Sophon’s SOPH Token Plunges Over 33% After Binance Listing and Airdrop as Market Adjusts
Sophon’s utility token, SOPH, faced a steep drop of more than 33% within its first 24 hours of trading, following its official listing on Binance and a large-scale airdrop. The token, designed for a next-gen Layer 2 blockchain focused on entertainment applications, saw its value plummet from an all-time high of $0.11 to around $0.06 shortly after launch.
The sharp decline is largely attributed to the unlocking and distribution of 900 million SOPH tokens—representing 9% of its total 10 billion supply—through an airdrop at launch. With no lock-up period for recipients, a flood of early sales hit the market, intensifying downward pressure on the token’s price.
Sophon, which leverages Validium-based zero-knowledge (ZK) technology and is part of the zkSync Elastic Chain vision, aims to provide high throughput and low fees while maintaining Ethereum-level security. It’s backed by over $70 million in venture capital, including funding from Binance Labs.
On May 23, Binance announced it would be the first exchange to list SOPH, with trading beginning on May 28 at 13:00 UTC. Simultaneously, SOPH was made available on major exchanges such as OKX, KuCoin, Upbit, Bitget, and MEXC. Despite the broad exposure, the launch triggered volatility rather than stability.
Data from CoinGecko confirms that the token’s trading volume surged by more than 2,700%, indicating rapid distribution from early holders. Market capitalization also saw a sharp decline, losing over $80 million within a day.
The initial token release included 6% for Layer 1 farmers and 3% for early contributors, zkSync users, and NFT holders. While this approach aimed to incentivize the early community, it also added to the sell pressure with minimal immediate utility to counteract it.
Currently, SOPH’s main functions are limited to paying gas fees and contributing to sequencer decentralization. Sophon has acknowledged this and assured users that new use cases are on the roadmap. “There is plenty planned on the product front so stay tuned for the evolution of SOPH,” the project stated.
In addition, Binance assigned SOPH a “seed tag,” signaling high volatility and increased risk. This tag typically applies to newer projects that may experience large price swings. The exchange also launched SOPH futures trading with up to 75x leverage—further amplifying the token’s price fluctuations.
Looking ahead, market watchers are keeping an eye on a potential second wave of selling. In about three months, another 20% of SOPH’s supply—allocated for node operator rewards—will begin unlocking weekly.
Despite these headwinds, there are early signs of adoption. According to data from DeFiLlama, Sophon’s total value locked (TVL) hit a peak of $20.28 million, up 14.1% from the previous day. Trading activity on decentralized exchanges also surged, reaching a record $47.44 million in volume.