THE FOUNDER

Somnia is the first blockchain designed for large-scale virtual worlds and open digital economies. Established as an independent foundation with its own Board, governance and leadership under CEO Paul Thomas, Somnia is designed to power the next wave of gaming, social and DeFi applications at a scale existing blockchains haven’t reached.

”I used to believe the best product always wins”, Paul says. “The truth is, without a great go-to-market, it doesn’t.”

From 70+ partners and 60 validators to over 118 million wallets and 10 billion transactions on testnet, Somnia has grown an ecosystem ready for scale. Now, Paul shares Somnia aims to set the foundation for open, reactive platforms, and why microgames might just be the key to bringing people in and keeping them there.

THE INTERVIEW

For those just discovering Somnia, what is it and why launch a new Layer 1 now?

Fun fact - we actually didn’t want to build a Layer 1. We tried hard not to.

I worked on MSquared, powering large shared virtual spaces in gaming, sports and entertainment. The tech worked brilliantly, but existing blockchains couldn’t support interoperability or digital asset integration for live experiences - they’re built for slow financial transactions, not real-time shared worlds.

So Somnia was born out of necessity, a high-performance, fully composable Layer 1 for immersive, on-chain applications. Somnia’s composability lets developers reuse on-chain logic, plug into shared systems, and accelerate build times, creating a network effect that compounds ecosystem value and consumer adoption.

We’ve demonstrated over 1 million transactions per second, ultra-low latency, and transaction costs under $0.001. The infrastructure is live, tested and scalable.

What role has funding and strategic support played in helping Somnia set pace early?

Somnia was incepted by Improbable and received early funding support from MSquared, before being established as an independent foundation with its own board, governance and employees. To date, over $270m has been committed to the Somnia ecosystem by the Foundation and a broad set of partners. 

Most of our capital goes into growing the ecosystem. Developers need two things: capital to build and a consumer base, and Somnia offers both. 

We can bring in strong teams faster than most, not just through capital but by giving them a clear path to distribution and adoption. Now we’re seeing many teams join without capital needs. They see the community engagement, developer support and go-to-market engine, and want to be part of it. That’s exactly what the funding was meant to unlock - a self-sustaining ecosystem that compounds over time.

You’ve reported more than 70 partners and 60 validators, with 118 million wallets  and 10 billion transactions on testnet. What drove that momentum ahead of mainnet?

The community has been central from day one. They’re an extension of the company, helping shape roadmaps, giving feedback and making decisions. A strong, engaged community is a major lever in Web3, so we built with that in mind.

We started by deeply understanding a core group’s needs and engagement styles. This tight feedback loop snowballed from hundreds to thousands of believers sharing the message. Today, that means we can bring new projects into the ecosystem and instantly inject them with 10,000 active users.

I’ve also made a conscious effort to be more front-facing. In Web3, transparency and direct connection build trust, and trust sustains a real community.

We've seen plenty of projects generate buzz at launch, then struggle with retention. How do you avoid that hype dip?

I think of the ecosystem like a theme park. You can have all the excitement in the world on launch day, but if there aren’t any rides, or rather nothing to do, people won’t stick around. Many projects launch too early, with tech ready but the ecosystem immature. We delayed launch multiple times to ensure enough utility and activity from day one.

We built features to keep users engaged long-term, like a questing framework encouraging exploration and a gamified XP system rewarding participation. Ultimately, retention comes from genuine value. People stay when the content and experiences keep them interested.

How does Somnia differ from other Layer 1’s like Avalanche or Solana?

Somnia enables gaming experiences others can’t support. Most Layer 1’s focus heavily on NFTs and tokens, which work but don’t create deeply engaging experiences for everyday consumers. 

Our performance lets us put vastly more data and transactions on-chain, powering gameplay features like wagering or prediction markets that require high throughput. 

Developers can also build more of the game’s logic and data to live on-chain for reuse. It’s the blockchain equivalent of Web2 modding, which gave rise to entire genres. While others use blockchain primarily as a ledger, Somnia is a composable data platform that fuels collaboration and innovation at scale.

What’s one emerging trend in virtual experiences or on-chain gaming that you think most people are still sleeping on?

Many competitors are chasing the “shiny game” model - big-budget, AAA-style titles, often backed by huge marketing spends. But the games industry is fiercely competitive at that level, and going head-to-head with studios spending tens or hundreds of millions is a steep challenge. 

We’re focused instead on microgames - short, engaging experiences playable in minutes on a phone. These games might seem small, but they’re surprisingly fun and, importantly, suited to how people’s attention spans are evolving. The games industry is seeing flat engagement and revenue for the first time, and microgames are well-positioned to reverse that trend. 

We’re also deeply invested in the independent studio scene, which is historically where the best innovation happens. They create fresh ideas and new game types that, once proven successful, are adopted by the bigger players. I believe we’ll see the same pattern unfold in Web3 gaming.

What’s the next big milestone for Somnia post-mainnet? 

We’ve already processed over ten billion transactions  in testnet phase - one of the highest figures achieved by any blockchain before mainnet launch - and we’re aiming to scale this significantly. Our other immediate goal is ecosystem growth by attracting high-quality projects and consumers.

Technically, we’re pioneering “reactivity” - letting apps listen and respond to on-chain changes fully on-chain, removing Web2 dependencies. For example, imagine an MLB game where every home run is recorded on-chain. Currently, reacting to such events demands a complex hybrid system of on and off-chain components. Somnia’s reactivity enables developers to build responsive applications fully on-chain, simplifying development and unlocking use cases previously impossible.

Later this year, we’ll also focus on making the network more permissionless by allowing more participants to become validators, which will enhance decentralisation without sacrificing performance.

In 5–10 years, how will Somnia have shaped the immersive internet?

I hope Somnia will have proven that putting key components of immersive experiences on-chain can deliver real value to both creators and consumers. This will be reflected in hundreds, if not thousands, of thousands of successful businesses built on Somnia, monetising effectively and sustainably. 

My vision is for truly open, egalitarian platforms anyone can access to create high-quality content. Web3 removes gatekeepers, empowering individuals and small teams to become “mini entrepreneurs” building immersive experiences for hundreds of thousands of users. These will set a high bar, combining great content, joyful user experiences, and creator financial opportunities.

Building something ambitious?

We work with founders solving complex problems in AI transformation, the metaverse and Web3 – the kind that don’t get built alone.

That’s a wrap for this month.

We’ll be back next month with more progress and another venture in the spotlight. P.S. Have feedback, suggestions or topics you'd like us to dive into? Contact us.