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Introduction
"We believe that aBFT consensus is ridiculously sexy tech, there are many interesting use cases that can be explored because we can manage to achieve a low time to finality and high throughputs without compromising security or decentralization in our network."Michael Chen, CMO - Fantom Foundation
When Fantom was founded in 2018 in Korea by Dr. Ahn Byung Ik, the team wanted this Crypto-technology project to become one of the primary building blocks for smart cities. The idea was to build an infrastructure for traffic management, smart home systems, healthcare, and education.After the Decentralized Finance emerged, the project quickly adopted and pivoted the project to that space and added DeFi as one of the core components. Several popular decentralized finance (DeFi) applications like SushiSwap and Curve are already available.Fantom decided to base their product on Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAG) algorithms to achieve asynchronous Byzantine fault tolerance (aBFT).
💡Directed acyclic graph means that the graph is not cyclic, or that it is impossible to start at one point in the graph and traverse the entire graph. Each edge is directed from an earlier edge to a later edge. This is also known as a topological ordering of a graph.
At the beginning of 2019, Fantom announced that they want to improve the interoperability of different Blockchain by creating a multi-asset and cross-chain ecosystem. This initiative creates new token standards for the Fantom Network, including Ethereum's ERC-20 and Binancance Chain's BEP-2. This strategic decision makes it possible to integrate popular Ethereum applications on Opera.
The main objective of Fantom was to create a lightweight network that solves the "blockchain trilemma." From decentralization, speed, and security, you can only pick two but not all three.
Fantoms has the intention to be used in many various industry verticals, businesses, and markets, like Financial Markets (Digital Assets), Institutional Finance (Clearing and settlement), Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Tokenized Real Estate Markets, Smart Healthcare, and Supply Chain Management.
Let's have a closer look at the problems the Fantom Foundation is going to tackle.
Here is the full video review.
Problem & Solution
The vision of the FANTOM Blockchain is to create and provide a highly reliable infrastructure that allows real-time transactions and data sharing. The DAG (directed acyclic graphs) technology is used to make this happen. Blockchain is supposed to establish digital trust between users. It facilitates the transfer of value over the network. No intermediary is needed anymore. Fantom believes blockchain technology needs to be easily transferable for mass adoption and irreversible, and the transactions fees (transaction costs) must be very low or zero. The leading existing blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum have limitations in these areas.
Blockchain Trilemma
In distributed ledger technologies you have to balance between speed, security and decentralization.
Fantom's aBFT consensus allows thousands of transactions to be processed asynchronously. Compared to synchronous BTF ledgers like Ethereum and Bitcoin, that leads to higher speed and increased throughput. Fantom achieves decentralization and security through a permissionless and leaderless consensus protocol.
💡Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT) solves the Blockchain Scalability Trilemma. According to the Trilemma only two of the following three are possible at the same time. Decentralization, Security, Scalability. aBFT makes it possible to have maximum decentralization, high scalability, and bank-grade security.
Issues of Scalability
In existing blockchains, a single block is verified and stored at the time. The speed of each node limits the performance. The more transactions, the worse the performance gets.
Fantom believes that a parallel approach is needed to solve that issue. The implementation of a DAG-based consensus mechanism called Lachesis is addressing this. I will explain the details in the project details.
High fees
Various Fees occur when exchanging value using the Blockchain. Such fees are, for example, confirmation fees for blocking miners and the block reward itself. These fees secure the network against attacks.
Fantom believes the fees in existing blockchains are too high for building a scalable and enduring blockchain. The Lachesis consensus protocol makes transactions much faster and cheaper while maintaining excellent security.
History Data
Blockchain only uses information stored in blocks. It can not use outside information to verify prior transactions; this leads to minimal functionality.
Fantom believes storing historical information along with transactions inside the Blockchain is critical. The Fantom solution makes it possible to manage historical data through "Story Data."
Technology & Project details
Fantom is a new network that solves the existing scalability problems in traditional blockchains such as Ethereum, and we use a newly pioneered consensus mechanism that uses gossip to propagate consensus.Michael Chen
The Technology
Fantom features two core technologies
- Lachesis protocol: the core consensus layer, providing security to multiple other layers.
- Opera: an application development layer
Fantom Opera Chain
Fantom is using a unique Technology called OPERA. The OPERA chain is a smart contract platform that is rapidly processing blocks on a large scale. Not only that, OPERA is processing transaction information and Story Data in a distributed environment. In this way, the Chain can store detailed historical information. Fantom OPERA uses a high-level Scala-based functional programming language.
