- >Buying Crypto
- >What is Fantom? Where to Buy FTM?
Fantom Overview: What is the FTM Coin?
Fantom is a cryptocurrency project that is focused on achieving the holy grail of a high throughput blockchain that is able to retain a sufficient level of decentralization.
This crypto network is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which means any decentralized application (dapp) deployed on Ethereum can also be deployed on Fantom without doing much more than a simple copy and paste of the deployment code. Due to this ease of transition from Ethereum to Fantom, there are already more than 80 dapps available on the Fantom platform.
It is no secret that Ethereum, which is the most popular blockchain for smart contracts, has become much more expensive to use over the years. For this reason, Fantom is also marketed as an “Ethereum helper” that can allow users to interact with a wide variety of dapps at a lower cost. The team of developers behind Fantom have put a heavy focus on building many bridges to the other popular blockchains on the internet.
Due to the use of its own aBFT consensus algorithm, known as Lachesis, Fantom transactions and contract interactions occur instantly. A key part of keeping the network secure is having users stake their FTM on the network. Users are able to earn 4% APY on short-term staking deposits, while locking in funds for longer periods of time can earn users up to 13% APY. Notably, users are able to retain access to their FTM liquidity after it has been staked via the sFTM synthetic asset. This means users can use their FTM in other parts of the Fantom dapp ecosystem, even while it has already been staked on the network. In addition to staking, the FTM token can also be used for payments, on-chain governance, and paying network fees.
FTM Pros & Cons
Pros
Compatible with the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine)
Highly scalable with low fees
Multiple bridges to other blockchain networks
Earn up to 13% returns per year by staking FTM
Cons
More centralized than more established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum
Lachesis needs more time to be proven secure in the wild
Has many other competitors that are also EVM compatible
Has already pivoted away from an initial heavy focus on internet of things (IoT)
Suffered a notable outage in March 2021
Our Favorite Exchange for Buying FTM
- Easy sign-up process
- Lowest transaction fees of any major exchange
- 175+ different digital assets available
- Free deposits
FTM Ratings
Developer Engagement
- Rating: High
- Reason: Despite being a relatively new project in the cryptocurrency space, Fantom has already been able to attract many developers to create more than 80 new dapps for the ecosystem. There are two key reasons for Fantom’s success in this area. First of all, Fantom is compatible with all of the development tools for Ethereum, which means it is extremely easy for those who have been working on Ethereum-based dapps to move over to the Fantom ecosystem. Secondly, there is an incentive program available that has 370 million FTM to give away to developers who build new projects on Fantom.
Disbursement
- Rating: Low
- Reason: It is difficult to quantify the level of disbursement currently achieved with the FTM token. This is because the majority of FTM tokens are staked by users to secure the network. There is currently roughly 1,470,000,000 FTM staked on the Fantom network, which is around 70% of the total FTM supply. In March 2021, issues with just two validators on the network led to seven hours of down time due to them controlled more than one-third of the network’s total stake. Disbursement is particularly important for FTM, as the token is used in both securing the network and on-chain governance.
Liquidity
- Rating: Low
- Reason: One of the best measurements of a particular crypto asset’s relative liquidity is the amount of money that is being bid on the asset near the current trading price. According to Cryptowatch, there were $4,170,000 worth of liquid bids for FTM on exchanges at the time of this writing. To put that in perspective, the liquid bids for bitcoin on exchanges at the same time were more than 100 times higher than that.
Network Speed
- Rating: High
- Reason: Fantom uses its own aBFT consensus engine, known as Lachesis, to allow transactions and smart contract functions to be completed in a matter of seconds. Lachesis’s use of a DAG-based solution to consensus means that users do not have to wait for block confirmations for their actions to be finalized. Due to these high network speeds and ability to keep transaction fees low, Fantom is viewed as a way to allow many more people to use Ethereum-esque dapps at a fraction of the price.
How Does Fantom Work?
Instead of copying the proof-of-work (PoW) mechanisms for consensus used in Bitcoin and Ethereum, Fantom uses its own consensus algorithm called Lachesis. According to the developers behind the project, Lachesis allows Fantom to operate in a much faster and more scalable manner than how traditional blockchains have operated in the past. Due to the speed at which the Fantom network operates, its proponents have indicated that it is the perfect option for applications that involve a high amount of throughput.
Lachesis is what is known as an Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT) consensus system. The developers behind Fantom believe they have solved the longstanding problem of not being able to scale blockchains without compromising on other vital aspects of the networks, namely decentralization and security. Resistance to distribute denial of service (DDoS) attacks is said to be a key benefit of Lachesis over Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerant (pBFT) consensus systems. Additionally, aBFT systems are intended to have less latency than consensus algorithms based on pBFT.
For those familiar with other novel blockchain consensus systems, it should be noted that aBFT also uses Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) technology. Each node on the network stores a local DAG, which is eventually used to calculate the final order of events. Unlike other blockchain systems, transaction events stored in blocks are compared with other nodes on the network rather than the blocks themselves.
History of Fantom
Fantom was originally founded by a South Korea-based computer scientist named Dr. Ahn Byung Ik in 2018. These days, the Fantom Foundation is behind the vast majority of the growth and development around the project.
Where Can You Buy Fantom?
Fantom is a somewhat popular cryptocurrency and is available for trade on many of the largest crypto exchanges in the world. Here are some platforms where you can buy Fantom:
Advantages of Fantom
A huge advantage of the Fantom blockchain is that it is compatible with so many of the developer tools that were made for Ethereum. This combined with the Fantom Foundation’s fund for developers has led to tremendous growth in the Fantom dapp ecosystem over a short period of time, and the intention is to assist Ethereum’s growth rather than compete with the world’s most popular turing-complete blockchain.
Another key advantage of Fantom is the Lachesis consensus mechanism, which enables high-speed, low-cost transactions that can be attractive to those who are new to using dapps. Lachesis also allows users to earn up to 13% APY on their FTM tokens.
Disadvantages of Fantom
Of course, some of the best features of Fantom also have their downsides. At the end of the day, Lachesis is still an unproven technology, and it could be too centralized to provide long-term value in an industry where decentralization is king. There is also a high level of power centralized around the Fantom Foundation, and the March 2021 incident where an issue with two validators haulted the network could be cause for concern.
It should also be noted that Fantom is operating in an extremely competitive market, as there are dozens of EVM-compatible chains that want to either help Ethereum scale or replace it entirely.
Fantom Frequently Asked Questions
Bridges, such as SpookySwap, allow users to easily swap crypto tokens across different blockchain networks.
Fantom has no formal connection to the Ethereum project; however, the Fantom blockchain is compatible with the EVM, which makes it easy to port dapps over to the network.
The best crypto wallet for Fantom is fWallet, as it includes all of the different Fantom-specific functionality, such as staking and accessing Fantom dapps.
No, FTM cannot be purchased via Coinbase. At least not yet.
Staking FTM is easiest in the Fantom wallet Fwallet. This is a Fantom-specific crypto wallet, and the staking section of the app comes with easy-to-understand instructions on staking FTM tokens.
