Written by: Ash from Signum Capital
Compiled by: Wenser, Odaily Planet Daily
Editor's note: On May 18, Fantom community members initiated a series of governance proposals on the Sonic network, the main contents of which include: Sonic will be a brand new L1 chain, and will be bridged to chains such as Ethereum through native L2 cross-chain. According to the results of the first governance vote, FTM holders will be able to migrate to Sonic's native token S at a 1:1 ratio when Sonic is created. Using the new bridge architecture, Sonic will provide users and DApp developers with performance that is superior to the existing Opera network. Fantom Operations Ltd promises to continue to provide validator support for Opera, and Sonic Operations Ltd will provide support for Sonic. The Fantom Foundation will also allocate hundreds of millions of dollars of FTM from the treasury to support the development of the Sonic ecosystem, including marketing, business development, and migration grants.
With the return of AC and the previous support of Fantom ecosystem for Meme coin, Fantom may become the next destination for capital inflow. In view of this, Odaily Planet Daily will compile the latest views of Signum Capital investor Ash on the Fantom ecosystem to provide readers with a more comprehensive understanding of the Fantom ecosystem.
Fantom is experiencing a renaissance
Fantom is a L1 blockchain network designed to address scalability and transaction limitations, such as costs, faced by established networks like Ethereum. Launched in December 2019, Fantom positions itself as a high-speed, low-cost alternative for developers building dApps and users seeking to interact with DeFi protocols.
Unveiling the Sonic Network
Previously, @FantomFDN revealed more details about Sonic Network. In short, the main contents include:
A new L1 blockchain, Sonic Network, featuring significantly improved network performance and a bridge to Ethereumâs L2 network (to unlock more liquidity);
Parallelize the EVM (drawing on the hype ideas of Sei, Monad, etc.);
A new native token S, where people can choose to convert FTM tokens to S at a 1:1 ratio (providing a two-way conversion bridge);
The Fantom Foundation will allocate at least $100 million worth of FTM tokens to support the subsequent development of the ecosystem;
Airdrop activities (serving farmers in the form of staking).
Note: The above is subject to a governance vote (in other words, it can only be implemented after the vote passes).
Fantom Upgrade: From Opera to Sonic
Fantomâs Sonic upgrade is expected to facilitate the recovery of activity on the ecosystem, with the key takeaways being:
(1) New virtual machine;
(2) Improved database;
(3) Optimized consensus.
Key features include:
Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM): has higher execution performance and more than 65 times higher TPS processing performance than EVM;
Carmen database storage: reduces node storage requirements (up to 90%) and simplifies data retrieval capabilities;
Improved Lachesis consensus mechanism: Improved the performance of the transaction pool used to collect user transaction information.
Sonic VS Opera Network Comparison
The advantages of network upgrade include:
2,000-10,000 TPS (comparison between complex and simple trading operations);
Sub-second finality;
For developers, 90% of Gas can be monetized (previously the ratio was only 15%).
For a detailed introduction to the testnet performance, see the official blog. In addition, Fantom Ecosystem Growth Director @HalscionRose also demonstrated in his tweet how to test the performance of the Sonic new chain.
Other important upgrades include:
Cross-chain functionality with minimal trust bridges;
Liquidity staking opportunities (inflow of LSD TVL);
Better ecosystem funding programs to attract more developers and opportunities to join Sonic Labs (incubated by Fantom ecosystem founder AC@AndreCronjeTech as a mentor);
Incentives for new users of the Opera network and on-chain (potentially liquidity mining rewards?);
Parallel FVM (one of the marketâs favorite narratives right now â a blockchain network with parallel execution capabilities);
Regulated stablecoins (e.g. USDC.e backed by Circle and Wormhole) may be a good path to an eventual native stablecoin.
We can check the status of the network upgrade here: https://fantom.foundation/sonicStatus.