The Opera chain is an EVM-compatible application development layer. It supports smart contract development in Solidity or Vyper. All contracts written in those languages are fully compatible with the Opera Network. Fantom is currently working with two universities (Yonsei University et al.) to build a new "Fantom Virtual Machine" (FVM), interpreter, and database to achieve better performance and security than EVM.
💡 Ethereum virtual machine (EVM)is a blockchain-based software platform. It allows developers to create decentralized applications (Dapps).
Opera features a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) system and validator set that is leaderless. The Fantom validators don't determine which blocks are valid. The Fantom Foundation believes that removing block leaders can increase network security.
Fantom Opera consists of three layers.
- Opera Core LayerProcesses transactions at scale. In this layer, theoretically, 300.000 transactions per second are processed. At the moment, around 4.500 TPS are processed in the Mainnet and 10.000 TPS in the Testnet.
- Opera Ware Layersupports Smart Contracts and other functionality
- Opera Application LayerThird-party applications in different industry verticals
Lachesis - The asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance Consensus Algorithm
The consensus mechanism is the core of distributed technologies. In a system where no central entity validates transactions, the consensus protocol ensures an agreement in the distributed network with all participants. Transactions are validated in a fully trustless way.
Lachesis uses a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) based algorithm to achieve asynchronous Byzantine fault tolerance (aBFT).
Lachesis is
- faster
- more secure
- more scalable
If you compare it to the Classical and Nakamoto consensus. You can use Lachesis to build a Peer-to-Peer application without having to create the network layer.
💡 The Nakamoto Consensus is a set of rules that verifies the authenticity of a blockchain network, using a combination of the proof-of-work consensus algorithm on a Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) peer-to-peer network.
Lachesis has four key qualities:
- Asynchronous: Participants have the freedom to process commands at different times
- Leaderless: None of the participants plays a special role in block production.
- Byzantine Fault-Tolerant: Supports one-third of faulty nodes.
- Near-Instant Finality: the almost instant Transactions are confirmed in 1-2 seconds.
💡 Finality means that a transaction cannot be changed or reversed by any party.
With an aBFT consensus algorithm, time to Finality is very low. In the case of Fantom, the Opera Chain can accomplish Finality in 1 to 2 seconds. If you compare that to Bitcoin, which has finality of 30 to 60 minutes, or Ethereum with a few minutes, this is a game-changer.
Fantom ($FTM) Token
Sector: Smart Contract PlatformsToken Type: BEP2, ERC-20 Tokens, Native Token
Token Usage: Payments, Vote
Consensus Algorithm: Proof-of-Stake
Precise Consensus Algorithm: Lachesis
Genesis Block Date: December 26th, 2019
Utility
Both Stakers and delegators can earn rewards for each epoch. Every 1000 block events or after 4 hours elapsed epochs are determined. Delegators support validator nodes and receive awards but pay a 15% fee to the validator.
💡 An epoch is an era of time within a blockchain network. Usually this is the period of time it takes for a specific number of blocks to be finalized on the chain. 1000 block events or 4 hours in the case of Fantom.
On-Chain Governance
The on-chain governance mechanism is meant to support multiple proposals by any arbitrary number of members.
- You can delegate your vote to another user.
- Fantom uses a proposal template for users to fill out.
- Proposals can be created at any time.
Run a Validator node
Fantom uses a Proof-of-Stake system which requires validators to hold FTM. Any participant with more than 3.17500.000 FTM can run their validation node and earn transaction fees and epoch rewards. At the moment, the APY is about 11,34 %.
Delegate Fantom / Fantom Staking
Users who do not have $FTM Tokens to run their node can delegate their tokens to an existing validator and earn the proportionate staking rewards and transaction fees/network fees.The reward goes from 4% to 13%, depending on the locking period you choose. The minimum locking period is two weeks.
Collateral on Fantom DeFi
$FTM will be also used as collateral on the Fantom DeFI Suite.
Tokenomics
Max Supply: 3.175.000.000
Circulating Supply: 2.541.152.731
Daily expected distribution (till 2024): 682.425,46 $FTM
Raised Capital: 40.000.000 USD (in 2 rounds 2018)
- 40% allocated to Public and Private Sale investors, including private sale bonuses. Those FTM have no vesting schedule.
