Fantom Crypto: A Smart Investment Decision?

Fantom (FTM) is a cryptocurrency that runs on the Fantom blockchain, which is led by Michael Kong and his full-stack blockchain development team. Fantom offers a secure and highly safe system of transaction and trading accounts with no middlemen involved. FTM is used to secure the network via staking, to send and receive payments on the network, to pay network and smart contracts fees, and for on-chain governance. FTM has been listed on many crypto exchanges, including Binance, OKX, Bybit, DigiFinex, and UEEx. As of 17 March 2023, FTM had a market cap of $1.28bn, making it the 43rd-largest crypto by that metric. But is it a good investment?

Fantom's price history and future predictions

Fantom (FTM) is a cryptocurrency that runs on the Fantom blockchain, which was launched in 2018 by the Fantom Foundation. The foundation is currently led by CEO and CIO Michael Kong.

Fantom uses a new consensus mechanism called Lachesis, which is an Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT) consensus protocol. This allows for faster and cheaper transactions than older technologies while maintaining high-security standards.

Price History

FTM started 2021 at $0.017 and spiked to $0.872 in February before falling back down. It then climbed to $0.957 in May before dropping to $0.263 as the broader cryptocurrency market fell.

The price of FTM bottomed out at $0.153 in July 2021 before starting to rally again in August. The price climbed to an all-time high of $3.48 on 28 October 2021, following the broader cryptocurrency market. FTM ended 2021 at $2.25, a gain of more than 13,000% for the year.

In 2022, FTM first dropped below $1 on 25 April, falling to a low of $0.9896. It then continued its downtrend, bottoming out at $0.1961 on 13 June after the news that the Celsius crypto lending platform had cancelled withdrawals. FTM ended 2022 at $0.1997, representing an annual loss of more than 90%.

FTM was able to rally to a high of $0.6533 in early 2023, its highest price since May 2022, but it went down in fits and starts after that. As of 17 March 2023, FTM was worth about $0.4615.

Future Predictions

It is worth noting that price predictions for cryptocurrency are often wrong, and the market is extremely volatile, making it difficult to predict.

CoinCodex predicted that FTM could trade at $0.464696 on 22 March 2023 and fall to $0.383297 on 16 April 2023. DigitalCoinPrice predicted FTM could reach $0.94 in 2024 and $1.61 in 2025, eventually reaching $4.74 in 2030. PricePrediction suggested FTM could average $0.53 in 2024 and reach $8.02 by 2030. In contrast, Wallet Investor predicted a bearish outlook, with FTM falling to $0.0369 by 17 March 2024.

Fantom's blockchain algorithm

Fantom is a Layer-1 blockchain that uses a bespoke consensus mechanism and an independent consensus layer, Lachesis, to facilitate DeFi and related services on the basis of smart contracts. Lachesis provides security for other layers, including Opera, Fantom's EVM-compatible smart contract chain.

Lachesis is an Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT) consensus protocol that the company claims is faster and cheaper than older technologies while maintaining high-security standards. It is the consensus layer of the blockchain and can be connected to any distributed ledger.

An aBFT consensus protocol allows for maximum decentralisation, high scalability, and bank-grade security. Unlike proof-of-work, round-robin proof-of-stake, coinage proof-of-stake, and sync BFT, Lachesis nodes don't send blocks to each other. Only the events are synced between nodes. Validators don't vote on a concrete state of the network; instead, they periodically exchange observed transactions and events with peers.

Fantom's Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT) Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism maintains the efficiency of the entire network, and its design provides security at maximum speed. Fantom developers emphasise that the PoS mechanism is a leaderless phenomenon—there are no leaders of blocks and participants, and anyone can join or leave the network of nodes at a convenient moment.

The key qualities of Lachesis are: asynchronous, leaderless, Byzantine fault-tolerant, and near-instant finality.

Opera, Fantom's mainnet, is an application development layer or deployment platform, permissionless and open-source, hosting DApps. Thanks to EVM integration and support for the Solidity programming language, Fantom has a full set of smart contract capabilities, allowing users to seamlessly interact with Ethereum platforms while maintaining Fantom's transaction efficiency.

The Fantom Foundation concluded that removing block leaders improves network security, so Opera uses a PoS model and leaderless validators (validators do not determine which blocks are valid).

Fantom's performance and efficient transaction processing are among its key strengths, with thousands of transactions per second, where transactions are settled in 1-2 seconds, and the cost is fractions of a cent per transaction. As a result, Fantom provides higher scalability but at a lower cost.

Fantom also features on-chain governance, where users vote with FTM tokens (one token equals one vote). Users have the right to express the degree of agreement/disagreement on a scale from 0 to 4.

Fantom's partnerships and collaborations

Fantom has a strong focus on partnerships and collaborations, which it leverages to push the frontiers of blockchain technology. Here is a detailed overview of Fantom's partnerships and collaborations:

Government and Enterprise:

Fantom has established several notable partnerships with government entities and enterprises. For instance, they work with Chainlink, a decentralised oracle network, to build secure and scalable DeFi products. Fantom also integrates with Band Protocol, a decentralised oracle solution, to provide developers with trustworthy data.