Understanding the Fantom Ecosystem: Finding Your Own Position and Getting Ready
In short, the Fantom ecosystem currently includes the following niche roles:
a) Mainstream wallets
âą@MetaMask
âą@CoinbaseWallet
âą@Rabby_io
b) CEX that can withdraw FTM
âą@binance
âą@okx
âą@gate_io
âą@kucoincom
c) Blockchain browser
âąhttps://ftmscan.com
âąhttps://explorer.fantom.network
dïŒDEX
âą@SpookySwap
âą@Equalizer0x
âą@beethoven_x
âą@ShadowDexFi
âą@WigoSwap
âą@Spirit_Swap
âą@SushiSwap
âą@CurveFinance
âą@SolidlyLabs
âą@fraxfinance
âą@VelocimeterDEX
âą@YoshiExchange
e) DEX Aggregator
âą@paraswap
âą@1inch
âą@polterfinance
âą@TarotFinance
âą@YoshiExchange
f) Lending platform
âą@ghost
âą@HundredFinance
âą@ichifoundation
âą@TarotFinance
âą@DebitaFinance
âą@fMoneyMarkets
âą@polterfinance
g) Yield Aggregator
âą@beefyfinance
âą@yearnfi
âą@Reaper_Farm
âą @PumpkinFTM
h) Derivatives trading platform
âą@ThetanutsFi
âą@Lynx_Protocol
âą@mummyftmfi
i) Meme coin
âą@theFantomgoat
âą@TinHat_Cat
j) NFT Marketplace: @paint_swap
kïŒGameFi/GambleFi
âą@EstforKingdom
âą@plusdotbet
âą@Froqorion
lïŒSocialFiïŒ@ThunderDomeFTM
m) Launchpad
âą@dxsale
âą@pinkecosystem
âą @ftmlaunchpad
âą@fantomstarter
âą@TailsFTM
n) Liquidity Staking
âą@ankr
âą@beethoven_xïŒStaderïŒ
âąhttps://fantom.foundation/staking
o) Telegram bot: @MuttskiFTM
p) Token Data Platform
âąhttps://dexscreener.com/fantom
âąhttps://geckoterminal.com/ftm/pools
q) Data statistics platform
âąhttps://ftmscan.com/charts
âąhttps://fantom.foundation/sonicStatus
âą Signum Capital Dune data: https://dune.com/signum_capital/fantom
âą Hashed Dune data: https://dune.com/hashed_official/fantom
âą CoingeckoïŒhttps://coingecko.com/en/coins/fantom
âąDefilamaïŒhttps://defillama.com/chain/Fantom
âą TokenTerminalïŒhttps://tokenterminal.com/terminal/projects/fantom
The message behind Duneâs data
@Lolipopsicles of @Signum_Capital prepared a Dune dashboard, based on which we can notice some very healthy data about the Fantom ecosystem:
âą TVL increased by $80 million since February 2024;
âą DEX trading volume reached $7 million in the past 24 hours;
âą 175,000 trades completed in the last 24 hours;
âą The number of active wallet addresses in the past 24 hours was 19,000.
View the Dune data dashboard here: https://dune.com/signum_capital/fantom.
Dune Data Panel
Personal opinion: Fantom upgrade is mixed
Regarding the Fantom network upgrade, the main advantages of this ecosystem include:
âą Sonic network upgrade (parallel FVM + improved L1 new chain + new native token being built);
âą The rebranding will bring new features to the ecosystem, such as new data graphs, new blockchain networks, and new tokens (just like Antshares was upgraded to Neo, Merit Circle was upgraded to Beam, and Ribbon was upgraded to Aevo);
âą The Fantom Foundation and AC show a willingness to reinvigorate the ecosystem and steer Fantom in the right direction again, rather than sitting back and waiting for it to die (many dead L1 networks have well-stocked treasuries but do nothing);
âą Some interesting consumer applications and native DeFi projects are under construction, which makes Fantomâs on-chain ecosystem worth looking forward to again;
âą A healthy incentive program (including foundation funding + user on-chain rewards) can attract developers and more TVL liquidity inflows, which can be regarded as a marketing budget for user acquisition;
âą In addition to Binance, other CEXs are expected to be listed (such as Coinbase, Upbit, similar to the cases of RNDR and MNT, respectively).
In contrast, this network upgrade also exposed some existing problems in the ecosystem:
âą The Fantom Opera networkâs current on-chain indicators (including active users, TVL, deployed contracts, etc.) are not very healthy;
âą As far as I know, there has been no successful case of minting new native tokens for new L1s;
âą Expect to see more NFT/GameFi related stuff, as the ecosystem was previously too focused on DeFi and 2021âs Ponzi economics games (such as Tomb Finance, Solidly ve3,3, etc.);
âą People are still scared and hurt by the cross-chain bridge attack;
âą The L1 and L2 network ecosystems that are about to be or have already been launched, such as Blast, Scroll, Berachain, and Monad, will continue to divert attention.
Other supplementary information
Some other related links about Fantom ecosystem:
âą Foundation account: https://x.com/FantomFDN
âą Website: https://fantom.foundation
âą Documentation: https://docs.fantom.foundation
âą Fantom SonicïŒhttps://fantom.foundation/sonicPage
People to watch:
âą@michaelfkong
âą@AndreCronjeTech
âą@Quan6888
âą@juanaxyz00
âą @Nick_SR5
âą@HalscionRose
Some trading accounts that are bullish on FTM:
âą@smartestmoney_
âą@HsakaTrades
âą@OuroborosCap8
âą@Pickle_cRypto
âą@CryptoCaligh
âą@0xAnteater
Summary: Fantom may be underestimated, and we look forward to its future development
Fantom appears to be a âhatedâ coin as many are skeptical about whether the âdeadâ L1 network can be revived.
But Ash does think the Sonic upgrade is bullish because of its promised superior performance, new native tokens, and possible chart trends, plus its nine-digit investment to incentivize ecosystem development. At present, the marketing exposure of the ecosystem is still slightly insufficient, Fantom is undervalued, and most people will continue to ignore its development until they buy it at a higher price later.
Disclosure: Signum Capital and Ash personally hold FTM tokens.