Sony’s Soneium Layer 2 blockchain has achieved a major breakthrough in transaction speed, reducing its finality time by over 98%. This leap follows a new partnership between Astar, AltLayer, and EigenLayer, who have launched a “Fast Finality Layer” for Soneium.
Finality is a key concept in blockchain, marking the point when a transaction becomes irreversible. Soneium’s finality time has dropped from 15 minutes to under 10 seconds, thanks to the new solution. The improvement relies on a decentralised validator network secured by restaked ETH and Astar’s ASTR tokens, which significantly reduces dependence on centralised sequencers and strengthens crosschain security.
The update positions Soneium among the fastest Layer 2 blockchains. For context, Arbitrum One and Coinbase’s Base network currently offer average finality times of about one minute, both using optimistic rollups.
According to Maarten Henskens, head of Astar Foundation, faster finality is crucial for advanced DeFi use cases and a smoother user experience. He explained that most existing solutions have finality delays ranging from 15 minutes to several days, which hinders real-time applications and user trust. “Users no longer need to wait or double-check if a transaction will be reversed, and developers can confidently build real-time, interactive applications,” Henskens said.
YQ Jia, CEO of AltLayer, called the partnership a “crucial step toward secure, high-speed, crosschain interoperability.” By combining EigenLayer’s restaking with MACH validation and Astar Network’s support, the team aims to deliver Ethereum-level security with near-instant finality. Jia believes this is the kind of infrastructure needed for mainstream blockchain adoption.
EigenLayer has focused on advancing blockchain adoption since its launch. In February 2025, it teamed up with Cartesi to explore new consumer applications that could drive broader crypto use.
Notably, Onchain Labs, a new incubator program launched by Offchain Labs and the Arbitrum Foundation, will support and accelerate the development of decentralized applications within the Arbitrum ecosystem. The program will offer mentorship and guidance on product creation, marketing, and fair launch strategies, aiming to bolster Arbitrum’s application layer and user experience amidst competition from other Ethereum layer-2 solutions.
If you want to read more news articles like this, visit DeFi Planet and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and CoinMarketCap Community.
“Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.”
