutional money, then lost him by February, leaving the founding board to run operations.

The market reaction has been harsh. S recently traded around $0.029, down about 6% in 24 hours and roughly 37% over the past month. It has fallen close to 91% this year.

“Woke up today to read about Andre Cronje resigning from Sonic Labs board. Checked CoinGecko and see that token is down 90% in last 1 year. Market cap $116m. So many projects are struggling so much this bear market. Tough year, but probably we haven’t bottomed yet unfortunately,” commented Bobby Ong, co-founder of CoinGecko.

Sonic insists its survival does not hinge on the token. The team says it carries no venture capital unlocks and funds development from a diversified treasury, giving it runway regardless of price.

The Sonic price has slid back toward the record low it set earlier this month. Momentum indicators have turned sharply negative.

Why It Matters

Visser set expectations modestly, not promising a quick rebound.

Could that discipline help steady the S token?

Sonic (S) Falls 40% In A Month as RSI Flashes Fresh Sell Signal

Momentum points to week demand, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) sitting at 32.50, just above oversold territory and beneath its 33.25 signal line.

Details

Andre Cronje and two fellow founders have resigned from the Sonic Labs board, the company confirmed, as the S token trades near record lows. Matt Visser becomes the second chief executive in nine months.

Michael Kong and David Richardson stepped down alongside Cronje. The reshuffle lands while S sits about 91% below its January 2025 peak, reviving questions over whether it has bottomed.

Cronje and Cofounders Hand the Board to Visser

Cronje built much of decentralized finance (DeFi) and left those projects abruptly in 2022. He has lately turned to Flying Tulip, a new exchange he is raising money to build.

S Token Tests New Lows as Deposits Flee

The slide has cut Sonic’s value to about $111 million, ranking it near 250th. The token sits just above the record low it set on June 6, far below its $1.03 high from January 2025.

Total value locked has since collapsed to about $18 million, DefiLlama shows. That is a drop of roughly 98% from a 2025 peak above $1.1 billion.

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Sonic Promises a Reset as Critics Question Timing

Still, not everyone accepted the framing. Critics argue that stepping back during a downturn erodes trust.

Management also points to steady output, claiming 400 pull requests merged this year, two releases shipped, and a private testnet running for version 2.2.0.

S now sits below every major moving average, with sellers firmly in control. Buyers have shown little appetite to defend current levels.