Sonic Swaps CEOs the Same Way S Swapped Supporters: Quietly, Then All at Once 📉

Sonic Labs, the builder of the EVM-compatible chain Sonic, announced a leadership overhaul on Friday, confirming that former CEO Michael Kong, CTO Andre Conje, and chairman David Richardson "resigned" from the Sonic Labs board. Matt Visser has been appointed CEO, with Kosta Kourkoumelis joining as COO. Andre Conje, one of the early contributors to the project during its Fantom era, confirmed his resignation.

The project said its "first priority isn't a roadmap reveal" but rather "operational discipline and earning back trust, in that order." Sonic Labs outlined a focus on transparent governance, building a real compliance team, engaging the community, and avoiding "empty promises." Visser addressed expectations directly, stating, "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."

The leadership change did not stabilize the market reaction. S, the native token of the Sonic chain, dropped 6% on Friday following the resignations and fell another 6% to $0.028 as of writing. Since peaking near $1 in early 2025, S has declined by over 97%. The project acknowledged the slump, saying, "The hard part, said plainly: the token is down, sentiment is down. We see it, and we're not pretending otherwise. So treat this as day one."

On-chain metrics reflect the downturn. Sonic's DeFi total value locked fell from $1 billion to $18 million, a 98% drop, while chain revenue has trended lower alongside reduced activity and volumes. The chain's stablecoin market cap declined from nearly $1 billion to approximately $100 million, underscoring the broader liquidity contraction across the network.