For cryptocurrency projects, a critical pathway to mass adoption is integration into mainstream financial networks. The Fantom Foundation signaled a significant step in this direction with the recent announcement that the digital asset custody service Fireblocks has added support for FTM, the Fantom blockchain token.
Fantom is an open-source, smart-contract platform for digital assets and decentralized applications (dApps) that boasts a vast developer community and a thriving ecosystem. Numerous projects have turned to Fantom to take advantage of the network’s Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatibility, extremely fast 1-second transaction finality, and near-zero transaction fees.
Now, the 500+ banks, hedge funds, lending desks, exchanges, and OTC brokerages that comprise Fireblocks’ global customer base will have access to the FTM token (both Fantom Opera and ERC-20 versions). Using Fireblocks’ innovative MPC-based wallet infrastructure and settlement network, these financial institutions can store, stake, and securely transfer their tokens without using hardware wallets or potentially risky sub-custody services.
Part of Fantom’s success boils down to the cross-chain experience the network offers. While many of the next-generation blockchain platforms like Fantom represent themselves as “Ethereum killers,” Fantom has always called itself an “Ethereum-helper.” This is reflected in Fantom’s EVM compatibility (mentioned above) and the numerous bridges on the network that facilitate exchange between ETH and FTM. What’s more, on Fantom, users and developers can use popular tools like Metamask, FTMscan (developed by the team behind EtherScan), and Hardhat. All of this means that porting dApps from Ethereum to Fantom is fast and easy.
Fantom’s approach has attracted builders and a sizable community. By any metric, growth this year has been exceptional: Since May 1, 2021, the number of unique wallet addresses on the Fantom network has grown from 77,993 to 516,332, an increase of more than 660%, while the total value locked in Fantom DeFi protocols increased from $30.7 million to $1.3 billion over the same time. In terms of use, daily transactions hit a high of 1.29M on September 6, 2021, surpassing the number of transactions on the Ethereum network. Throughout, regardless of traffic, Fantom network performance has remained consistently fast, with invariably low fees.
In addition to Fireblocks, Fantom has signed numerous partnerships and integrated with major projects across the crypto-industry. For example, ChainLink’s oracle services recently went live on the Fantom mainnet, and in late August, Coinbase extended support to FTM on its mobile wallet.
The Fantom team has their sites fixed on the future and continued growth, and it appears that the fall will be as eventful as the summer. To sustain projects building on the network, the Foundation recently announced a rewards program with a cash value upwards of $400M. In addition, Fantom is preparing to launch Artion.io, an NFT platform and marketplace promising 0% commissions, a modern and streamlined UI, and the usual high-performance to which Fantom users are accustomed. Last but not least, Keynote, the group that organizes the North American Bitcoin Conference, has planned a large Fantom Developer’s Conference to take place in Abu Dhabi from October 25-29, 2021.
There’s clearly much more to come from Fantom, so keep your eyes on this project as we head into the end of 2021.
