In the rapidly changing decentralized finance (DeFi) space, speed and finality of transactions seem to be the key metrics for success.
But recent developments in the blockchain world suggest that capital and community might be even more powerful drivers of success. Two ecosystems that are often mentioned in this space—Berachain and Sonic—are elaborating on these contrasting strengths and strategies, and they offer a pretty compelling view into the multidimensional race for DeFi dominance and even into some prospects of Blockchain 3.0.
Sonic is an evolution of the Fantom blockchain. While both blockchains were designed with a focus on delivering high-performance, scalable solutions for #DeFi, the new @SonicLabs blockchain brings improved performance, cost efficiency, and fresh incentives to enhance the… pic.twitter.com/RjdvnE2m7n
— CryptoRank.io (@CryptoRank_io) April 15, 2025
On one hand, Berachain has blindsided the industry with its rapid ascent in total value secured (TVS), which sits at a stunning $2.96 billion. That’s nearly three times the value secured by Sonic, which is at $989 million. What’s particularly striking is that Berachain has gotten this stunning figure while operating at a very modest 25 transactions per second (TPS), a far cry from Sonic’s blazing-fast 10,000 TPS with sub-second finality of 0.72 seconds.
📊 Berachain vs. Sonic: A Tale of Two Ecosystems
Despite @SonicLabs impressive TPS (10,000) and 0.72s finality, it lags behind @berachain in TVL ($2.96B vs. $989M)—a strong signal that capital isn't just chasing speed.
🔎 Key Insights:
Berachain’s lead in TVL despite just 25… pic.twitter.com/xDvTgEzvJ2
— HC – Capital (@hc_capital) April 15, 2025
So, what accounts for Berachain’s lead in liquidity? The answer seems to be its innovative Proof of Liquidity (PoL) consensus model and strong community support. Berachain rewards its validators not just for staking assets, but for providing liquidity. This is the way in which its PoL model ties rewards to the thing we want to have in a decentralized financial system: liquidity. Not just that, but it’s done in a way that seems to be working extremely well. Berachain has now become a very competitive place for capital, despite being slower than many alternatives.
Sonic’s Technological Edge and DeFi Orientation
Even so, achieving speed and scalability remains essential—in particular, for the universal adoption of blockchain technology that seems inevitable. This is where Sonic comes in. Next-generation technology built atop the Fantom blockchain, Sonic gives us something that appeals to not just our eyes but our experience as well: the appearance of DeFi at its next level of performance.
A look at market cap shows how sure (or not) investors are of a project’s success. At $1.61 billion, Sonic has a higher market cap than Berachain and a clear sign of investor confidence. Why? Because Sonic is not just your average DeFi project; it is practically the ideal DeFi service. As such, it is pulling in developers and users like few other projects.
Silo Finance is one of the flagship protocols on Sonic and the chain’s second-largest DeFi app. Much more than a typical lending platform, Silo supports an impressive range of lending markets—not just the usual stablecoin and restaked collateral setups, but also pure synthetic assets (i.e., non-representative tokens) and other weirder stuff that barely fits the crypto asset mold. Lenders can put their capital to work in all these markets and earn better-than-average returns thanks to some clever mechanics Silo uses to price its lending rates.
Liquidity vs. Infrastructure: A Complex Balance
The Berachain vs. Sonic narrative is not about which chain is “better” but rather illustrates the different approaches to success in DeFi, with each chain representing a path that could lead to the same destination. Berachain has capitalized on its liquidity-first mechanisms and community energies to make itself a child of the moment—a magnet, in fact, for short-term TVL and some grassroots growth. Sonic, meanwhile, is going with the long game—building, slowly but surely, the sort of scalable, efficient tech that can support something like a decentralized protocol over time.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is maturing, and two of its ecosystems may now serve as case studies in the trade-offs that DeFi is making between speed, capital efficiency, and community building.
Those two case study ecosystems are Berachain and Sonic. They are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in DeFi, although whether the liquidity incentives that these two systems offer, or the technological firepower that they deploy, will prove more sustainable in the long run is hard to say at this point.
In an industry frequently ruled by ostentatious statistics and momentary excitement, their individual triumphs spotlight a profound reality: the DeFi space cannot rely solely on rapid expansion to achieve long-term success. What it requires, alongside that breathless pace of development, is a sturdy foundation of vision to inform its innovations and the cunning deployment of whatever incentives are necessary to maintain the appearance of an attractive space in which to invest.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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