Fantom (FTM), the native token of the Fantom layer-1 smart contract platform, has experienced a significant price surge in recent weeks, with a 5% increase in just seven days to reach $0.6850 on Oct. 2. This upward trend is part of a larger rebound that began on Sept. 6 and has seen the price of FTM rise by more than 71% over the last 30 days.
According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, Fantom’s price started at a low of $0.3574 on Sept. 6 and climbed as much as 103% to a four-month high of $0.7642 on Oct. 1. This surge in price has been accompanied by a significant increase in trading activity, with FTM’s spot trading volumes surpassing $450 million on Oct. 1, marking a 77% increase over the last seven days and a staggering 450% increase over the last 30 days. The token’s market capitalization currently stands at $9.7 million, making it the 46th largest cryptocurrency in the world according to data from CoinMarketCap.
The recent bullish momentum behind FTM can be attributed to several key factors. One of the main drivers of the price rally is the anticipation surrounding the upcoming Sonic upgrade, scheduled for November or December. The new Sonic chain is expected to enhance the network’s performance significantly by introducing a new Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM), optimized Lachesis consensus mechanism, and Carmen database storage. After the upgrade, the Fantom blockchain will be capable of processing over 2,000 transactions per second with a finality time of approximately one second, a substantial improvement from the current 30 TPS.
In preparation for the upgrade, the Fantom Foundation rebranded Sonic Labs on Aug. 1, with the native token FTM set to be changed to the new token ticker $S by the end of 2024. The S token will differ from FTM in various aspects, including initial community distribution through an airdrop, streamlined staking processes, and new user incentive programs. The Fantom community has already approved a proposal to migrate their FTM tokens to the S token at a 1:1 ratio during the migration to the Sonic chain.
The impending upgrade has also reignited investor interest in Fantom’s decentralized finance ecosystem, as evidenced by a 55% increase in the total value locked (TVL) in Fantom’s DeFi applications over the last month, reaching $108.8 million. Additionally, the number of daily active addresses on the Fantom blockchain has increased by 162% between Sept. 1 and Oct. 1, while the number of daily transactions has risen by 66% month-to-date.
Overall, the increase in TVL and network activity on the Fantom blockchain indicates a growing demand for the FTM token, which has contributed to its recent price growth. However, it is important to note that this article does not contain investment advice or recommendations, and readers are advised to conduct their own research before making any investment decisions. #Altcoin #Markets #Altcoin Watch #Fantom