Sonic Research Doubles Transaction Speeds with SonicCS 2.0 Upgrade

Sonic Research has launched a significant upgrade to its blockchain consensus protocol with the introduction of SonicCS 2.0. This new system is designed to double transaction speeds and reduce memory requirements by nearly 70 percent. Built on a directed acyclic graph (DAG) structure, SonicCS 2.0 introduces overlapping elections to streamline how transactions are ordered across blocks, enhancing both speed and efficiency while improving scalability. The company confirmed that the new client will roll out in the coming weeks.

One of the key features of SonicCS 2.0 is its layered election process, where validator roles can overlap across multiple rounds. Unlike earlier versions, events in the DAG can simultaneously serve as candidates, voters, and aggregators. This allows the network to perform elections in parallel rather than waiting for one to complete before starting another. Each transaction update can contribute to several elections at once, leading to faster consensus and quicker block formation. The protocol processes events through a pipeline model, turning the layered system into a streamlined process. This overlapping approach shortens the path from transaction to finality and improves resource use across validator nodes by minimizing redundant computations.

A key enhancement in SonicCS 2.0 is its matrix-based voting structure. Each validator uses a 0-1 matrix to track voting and aggregation across layers. By structuring this data in matrices, Sonic compresses memory usage and simplifies computation. For instance, voting and aggregation can now be done using vector operations supported by AVX2 instructions on most CPUs. This structure also supports real-time decision-making. The system can instantly check vote thresholds and aggregate results using fewer resources. As a result, SonicCS 2.0 uses only 135MB of memory per epoch, down from 420MB in the previous version.

Performance tests on 200 mainnet epochs show SonicCS 2.0 delivers a consistent 2.04x speed boost. The protocol never lagged behind its predecessor and achieved a top speedup of 2.62x. These results highlight a stable upgrade that maintains security while improving throughput. The changes reflect Sonic’s broader push for performance improvements without compromising blockchain reliability.

With faster transaction ordering and lower memory use, SonicCS 2.0 could set a new standard for DAG-based consensus protocols. Its overlap-driven design and vectorized computations position it well for high-throughput environments. As the protocol rolls out, more testing and performance benchmarks are expected to follow.