Introduction
Sonic, the revamped high-performance EVM Layer 1 from Fantom, has emerged as a serious participant within the blockchain ecosystem. Just lately surpassing the $1 billion TVL mark, Sonic is rapidly approaching the highest 10 chains by complete worth locked. Not like most blockchains within the high 20, Sonic has skilled a powerful 118% TVL development previously month, becoming a member of solely Berachain and Sei in constructive development territory based on DeFiLlama.
DeFi fans and airdrop hunters are significantly drawn to Sonic for 3 compelling causes: the large 190.5 million S tokens allotted to its airdrop, the profitable yield alternatives, and feeVM which distributes 90% of fuel charges to functions quite than MEV and validators—creating highly effective incentives for ecosystem development that profit each builders and customers.
In addition to the explanations acknowledged above, there’s additionally a cult following of Fantom’s technical advisor Andre Cronje. As a serious figurehead within the DeFi ecosystem, Cronje is answerable for launching standard yield aggregator Yearn and introducing the ve(3,3) primitive, which has seen success with Velodrome and Aerodrome’s implementation. Cronje has now turned his focus to Sonic to introduce new monetary primitives and improvements to the Sonic chain, with one such upcoming venture being flying tulip – a brand new type of decentralized alternate with leveraged liquidity to learn LPs. With extra improvements on the horizon, crypto members are eagerly anticipating new protocols to work together with on Sonic.
With substantial tokens already in circulation and minimal future dilution from insider unlocks, farming Sonic factors represents one in every of at this time’s most engaging airdrop alternatives. The primary season of the Sonic factors marketing campaign concludes in June 2025, coinciding with the primary airdrop changing into claimable. Factors can be distributed throughout a number of seasons.
Tips on how to Earn Sonic Factors
Factors may be earned by three main strategies:
- Passive factors by holding whitelisted belongings in your pockets.
- Exercise factors by deploying whitelisted belongings as liquidity on collaborating apps.
- Sonic gems that are developer-focused airdrop factors redeemable for S tokens, distributed at every dApp’s discretion.
The very best multiplier of 6x for whitelisted belongings apply to scUSD, stkscUSD, and wstkscUSD:
- scUSD: A stablecoin that’s mintable by way of Rings protocol with out charges utilizing stablecoins or ETH-based tokens on Ethereum or Sonic. Your deposited collateral generates yield from blue-chip protocols on Ethereum by Veda’s vaults.
- stksdUSD: Staked model of scUSD the place yield is paid on to you.
- wstksdUSD: Wrapped model of stksdUSD to be used in DeFi protocols.
Extra whitelisted belongings embody:
- USDC.e (5x multiplier)
- S, wS, stS, scETH, stkscETH, wstkscETH, scBTC, stkscBTC, and wstkscBTC (4x multiplier)
- WETH, LBTC, SolvBTC, SolvBTC.BBN, and x33 (2x multiplier)
The next 5 methods will assist you to to earn exercise factors, whereas you may also farm Sonic factors by interacting with initiatives which were allotted Gems as Sonic BOOM winners. The Emerald tier initiatives will obtain the most important allocations of Gems, so it is suggested to work together with these initiatives for extra factors.
Technique 1: Looping on Aave for Most Factors Yield
One of the simple methods to earn Sonic factors is thru looping on Aave’s cash markets. Looping entails leveraged borrowing—you deposit USDC.e to earn 10x Sonic factors, then borrow USDC.e in opposition to your deposit and redeposit these borrowed funds to extend your points-earning publicity.
For instance, with 500 USDC.e deposited, you possibly can borrow as much as 400 USDC.e. By borrowing 250 USDC.e (making a 0.50 loan-to-value ratio), then depositing that quantity, your complete deposit turns into 750 USDC.e whereas sustaining a mortgage of 250 USDC.e (lowering the loan-to-value ratio to 0.33). You possibly can then borrow an extra 150 USDC.e, bringing the loan-to-value ratio to roughly 0.53, and proceed the method.
Vital: At all times preserve your loan-to-value ratio nicely beneath the liquidation threshold of 0.75 to keep away from liquidation dangers. This technique can double or triple your efficient deposit, considerably growing your Sonic factors earnings in comparison with a easy deposit.
