A brief analysis of Somnia: a high-performance Layer 1 network built specifically for the Metaverse

About Somnia

Somnia is both a Layer 1 blockchain and a suite of omnichain-protocols that aims to build a unified, scalable virtual society that can serve millions of users. Somnia will connect the fragmented metaverse, NFTs, and game worlds, returning value and creative control to users and creators.

The Somnia Protocol has the potential to absorb a large amount of the total locked value (TVL) in the existing blockchain gaming, metaverse and NFT sectors. The total TVL in the above sectors is currently close to US$100 billion and is expected to continue to grow exponentially in the next few years.

Core Features and Benefits

• High scalability & low cost

Unlike existing blockchains that are slow, expensive, and primarily targeted at financial applications, Somnia is a Layer 1 designed to support hundreds of thousands of transactions per second. While many blockchains claim to be the fastest, Somnia can achieve sub-second transaction finality while supporting millions of assets. (See "Why Choose Another Blockchain?")

• Multi-chain compatible creator economic system

Somnia aims to build a real economic system in the metaverse, such as supporting creator royalties and microtransactions (content payment). The Somnia blockchain is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and is compatible with the current huge EVM ecosystem.

• A multi-chain protocol designed specifically for the Metaverse

1. Build a creator economy: Somnia attaches great importance to the creator community and will build a decentralized economic system around this community so that innovators can directly benefit from content creation, which will incentivize the development of more new use cases and build a community-driven governance system.
2. Composability: Users can now combine content and expand on the content created by others. For example, in some metaverse events, users can reuse elements of previous events (concert stages, light shows, fireworks shows, etc.), making event planning simpler and more convenient. At the same time, the creators of the original elements used can also obtain royalties through the micro-transaction mechanism, so that all parties involved can benefit.
3. Content re-creation: composability also allows users to make fine adjustments through content mix-and-matching. The activity elements mentioned above can be modified according to the specific needs of users. For example, when creators borrow some past activity elements (stage and light show, etc.), they can choose to change the color, theme or other features to create a new experience.
4. Upgradable NFTs: Somnia can upgrade existing 2D NFTs to transform them into 3D images in the Metaverse. Somnia is currently helping some well-known NFT projects upgrade for free, and these NFT collectors can now use their favorite NFT images to travel in the Metaverse, and can also create themed worlds in the Metaverse based on their collections. Imagine Pudgy Penguins and Cool Cats being able to move around in a unified Metaverse and have their own themed worlds.
5. Interoperable Systems: Through standardized infrastructure, such as Metaverse Markup Language (MML) and the MSquared Origin engine, Somnia will ensure that assets, avatars, and commercial activities can be seamlessly transferred between different platforms, allowing creators to reorganize content in unprecedented ways. Using this technology, different metaverses (such as the performing arts-themed metaverse and the sports-themed metaverse) will be interoperable, thus bringing the performance effects in the metaverse to a whole new level.

route map

• Betanet and Testnet Phases: These phases will allow early community members of Somnia (generally referred to as Somniacs) to try out interoperable avatars in Somnia’s immersive experiences and large-scale metaverse events.
• Community Events: Somnia will leverage the experience of Improbable and Msquared to host large-scale events that can accommodate millions of people.

Key Information

• Somnia is a Layer 1 designed for millions of users;
• Somnia is able to capture the TVL of hundreds of billions of dollars scattered among blockchain games, metaverse and NFT industries;
• High-quality investment background:

Somnia was founded by the Virtual Society Foundation (VSF), an independent organization launched by Improbable, a UK startup that has been at the forefront of building virtual worlds for many years; VSF was initially funded by MSquared, an interoperable metaverse ecosystem. VSF will continue and advance Improbable and MSquared's metaverse vision.

In 2022, Improbable raised $150 million in funding from a16z, SoftBank, Mirana Ventures, CMT Digital, and SIG to build MSquared, and the funds have also been used to launch VSF.

• MSquared has supported a number of large-scale events, such as the official virtual baseball stadium event held in cooperation with Major League Baseball (MLB) and the exclusive concert of Kpop musician TWICE held on the Kosmopop platform. These successful events are expected to attract a group of initial users to Somnia.
• New Economic Framework: Somnia is building the foundation for a more decentralized, open, and interconnected virtual world where users and content creators can participate in governance and influence the future of the world.
• Incentivized Creator Economy: Somnia is committed to building a true virtual society where creators can thrive, innovate and earn real money.
• Somnia's vision is to create a seamless, integrated metaverse that supports individual creative freedom and provides people with opportunities to create, share and collaborate.