ICON Project Rebrands as SODAX, Migrating DeFi Infrastructure to Sonic

ZUG, May 12, 2025 -- SODAX, the DeFi-native successor to ICON, one of the earliest
and most recognized blockchains from the 2017 era, has officially begun migrating its
core infrastructure to Sonic, a high-speed, EVM-compatible Layer 1. The milestone
follows a successful validator vote to decommission the ICON chain, marking the first full L1 migration into the Sonic ecosystem.

SODAX introduces a new intent-based execution that enables seamless swaps,
lending, and borrowing across 12+ chains, all routed through protocol-owned liquidity
and delivered via a composable SDK stack. Unlike most DeFi apps, SODAX lets users
move between assets and blockchains seamlessly. Intent-based execution handles
any need to bridge or wrap tokens in the backend.

“Our mission has always been to empower individuals by putting financial products
directly in their hands - not just to store digital assets, but to actually use them
independently of traditional financial institutions,” said Min Kim, founder of ICON and SODAX. “With SODAX, we believe we’ve finally brought together the essential
elements: lower fees, an improved user experience, and a platform designed from the
ground up for self-custody and genuine financial utility.

Access the Press Kit: sodax.com/press

SODAX Brings Unified Liquidity Layer to Sonic

“ICON/SODAX brings something to Sonic that doesn’t exist today — an intent-based
execution layer spanning more than a dozen chains,” said Michael Kong, CEO of Sonic
Labs. “Done right, this can significantly improve the DeFi user experience. It’s a
meaningful addition to the Sonic builder ecosystem.”

The move arrives as Sonic’s momentum accelerates. Since rebranding from Fantom in
late 2024, the network has gained ground as a serious DeFi-native L1, offering
sub-second finality, EVM composability, and a Fee Monetization (FeeM) model that
redistributes gas fees to builders. SODAX’s arrival adds a high-utility product layer that
complements Sonic’s infrastructure focus.

Unlike bridge-based protocols or rent-a-pool aggregators, SODAX routes native assets
through Protocol-Owned Liquidity (POL) — enabling persistent, low-slippage access
without relying on mercenary TVL or third-party bridges. Its Solver SDK uses
intent-based routing to optimize every transaction across chains, abstracting gas,
wrapping, and slippage. For users, assets stay native and costs stay low. For builders,
SODAX offers a composable foundation that unlocks protocol fee streams and faster
integration across wallets, DEXs, and DeFi apps.

ICON Evolves from Infrastructure Layer to User-Focused DeFi

ICON launched in 2017 with a bold vision to connect blockchains through
interoperability standards like Blockchain Transmission Protocol (BTP) and xCall. Over
time, however, its focus shifted from infra-first development toward DeFi usability —
led by projects like Balanced and Hana Wallet, which helped validate real user
demand.

“We built a layer one because we had to,” said Kim. “Back then, there was no
infrastructure for what we wanted to do. But the industry’s matured, there are now
plenty of options available, so we don’t need to build everything ourselves. This allows
us to focus where we have an edge: innovating and delivering products that people
actually want to use.”

SODAX is the result of that shift: modular execution that integrates directly with
Uniswap, Cetus (Sui), Raydium (Solana), and other key dApps — Its Unified Liquidity
Layer routing native assets with minimal slippage.

“The heart and soul of ICON is still very much the same. We’re just focusing all our
energy and attention on a goal that’s still aligned with the interoperability
infrastructure we’ve always believed in,” said Elise Shin, SODAX head of growth.

ICON ($ICX) to Migrate Token to $SODA

As a decentralized network, the validator vote formalizes ICON’s evolution into a fully
product-driven platform. $ICX token holders will be able to migrate to $SODA, a new
governance and utility token with a fixed supply cap of 1.5 billion (changed from
unlimited supply) and built-in deflationary mechanisms.

“There’s a tremendous sense of excitement from our loyal community members who
have supported us throughout our journey, and for good reason,” said Kim. “Over the
years, we’ve assembled a world-class team of experts across multiple disciplines from
over a dozen countries, forged robust partnerships with industry-leading projects and companies, and, most importantly, developed technology and products that truly resonate with our partners and users. On top of that, we’re extremely well-capitalized
where we are better positioned than most top projects at a similar stage. All of this
gives us every reason to feel confident and optimistic about what lies ahead.”

About SODAX: Cross-Chain DeFi Platform on Sonic L1

SODAX is a cross-chain DeFi platform built on Sonic, enabling seamless swaps,
lending, and borrowing across 12+ blockchains — all powered by the unified liquidity

layer and intent-based execution. Built by the makers of the ICON public blockchain
network, SODAX focuses on unified, user-facing products that simplify DeFi across
ecosystems like Arbitrum, Stellar, Sui, and Cosmos. With integrations across Uniswap
and Cetus (Sui), SODAX turns fragmented DeFi into a single, scalable experience. Learn more at sodax.com.

Press Contact:
Elaine Ramirez, press@icon.foundation
Twitter/X: @gosodax
Press Kit: sodax.com/press