Sonic Labs Names Mitchell Demeter CEO to Spearhead Institutional Push and Global Expansion

Sonic Labs, developer of the high-performance EVM blockchain Sonic, has appointed Mitchell Demeter as its new Chief Executive Officer. The move signals Sonic’s intent to accelerate global growth and strengthen ties with institutional finance, building on its technical achievements since launching in late 2024.

Demeter, best known for launching the world’s first Bitcoin ATM in 2013 and co-founding one of Canada’s earliest crypto exchanges, Cointrader, is widely regarded as a pioneer in blockchain adoption. He now steps into the CEO role at Sonic Labs with a mandate to scale developer and ecosystem adoption, expand institutional partnerships, and bridge the network more firmly into U.S. and global capital markets.

Sonic’s Technical Edge

Since its December 2024 mainnet launch, Sonic has demonstrated throughput of 400,000 transactions per second with sub-second confirmation times. Milestones so far include a Coinbase listing for its native token S, native issuance of USDC, and integration with Chainlink’s CCIP for cross-chain interoperability.

Despite this technical foundation, Sonic executives acknowledge that institutional buy-in remains a missing piece. Demeter’s appointment is aimed at closing that gap.

“Sonic’s technology is unmatched in speed and scalability, and our mission is to bring that performance directly into institutional finance and global markets,” Demeter said. “The world’s financial infrastructure is moving on-chain, and Sonic intends to be at the very center of that transition.”

Positioning for the Next Wave of On-Chain Finance

Industry forecasters estimate that up to 10% of global GDP, over $10 trillion, could be transacted on blockchain rails within the next decade. Sonic’s leadership believes the network’s scale, speed, and developer-friendly incentives position it to capture a significant share of this growth.

A key part of Sonic’s model is Fee Monetization, a system that allows developers to earn up to 90% of the network fees generated by their apps. Inspired by Web2 revenue-sharing models, the mechanism is designed to reward developers for driving real usage and economic activity on-chain.

Leadership Transition

Demeter succeeds Michael Kong, who guided Sonic Labs (and earlier Fantom) to its current stage. Kong will continue as Chief Information Officer and remain on the board, ensuring continuity while supporting Demeter’s institutional and global expansion efforts.

Kong praised the incoming CEO’s track record:

“Mitchell’s extensive network and trusted relationships across the blockchain ecosystem, traditional finance, and beyond will be critical in driving the partnerships and real-world applications that will take Sonic to the next level.”

Demeter will also step back from his role as CEO of SonicStrategy, assuming the role of Executive Chair to continue contributing to strategy and capital markets development while focusing fully on his leadership at Sonic Labs.

Editorial Note: This news article has been written with assistance from AI. Edited & fact-checked by the Editorial Team.

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