{"id":74346,"date":"2026-06-21T16:21:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T16:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/97-down-andre-cronje-exits-sonic-labs-board-as-s-token-continues-to-sink-lower\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T16:21:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T16:21:57","slug":"97-down-andre-cronje-exits-sonic-labs-board-as-s-token-continues-to-sink-lower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/97-down-andre-cronje-exits-sonic-labs-board-as-s-token-continues-to-sink-lower\/","title":{"rendered":"97% Down \u2014 Andre Cronje Exits Sonic Labs Board as S Token Continues to Sink Lower"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"@container mb-[25px] rounded-sm overflow-clip py-0.5 pr-0.5 pl-2.5 bg-success-100\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-m overflow-clip rounded-[6px] !bg-success-10 p-3 @[420px]:p-m\">\n<h2 class=\"m-0 flex items-center gap-s text-[19px] !text-[#1c1c1c] md:text-[20px]\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"10\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 10\" fill=\"none\" class=\"shrink-0 text-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M1 1.5h14\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M1 8.5h10\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><\/svg><span>Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"m-0 flex list-none flex-col gap-m pl-0\">\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Andre Cronje, Michael Kong, David Richardson left Sonic Labs board this week.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Sonic\u2019s S token fell 97% from its $1.03 peak, with total value locked (TVL) down to $20 million.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">Matt Visser becomes CEO, pledging incremental, transparent governance reform.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The three founding board members built Sonic Labs, formerly the Fantom Foundation, from the ground up. Cronje served as chief technology officer and is known across <span>DeFi<\/span> for creating Yearn Finance. Kong ran the Fantom Foundation as CEO. Richardson held the role of executive chairman.<\/p>\n<p>Sonic Labs confirmed the departures in an <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SonicLabs\/status\/2068031341619470536?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">official statement<\/a> shared on X. The company said the trio remains invested in Sonic\u2019s success but will no longer make business decisions for the organization.<\/p>\n<h2>New Leadership Takes Over<\/h2>\n<p>Matt Visser steps in as the new CEO. Kosta Kourkoumelis takes the role of chief operating officer. Visser set expectations low and specific.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am not here to promise an instant turnaround,\u201d Visser said. \u201cI am here to make Sonic 1% better every single day and let that compound.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sonic Labs pledged a dedicated risk and compliance committee, public decision-making, and fewer announcements without substance. The company set up a disclosure email for holder concerns.<\/p>\n<h2>Token Performance Reflects the Pressure<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/markets.bitcoin.com\/crypto\/sonic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">S token<\/a> trades between $0.028 and $0.031, a decline of roughly 97% from its January 2025 all-time high near $1.03. The token fell another 5% in the 24 hours after the board announcement.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_824785\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-824785\" style=\"width:1280px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-824785\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The S token has seen improvement over the last 24 hours.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Total value locked on Sonic dropped from a May 2025 peak of $1.14 billion to about $20 million, according to Defillama data. That marks a 98% collapse in locked capital on the network.<\/p>\n<p>Sonic Labs did not soften the numbers. \u201cThe token is down. Community sentiment is down. We see both clearly, we are not spinning it,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n<h2>Cronje Points to Flying Tulip<\/h2>\n<p>Cronje <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AndreCronjeTech\/status\/2068124649964163086?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">addressed<\/a> his exit on X, saying his focus for the past 18 months has centered on Flying Tulip, a <span>DeFi<\/span> platform he built offering real-yield <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-are-stablecoins\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stablecoin<\/a> products. He said Flying Tulip has scaled to roughly $70 million in TVL across three systems, earning near 16% <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-is-apy\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">APY<\/a> on USDC and <a href=\"https:\/\/buy.bitcoin.com\/?utm_source=News\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USDT<\/a> on Ethereum and about 8% on Sonic.<\/p>\n<p>He <a href=\"https:\/\/andrecronje.info\/statements\/sonic-labs-board-resignation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">clarified<\/a> he was never Fantom\u2019s founder, only its original technical architect, and said he opposes shutting down the legacy Opera network.<\/p>\n<h2>A Familiar Pattern<\/h2>\n<p>Cronje stepped back from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/a-quick-introduction-to-crypto\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">crypto<\/a> in March 2022, citing regulatory pressure from the SEC and burnout, before returning to build Sonic\u2019s technical architecture. His 2026 exit follows that same arc: step back from a high-profile project, redirect energy into an independent building.<\/p>\n<p>What it means for traders: Sonic\u2019s governance reset trades founder visibility for operational discipline, while Cronje\u2019s attention now sits with Flying Tulip\u2019s yield products rather than the S token\u2019s recovery.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/97-down-andre-cronje-exits-sonic-labs-board-as-s-token-continues-to-sink-lower\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways Andre Cronje, Michael Kong, David Richardson left Sonic Labs board this week. Sonic\u2019s S token fell 97% from its $1.03 peak, with total value locked (TVL) down to $20 million. Matt Visser becomes CEO, pledging incremental, transparent governance reform. The three founding board members built Sonic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":74347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74346"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}