Sonic SVM has built its own framework, HyperGrid, which can be used to spin up new networks called "grids" that ultimately settle to the Solana blockchain.
The sale is scheduled for the week of Sept. 16 and will include 50,000 "HyperFuse nodes" in 20 pricing tiers.
The nodes come with token rewards and allow holders to monitor the network state.
"While not officially confirmed, there are possible future airdrops for node operators," according to a press release.

Sonic SVM, a project to scale the Solana blockchain to gaming-quality speed and throughput, plans to sell as much as $12.8 million worth of validator nodes in its HyperGrid, a decentralized framework designed to support new application-specific networks.

The sale, scheduled for the week of Sept. 16, will be the first in the Solana blockchain ecosystem and will include 50,000 "Hyperfuse nodes" in 20 pricing tiers, according to the team. Proceeds will go into the project's treasury for general purposes, including supporting the development team and grants, CEO and co-founder Chris Zhu said in an interview.

Node sales have been growing in popularity as a way for blockchain projects to raise funds while simultaneously decentralizing their networks. Aethir, a decentralized GPU cloud infrastructure provider, disclosed in May that it raised about $126 million in Ethereum's ether (ETH) token by distributing more than 73,000 node licenses. Other projects including Sophon, CARV, XAI Games and Powerloom have used the method to bring in fresh funds.

The sale comes just a couple of months after Sonic SVM raised $12 million in a Series A fundraising led by Bitkraft and joined by investors including Galaxy Interactive and Big Brain Holdings.

Purchasers of the nodes will qualify for token rewards while also contributing to the HyperGrid network security, according to a thread on X. The nodes can be set up to run on a laptop or cloud servers.

"Being a node operator actually allows them to monitor the HyperGrid state, which means they participate in the validation," Zhu said.

Solana's OP Stack

Under the project's architecture, Sonic SVM itself is considered a "grid" built atop a blockchain apparatus known as the HyperGrid. That, in turn, provides the interface for ultimately settling transactions on Solana. Other grids could be spun up as well, either for more gaming domains or even an AI network, according to Zhu.

Schematic illustrating how Sonic SVM and other "grids" interact with the HyperGrid Shared State Network (HSSN) to ultimately settle transactions to the Solana blockchain. (Sonic SVM)

Zhu likened Sonic SVM's HyperGrid to Solana's version of Optimism's OP Stack – a popular template for spinning up a new layer-2 networks atop the Ethereum blockchain. U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase's layer-2 project, Base, is built on that framework.

Layer-2 networks are designed to scale blockchains by providing an alternate venue for faster and cheaper transactions than main, layer-1, blockchains. Such structures have historically been less emphasized for the Solana because it's already considered faster and cheaper than the far-more-sprawling Ethereum blockchain.

An added enticement is that the deal "presents a rare chance for individuals to acquire Sonic Tokens at a valuation lower than that offered to top venture capital" firms in the recent Series A fundraising, Sonic SVM said in a press release.

"While not officially confirmed, there are possible future airdrops for node operators," according to the statement.

Solana Gaming node sales Fundraising Layer 2s

Bradley Keoun

Bradley Keoun is CoinDesk's managing editor of tech & protocols, where he oversees a team of reporters covering blockchain technology, and previously ran the global crypto markets team. A two-time Loeb Awards finalist, he previously was chief global finance and economic correspondent for TheStreet and before that worked as an editor and reporter for Bloomberg News in New York and Mexico City, reporting on Wall Street, emerging markets and the energy industry. He started out as a police-beat reporter for the Gainesville Sun in Florida and later worked as a general-assignment reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, he double-majored in electrical engineering and classical studies as an undergraduate at Duke University and later obtained a master's in journalism from the University of Florida. He is currently based in Austin, Texas, and in his spare time plays guitar, sings in a choir and hikes in the Texas Hill Country. He owns less than $1,000 each of several cryptocurrencies.