Afghanistan:

Fantom has several partnerships in Afghanistan, including with the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) to enhance their software using blockchain tools. They also collaborate with Royal Star Pharma, one of the country's largest pharmaceutical distributors, to tackle the issue of counterfeit drugs.

Pakistan:

Fantom has partnered with the Pakistan Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) to upgrade their legacy systems with blockchain-powered solutions, enabling database audits and real-time monitoring.

Tajikistan:

Fantom has joined forces with the Ministry of Industry of New Technologies of Tajikistan to utilise Fantom's blockchain-based IT solutions for the country's e-government infrastructure.

University of Sydney:

Fantom has a research partnership with the University of Sydney to focus on safe, secure, and low-energy programming toolchains for blockchain. This includes creating automatic bug-checking software for safer smart contract development.

Formula One:

Fantom sponsored Formula One driver Pierre Gasly for the 2021 season, with Gasly stating that Fantom is "the world's first smart contract platform ready for mass adoption, allowing instant transactions and nearly zero cost."

Other Notable Partnerships:

Fantom has also partnered with Travala, a blockchain-based travel booking platform, and various other companies in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, including Covalent, Ankr, API3, Ren, Orion Protocol, Superfarm, Injective, UniLend, Clover, and more.

Fantom's extensive list of partnerships and collaborations demonstrates their commitment to innovation and growth in the blockchain industry.

Is FTM a good long-term investment?

As with any investment, it is impossible to give a definitive answer as to whether FTM is a good long-term investment. The cryptocurrency market is notoriously volatile, and prices can fluctuate wildly in response to news, events, and market sentiment. However, here is some information that might help you make a decision about investing in FTM.

FTM Price History and Predictions

FTM is the native cryptocurrency of the Fantom blockchain platform, which was launched in 2019. FTM had a strong year in 2021, with its price rising by over 13,000%. However, in 2022, it lost more than 90% of its value. In 2023, it made a partial recovery, but it is still well below its 2021 highs.

Looking ahead, price predictions for FTM vary. Some sources predict that FTM could reach $0.94 in 2025 and $4.74 by 2030. On the other hand, Wallet Investor has a bearish view, predicting that FTM could fall to $0.0369 by March 2024. It is important to note that price predictions are often wrong and that the cryptocurrency market is highly volatile.

FTM's Technology and Use Cases

Fantom is a layer-1, EVM-compatible smart contract-based blockchain. It uses a specialized proof-of-stake consensus protocol called Lachesis, which is designed to facilitate fast, secure, and cheap transactions. Fantom also offers a safe and highly secure system of transaction and trading accounts with no middlemen involved. The Fantom blockchain has been adopted by several national governments, and it has been used to build decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.

Expert Views and Investment Advice

Experts' views on FTM vary. Some sources claim that FTM can be a valuable and sustainable source of income, while others warn that it is a bad, high-risk investment option. It is generally recommended that investors do their own research and never invest more than they can afford to lose. Cryptocurrencies are highly risky and volatile, and even high market cap cryptocurrencies can be affected by bear markets.

In conclusion, whether FTM is a good long-term investment depends on a variety of factors, including its technology, use cases, and market sentiment. Investors should carefully consider their risk tolerance, conduct their own research, and make investment decisions based on their financial goals and risk appetite.

How does Fantom gain significance in the market?

Fantom is a secure and scalable smart contract platform for creating digital assets and smart contracts. It is aimed at the development of decentralised finance (DeFi) applications. It is designed to overcome the limitations in transaction speeds that affect older blockchain platforms running smart contracts.

Fantom's blockchain technology can execute transactions in less than a second, with the lowest costs. Its transaction fee is only about a penny, much lower than Ethereum's. This makes Fantom a reliable alternative to giants like Bitcoin and Ethereum, whose transactions can take up to an hour and 10 minutes, respectively.

Fantom also provides easier-to-integrate solutions for developing smart contracts, offering an alternative to Ethereum. It is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allowing developers to transfer their Ethereum (ETH)-based decentralised applications to Fantom.

Fantom has been working with several national governments to implement its blockchain-based technology. In 2021, it signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the Pakistan Punjab Prisons Department, the Pakistan Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA), the Afghanistan Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of the Republic of Tajikistan.

Fantom has two key technologies: DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) and Lachesis. DAG allows multiple chains of blocks to link and coexist without connecting to the first (parent) node, reducing latency times. Lachesis, on the other hand, provides security to the multiple chains deployed within the ecosystem. It uses an Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT) algorithm to attain high-performance data storage.

Fantom's mainnet, called Opera, is an environment for building decentralised applications. It is fully permissionless and open-source, leveraging its speed and fast finality. Opera can conclude transactions in about one to two seconds, compared to Bitcoin's average finality time of about 60 minutes.

Fantom's unique features, such as its speed, scalability, and compatibility with Ethereum, have made it one of the most successful alternatives to Ethereum. Its ability to process transactions quickly and securely has contributed to its growing significance in the market.

Frequently asked questions