Web3 expert Chris Zhu discusses the Solana ecosystem and the development of gaming chains.

Chris Zhu is an expert with extensive experience in the Web3 field. His career began at ByteDance, after which he joined a team focused on the intersection of AI and Web3, deeply exploring the combination of AI with NFTs and AI with cryptocurrencies. These emerging business models have sparked his strong interest in Web3.

After founding Mirror World and focusing on game asset issuance, Chris discovered the volatility of market demand. He collaborated with relevant foundations to develop Sonic, a proprietary chain specifically for gaming services, aimed at addressing scalability issues within the Solana ecosystem. With his extensive experience and deep understanding of technology, Chris has become a key figure in driving the development of the Web3 gaming ecosystem.

Opportunities to Enter the Web3 Field

After leaving ByteDance in the second half of 2021, Chris began to explore the Web3 field. In his previous work, he was involved in research in the consumer entertainment industry and the SaaS market. The team he subsequently joined conducted in-depth research on the integration of AI with NFTs and AI with cryptocurrencies, which deeply fascinated Chris and prompted him to decide to enter the Web3 field.

Motivation and Process of Creating Sonic

During the creation of Sonic, Chris experienced the transition from Mirror World to Sonic and identified three core issues:

1. Diversity of game assets and user diversity: Initially focused on asset issuance through NFT collections, serving multiple game projects. However, they found that the demand for game asset issuance was higher during market upcycles, but in bear markets, project parties prefer to build and address core issues.

2. On-chain computing resources and congestion issues: It has been observed that a single project occupies a large amount of computing resources on the chain, resulting in congestion on the mainnet. Although TPS is already high and costs are low, there will still be congestion issues as more applications place logic on the chain.

3. Insufficient game publishing capability: The main chain itself lacks the ability to publish games, which is not only a technical issue but also involves aspects such as organizational structure and team background.

Based on these issues, the Chris team proposed a plan to develop the game-specific chain Sonic on the existing foundation, making full use of their research and development capabilities and resources in Mirror World, successfully pivoting to the game SVM track.

The Impact of Experience in Different Fields on Entrepreneurship

Chris's professional experience spans multiple fields, with each step providing him with valuable insights. During his time at a large internet company, he learned about corporate management concepts and efficiency management methods. In an international team, Chris gained further practice in managing businesses and recruiting talent, laying a solid foundation for his future entrepreneurial endeavors.

These experiences became particularly important after Chris entered the cryptocurrency field. He realized that the cyclical nature and volatility of the industry are extremely strong, and that the inflow of funds has clear time windows. Therefore, when managing the Sonic team, Chris adopted a more flexible and adaptive strategy, emphasizing the maintenance of a lean core team and quickly expanding when market demand surged, in order to respond to the rapid changes in the industry.

The Development History and Direction Changes of Mirror World

Mirror World initially served game projects by issuing NFT assets. However, the team found that simply issuing assets could not meet the long-term demands of the market. Therefore, they began developing in-game wallets, markets, deposit, and exchange tools to provide broader infrastructure support.

In 2023, with the outbreak of industry events, the number of projects in the ecosystem sharply decreased. Chris and the team recognized the need for new solutions to address market challenges. They ultimately decided to develop the SVM expansion chain Sonic, specifically designed for gaming services, which not only leveraged the R&D experience of Mirror World but also helped gaming project parties to better operate on-chain by solving scalability issues.

Comparison of Solana Scaling and Ethereum Scaling

Chris pointed out that the scalability issues of Solana are quite different from those of Ethereum. The scalability of Ethereum mainly aims to address the speed and cost issues of the mainnet, while Solana already has a high TPS and low transaction costs. The scalability of Solana is more about meeting the specific needs of different sectors, providing proprietary chains to ensure that each sector has its independent economic effects and computing resources.

Sonic's Expansion Plan Hypergrid

The Hypergrid expansion solution by Sonic on Solana is a framework for creating SVM environments specifically designed for gaming services. By horizontally scaling, it provides proprietary chains for different domains, thus addressing the scalability issues of specific areas. Chris anticipates that in the future, there will not only be proprietary chains in the gaming sector but also in other areas such as DeFi and AI, with each domain able to enjoy customized scaling services.

The core of Hypergrid lies in its flexibility and adaptability. Through horizontal scaling, each domain can develop independently while maintaining a connection to the main network. This approach not only enhances the professionalism and efficiency of each domain but also improves the overall performance and scalability of the ecosystem.

Challenges Faced by Layer 2 Scaling on Solana

In terms of Layer 2 scaling, Solana faces multiple challenges:

1. Assess which areas truly need independent SVM scaling chains.
2. There are technical challenges during the continuous splitting and maintenance of the codebase.
3. The rapid development of the ecosystem requires constant resolution of new issues.

Chris pointed out that the team needs to remain flexible during the development of Sonic to respond to new challenges and changes at any time.

Future Outlook of the Web3 Gaming Sector

Chris is confident about the future of Web3 games. He believes that the quality of current game content and the toolkit for monetization have significantly improved compared to the previous cycle. Although the cryptocurrency prices of Web3 games are not performing well at the moment, the quality of the games and users' willingness to pay have reached a relatively high level.

Future game design will put more logic on-chain. When the cost and speed of technology reach a certain level, full-chain gaming will become possible. Sonic is also working towards this direction in technology development, although currently 80% of the focus is still on games that put assets on-chain, more attention will be paid to the development of full-chain games in the future. Chris believes that with technological advancement and market maturity, Web3 games will achieve breakthroughs in gameplay and asset innovation, and there may even be a first blockbuster full-chain game.