Public record

Fantom and Sonic Labs: Role, Technical Work, and Leadership Timeline

Role: Technical advisor, research contributor, director, and later Chief Technology Officer
Period covered: 2018–2026
Record status: Role chronology verified; detailed ownership of some migration and launch decisions remains source-limited
Last reviewed: June 20, 2026

Summary

Fantom and the original Fantom project existed before I joined.

A contemporaneous Fantom publication identified me as a Technical Advisor in 2018. I later co-authored Fantom and Lachesis technical research, helped establish technical teams, became a director, and in August 2024 became Chief Technology Officer of Sonic Labs with responsibility for leading development of the Sonic network, especially Sonic Gateway.

Sonic Labs has publicly stated that I did not design the original 2018 Fantom tokenomics. A separate successful 2025 governance proposal nevertheless documents material later token-policy and treasury activity, including strategic DeFi activity led by me. Original Fantom tokenomics, the FTM-to-S launch design, and later Sonic governance are different subjects and should not be collapsed into one claim.

I resigned from the Sonic Labs board in June 2026 and no longer make business decisions for the organization.

Facts at a glance

Question	Public record
Did I form the original Fantom project or company?	The earliest official Fantom source reviewed identifies me as a Technical Advisor after formation, not as the original founder.
Was my technical role material?	Yes. I co-authored technical research, helped establish teams, and later led Sonic network and Gateway development.
Was I later a director and CTO?	Yes.
Did I design the original 2018 Fantom tokenomics?	Sonic Labs publicly stated that I did not.
Did I later have token-policy or treasury involvement?	Yes. A successful 2025 governance record documents material later activity.
Does the public record independently allocate every migration, airdrop, and launch-tokenomics decision?	No.
Do I still make Sonic Labs business decisions?	No.

Verified public record

Initial role and technical authorship

The earliest official Fantom source reviewed for this page identified me as a Technical Advisor in 2018.

Public academic records identify me as a co-author of early Fantom and later Lachesis research with other contributors.

Fantom stated in 2022 that I helped establish the existing development team while emphasizing that I was not the sole or core developer of the complete Fantom technology stack.

The accurate description is:

I did not form the original Fantom company or token project. My technical contribution was foundational, and the working network was implemented by a wider team.

Director and Chief Technology Officer

By August 2024, I was a Sonic Labs director and became Chief Technology Officer.

Sonic's official announcement stated that my mandate included leading the design and development of the Sonic network, particularly Sonic Gateway.

Tokenomics and treasury distinctions

Sonic Labs publicly stated in February 2026 that I did not design the original 2018 Fantom tokenomics.

That fact should not be converted into the broader claim that I never participated in later token-policy or treasury matters. A successful 2025 governance proposal publicly documented:

Proposed issuance and fee/burn changes.
Strategic DeFi activity led by me that, according to the proposal, repurchased nearly all tokens then held by Sonic Labs.

The accurate distinction is therefore phase-specific:

Original 2018 Fantom tokenomics.
FTM-to-S migration and launch design.
Later Sonic governance, issuance, treasury, fee, and burn proposals.

Migration and airdrop decision ownership

The public sources reviewed for this page do not independently establish who designed, approved, or operationally executed every element of:

The FTM-to-S migration.
The Sonic airdrop.
Launch allocations, emissions, and migration incentives.
Legacy-network decommissioning.

My personal statement addresses my role. A stronger public record should add an organization-confirmed responsibility matrix or governance and implementation records.

Board resignation and handover

On June 19, 2026, Sonic Labs announced that I, Michael Kong, and David Richardson were resigning from the board.

The announcement states that responsibilities were being handed off in full and that I would no longer make business decisions for the organization. Matt Visser became Chief Executive Officer and Kosta Kourkoumelis became Chief Operating Officer.

Responsibility I accept

I had substantial technical authorship and leadership responsibility.
I served as a director and Chief Technology Officer.
My public prominence made me a representative of the organization even for initiatives I did not personally design.
I participated in material later treasury and token-policy activity.
I am responsible for my public communications and the technical decisions I led.

What the public record does not establish

The sources reviewed for this page do not establish:

Sole authorship by me of every Fantom or Sonic technical component.
My complete FTM or S holdings, equity, compensation, vesting, severance, or transaction activity.
A public decision-owner map for every migration, airdrop, launch-tokenomics, or decommissioning decision.
That I had no token-policy or treasury role.
That every organizational decision was mine because I was the most visible technical contributor.

Sources

FTM-01: Fantom Insights Vol. 9 — Fantom Foundation — 2018-10-01. Source tier B; official_announcement.
FTM-02: Fantom: A scalable framework for asynchronous distributed systems — arXiv — 2018-10-22. Source tier A; research_paper.
FTM-03: A statement from the Fantom Foundation — Fantom Foundation — 2022-03-11. Source tier B; official_announcement.
FTM-04: Lachesis: Scalable Asynchronous BFT on DAG Streams — arXiv — 2021-08-04. Source tier A; research_paper.
SNC-01: Andre Cronje — Chief Technology Officer of Sonic Labs — Sonic Labs — 2024-08-13. Source tier B; official_announcement.
SNC-02: Official Sonic Labs statement on original Fantom tokenomics — Sonic Labs — 2026-02-12. Source tier B; official_social_post.
SNC-03: U.S. Expansion and TradFi Adoption Including NASDAQ Treasury Vehicle With S Acquisitions — Sonic governance record mirrored by Goverland — 2025. Source tier A; governance_record.
SNC-04: Leadership update from Sonic Labs — Sonic Labs — 2026-06-19. Source tier B; official_announcement.

Change log

2026-06-20: Initial publication.