- 15% allocated to advisors, with a 3-months lockup
- 10% allocated to the founding team. This allocation features a 24-months vesting period with monthly-cliffs
- 3.6% allocated to a strategic reserve. Those FTM have no vesting schedule.
- 31.4% is reserved for staking rewards, to be distributed daily until 2024
$FTM Token Metrics - 7. Sept 2021
Price: $ 1.65
Circulating Supply: 2.541.152.731
Max Supply: 3.175.000.000
MarketCap: $ 4.258.781.421
Fully Diluted Valuation: $ 5.321.061.913
MarketCap Rank: 46
All time high: $ 1.8
All time low: $ 0.00190227
Trading Volume / MarketCap: 0.4261
Roadmap and Events
The very promising point is that the team is keeping up with its schedule. Till now, the team delivered and is meeting their commitments.
Testnet Launch - December 2018
The testnet for developers which they call Fantom Version 0.4.5-rc.1 has been able to achieve throughputs between 20k and 25k transactions per second. The code is available publicly on our Github page.
Mainnet Launch v0.1 Release (OPERA) - December 2019
Fantom released the first version of its OPERA mainnet in Dec. 2019. The network was EVM-compatible and supported Solidity smart contract functionality at launch. OPERA ran on top of Fantom's Lachesis consensus protocol.
For Developers
The Opera chain is an EVM-compatible application development layer. It supports smart contract development in Solidity or Vyper. All contracts written in those languages are fully compatible with the Opera Network. Fantom is currently working with two universities to build a new "Fantom Virtual Machine" (FVM), interpreter, and database to achieve better performance and security than EVM.
Start building on Fantom using Solidity and the tools you're already familiar with: Remix, Truffle, and MetaMask.
https://docs.fantom.foundation/
- EVM compatible
- oracles integration
- open source
- robust API
News
Cryptopanic Fantom News: https://cryptopanic.com/news/fantom/
315 Million DeFI Development Incentive Program: https://decrypt.co/79828/fantom-token-jumps-launching-315-million-defi-program
People
The Fantom Team
The Fantom Foundation fully distributed team is made up of engineers, scientists, researchers, designers, and entrepreneurs who share the same vision. The whole team (44 team members) is distributed over the entire world, with most of them working from Korea, Australia, United States, Australia, and South Africa)
Founder - Ahn Byung Ik (LinkedIn, Crunchbase)
- Ph.D. in computer science in South Korea
- president of Korea Food-Tech Association
- Author at Fortune Magazine
- Founder of SikSin (similar to Yelp), 22 mill. monthly page view, mobile app downloaded over 3.5 mill times
- not associated with Fantom anymore
Michael Kong - CEO/CIO (LinkedIn, Twitter)
- Bachelor of IT and Commerce
Quan Nguyen CTO (LinkedIn, Twitter)
- Doctor of Philosophy - Ph.D., Graph Visualization
- Strong Computer Science Background
Michael Chen CMO (LinkedIn)
Fred Pucci - Legal Counsel
Simone Pomposi - Head of Marekting
and many more.
Investors
Alameda Research
Location: Hong Kong
- Token: Solana, 1inch, Paraswap, Alpha ....
Arrington XRP Capital
Block Crafters Capital
Block Tower Capital
BlockoxFund
ChainRock
Crypto Bazar
DFund
DHVCElysium
Game Theory Group
HyperChain Capital
JLab
JRR Crypto
Kosmos Capital
LinkVc
MainNet Capital
Nirvana Capital
One Block Capital
QCP Capital
Signum Capital
XSQ
Zorax Capital
Advisors
Andre Cronje - Advisor (LinkedIn, Twitter)
The Fantom Foundation has turned its focus towards DeFi use cases with the help of Yearn Finance founder Andre Cronje, who serves as a technical advisor to Fantom. Andre has advised and helped promote Fantom's multi-chain efforts, such as launching Fantom's bridge to Ethereum.
- DeFi Architect
- Founder of Yearn.Finance
- Chief Crypto Code Reviewer at CryptoBriefing
Network Stats
3.9.2021
$1.2B TVL (+380% to July)
Accounts: 514.823
Validators: 47
Transactions: 52.000.000 (12.000.000 in August 2021 + 40 %)
Fantom Ecosystem - 11 projects - 3.9.2021Daily transactions (6 Sept 2021): ETH 1.206.493 tx vs Fantom 1.296.223 tx
Summary
Is there a need for another Layer-1 Blockchain Project in the Cryptocurrency Market? There are many cryptocurrency projects and blockchain solutions out there claiming that they are faster, cheaper, and more secure. The Fantom Blockchain, based on DAG Technology and Lachesis Consensus model, seems to have it all. Fast performance, low network fees, and a very secure model that is fault-tolerant till 33 % malicious nodes.