Technique 2: Leverage BTCFi Choices on Sonic
Sonic’s ecosystem permits you to farm factors whereas sustaining publicity to your BTC holdings by varied BTCFi choices. For those who’re bullish on BTC and like to HODL, think about these protocols:
Lombard Finance
- Deposit LBTC to Rings protocol and mint scBTC to earn DeFi yield, Rings Factors, Veda Factors, Sonic passive factors, and 4x Sonic exercise factors
- Deposit LBTC or eBTC to the Lombard Bitcoin Sonic vault for 4x exercise factors, Lux factors, Babylon Labs factors, and Veda factors
- Use LBTC on Silo Finance for 4x exercise factors, Silo factors, and Lux factors
- Present LBTC or scBTC liquidity on Beets.fi (Lombard’s Orbit pool) for Lux factors, 4x exercise factors, and associate rewards
Solv Protocol
- Stake BTC on BuildOnBob to mint SolvBTC.BBN and bridge to Sonic
- Deposit SolvBTC.BBN to Silo Finance for 2x exercise factors, Solv XP, Babylon factors, and Silo factors
- For leveraged methods, borrow SolvBTC, bridge again, and repeat
- Alternatively, LP SolvBTC and scBTC on SwapXfi
WBTC holders can deposit into Rings Protocol to mint scBTC, incomes DeFi yield, Rings Factors, Veda Factors, passive factors, and 4x exercise factors. Staking scBTC to stkscBTC offers further yield and factors.
Technique 3: Commerce Pendle Yield Tokens for Leveraged Publicity
Pendle creates liquidity swimming pools that break up yield-generating tokens like wstkscUSD into principal tokens (PT) and yield tokens (YT):
- PT holders can redeem for underlying belongings after maturity
- YT holders acquire generated yield till maturity however haven’t any declare on the underlying asset
For optimizing Sonic factors, yield tokens provide leveraged publicity to each factors and yield with out liquidation danger. Whereas YTs development to zero at maturity, they supply the best points-to-capital ratio.
For instance, a $1,000 deposit in YT-wstkscUSD can improve your Sonic factors publicity by 41x—primarily incomes factors as when you held $41,000 price of stkscUSD. The worth decreases as maturity approaches (Could twenty ninth), so monitor markets and exit earlier than maturity to get better a part of your deposit.
A lower-risk various is that this delta-neutral setup:
- Purchase S tokens from Binance and withdraw to your pockets
- Hedge by way of 1x brief within the S-USD market on Hyperliquid
- Stake S for OS on Origin Protocol
- LP OS on Pendle for 52% APY together with Pendle incentives and Sonic factors
Technique 4: Funding Fee Arbitrage on Vertex
Funding price arbitrage permits you to farm Sonic factors with zero worth publicity. Perpetual contracts use funding charges to maintain costs aligned with oracle (market) costs:
- Unfavorable funding price: Merchants pay to carry brief positions, incentivizing longs
- Constructive funding price: Merchants pay to carry lengthy positions, incentivizing shorts
By making a delta-neutral place, you possibly can earn funding funds whereas accumulating Sonic factors:
- Get 500 wS and deposit onto Vertex
- Open a same-sized brief place (500 S) on S-PERP
- Execute as a taker order to earn rebates of as much as 100% on charges paid
Vertex’s cross-margin characteristic permits leveraging this technique:
- Allow Margin Spot on wS-USDC
- Purchase 500 wS
- Open a 500 S brief place on S-PERP
Your account could have three balances:
- 1,000 wS
- 1,000 S-PERP (brief)
- 300 USDC (adverse stability = borrowed)
This course of may be leveraged as much as 20x, although larger leverage requires nearer market monitoring to keep away from liquidation. The technique also can work with any perpetual DEX, corresponding to offering liquidity for S/stS on Shadow whereas shorting S-USD on Hyperliquid or Vertex.
Technique 5: Automate Buying and selling & Farming with RussFi
RussFi is launching an AI yield agent that routinely invests idle belongings into the highest-performing Sonic protocols utilizing AI evaluation. This passive strategy optimizes each yield and Sonic factors with minimal effort.
To get began:
- Join right here with Privy by way of electronic mail
- Set your buying and selling model based mostly on danger tolerance
- Add your account identify
- Fund the tackle (S tokens solely)
At present, you possibly can work together with the bot to purchase/promote tokens, get AI analysis insights, and launch tokens on S.enjoyable. As soon as the AI yield agent launches, it is going to function a robust instrument for effortlessly incomes exercise factors for the Sonic airdrop.
Conclusion
As Sonic continues its spectacular development trajectory, farming for the upcoming airdrop presents a major alternative for DeFi fans. The methods outlined above—from easy looping on Aave to classy funding price arbitrage and AI-powered yield optimization—present varied risk-reward profiles to swimsuit totally different investor preferences.
The simplest strategy could mix a number of methods based mostly in your danger tolerance, capital availability, and time dedication. Looping on Aave affords simplicity, BTCFi choices permit continued publicity to Bitcoin, Pendle yield tokens present leveraged factors with out liquidation danger, funding price arbitrage creates delta-neutral positions, and RussFi delivers automated optimization.
With the primary airdrop distribution approaching in June 2025, now could be the perfect time to ascertain and refine your Sonic factors farming technique. By understanding the multipliers, rigorously managing positions, and deciding on the suitable mixture of protocols, you possibly can maximize your potential rewards whereas collaborating in one of many fastest-growing blockchain ecosystems.