What Is Fantom (FTM)?
FTM is the native token of Fantom, which is an open-source Layer-1 blockchain. If you're interested in the current FTM price, check out the Fantom price chart above.
Since Fantom is a smart contract-based platform, it provides developers with various decentralized finance (DeFi) services, including creating dApps and digital assets. It contains an intricate staking incentive system, built-in DeFi tools, and makes the process of integrating dApps easier.
Fantom was essentially developed as an alternative to the Ethereum blockchain. It aims to solve the problems that other smart contract platforms face. This includes transaction speed, scalability issues, security issues, and so on.
In fact, in terms of transaction speed and scalability, Fantom provides users with fast and low-cost transactions. It manages to complete thousands of transactions per second, and each transaction costs around $0.0000001.
At the time of its launch in December 2019, the Fantom price was $0.01. The volatility remained low until early 2021, when it started experiencing more frequent fluctuations.
The Fantom network was developed by the Fantom Foundation, which was founded by computer scientist Dr. Ahn Byung Ik. The CEO of the Foundation is Michael Kong.
One of the most notable milestones was reached in September 2021. Then, the FTM price surpassed $1 for the first time since its official launch.
How Does Fantom Work?
Fantom employs an application development layer called Opera to allow users to host dApps in a permissionless manner on an open-source network. The Fantom Opera mainnet supports smart contracts using the Solidity language and is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
As a result, Fantom offers a complete set of smart contract features that let users engage with Ethereum platforms without sacrificing Fantom's transaction efficiency.
Besides, thanks to the Lachesis protocol that Opera employs, it manages to reach fast finality time. Lachesis protocol is an Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT) Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism that is based on the directed acyclic graph (DAG) algorithm.
It can be simply integrated into programs written in any programming language. Lachesis can handle the state machine replication aspect, allowing developers to concentrate on creating the application logic.
Each Lachesis validator node maintains a local DAG made up of transaction-containing event blocks. The exact final order of events is determined independently for each node using the DAG, which captures the happens-before link between the events. The DAG is divided into smaller DAGs, known as epochs, in order to maximize storage and retrieval.
The nodes of Lachesis do not send blocks to one another as they do with the majority of traditional consensus mechanisms. Instead, they merely exchange events. It essentially allows Opera to finalize and settle transactions in a second.
Besides, since Lachesis is a leaderless Proof-of-Stake mechanism, there are no leader nodes that determine the validity of blocks. This highly increases the security of the network.
The Purpose of FTM Coins
FTM is the native Fantom token used for securing the network, participating in the on-chain governance, paying network fees, and making payments overall.
Since Fantom employs a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, the primary use case of Fantom coins is securing the network through staking FTM tokens. Validator nodes must possess a minimum of 3,175,000 FTM in order to participate, and stakers must lock up their FTM. Epoch rewards and fees are given as payment for the service to both the nodes and the stakers.
Fantom tokens are also necessary for on-chain governance because they are required to cast a vote. FTM stakers can suggest and vote for various network improvements and changes. Any network-related decisions are made by on-chain governance because Fantom is a completely permissionless and leaderless decentralized ecosystem.
FTM can also be used to cover network fees, such as those associated with transactions, smart contracts, and new network development. This increases the security aspect as well because Fantom's low fees are enough to make it prohibitively expensive for an attacker to launch an attack.
Lastly, Fantom's high throughput, quick finality, and minimal fees make the FTM tokens perfect for sending and receiving payments. If you plan to buy Fantom coins, note that the FTM price is subject to change. This happens because, similarly to the pricing of other digital assets, the volatility of the overall crypto market affects Fantom tokens.
The Supply of FTM Coins
The max supply of FTM coins is 3.175 billion. As a deflationary asset, the Fantom price adjusts to the number of tokens left in circulation. The supply is split up across various token standards to facilitate trading. FTM can be purchased as a native mainnet token, an ERC-20 token, or a BEP-2 token. Check out the chart above to see the current FTM price.