The team is a good mixture of experience, academic background, and people with entrepreneurial backgrounds. Even having a Pivot from the IoT focus to the DeFi space did not negatively impact their timeline. The opposite is the case; the Fantom Finance DeFi Suite seems to be very complete. They just keep delivering, meet their commitments, and adjust their project to market needs.
In our opinion, their decision to invent the interoperability of different blockchains by creating a multi-asset and cross-chain ecosystem is a great one. We share their vision that there will not be one Blockchain left, but other blockchains with different specialties will interact. They already have an implementation of BEP-2 Token and an Ethereum ERC-20 Token. The complete compatibility to the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) allows the deployment of favorite Ethereum Applications.
The early integration of Chainlink and the Band protocol was a great strategic decision to benefit from on-chain and off-chain data. Also, the speed and low fees should drive the adoption.
The Incentive Program for Developers should bring enough developers to the Chain to have more real-world products and use cases natively on the Fantom Blockchain.
Compared to other Smart Contract Platforms, the market capitalization is at $ 3,8 Billion ($ 4,8 Bill fully diluted) comparable low.
Comparable platforms like Ethereum (MCap $414 Bill), Cardano (MCap $88 Bill), Solana (MCap $55 Bill), or Avalanche (MCap $8) are in reach in the following years, which would bring us to an FTM Token Forecast of 15 to 100 X, or an FTM Token price of $22 to $150.
We will closely look at how the FTM Network is developing and added it to already our Crypto Portfolio.
Risks
- Roadmap 2021 is not totally clear
- Focus on Afghanistan (cooperation with a use case - set back)
- "only" 1/3 of faulty nodes allowed
- hard to be a full validator (high staking requirements)
Potential
- Significant adoption through compatibility with EVM
- The Partnership with Ren Project to build cross-chain bridges between different Blockchain.
- Excellent partnerships with Travala (Crypto Travel Platform) and other Products
- 315 Mill $ Intentive Program for DeFI Developers
- Cooperations with Governments like Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan?
- the same amount of daily transactions as on Ethereum already
- A price of $22 to $150 (15 to 100 x) should be possible.
- Beginning of September 1.3 daily Transactions on the Fantom Network, more than on Ethereum
If you want to start trading in the Fantom Ecosystem, have a look into my Tutorial: How to setup Fantom on Metamask.
Disclaimer
This website includes information about cryptocurrencies and other financial instruments. All these areas are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money. We are NOT giving financial or investment advice; this page is for educational and informational purposes only. Please be careful and make sure that you understand how these instruments work. Also, think about whether you can afford to take the risk of losing your money.
Weirdo.Rocks encourages you to do your own research before you make any investment decision.
Resources
Tutorial: How to setup Fantom on Metamask and start trading.
Fantom Website
Github - https://github.com/Fantom-foundation
Fantom Ecosytem - https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/fantom-ecosystem
Fantom Explorer - https://explorer.fantom.network/
Fantom Token Stats - https://ethplorer.io/address/0x4e15361fd6b4bb609fa63c81a2be19d873717870#chart=candlestick
Fantom Token on EtherScan - https://etherscan.io/token/0x4e15361fd6b4bb609fa63c81a2be19d873717870
Fantom Blockchain Explorer - https://ftmscan.com/
Fantom Whitepaper 1.6 - Whitepaper
Audits
Token Sale Smart Contract 1
- Conducted by Sigma Prime
- If the owner of the Fantom token contract becomes incapacitated or loses their keys, the Fantom tokens may not be tradeable, rendering them useless
- No validation of certain fields in the ERC-20 transfer functions, allowing token transfers to accidentally be sent to the 0x0 address
https://github.com/Fantom-foundation/tokensale/blob/master/audits/fantom-audit-first.pdf
Token Sale Smart Contract 2
- Conducted by Sigma Prime
- All previously raised issues were resolved
- No further vulnerabilities were identified
https://github.com/Fantom-foundation/tokensale/blob/master/audits/fantom-audit-second.pdf
