Layer 1 Blockchain Fantom‘s native asset FTM has made a notable increase of over 190% in just four weeks. This surge has made FTM the best-performing non-memecoin altcoin among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market value. During this period, FTM’s price skyrocketed from $0.40 to $1.16, while its market value increased to $3.29 billion, making it the 44th largest cryptocurrency.
Increased Interest in FTM and Fantom Due to Sonic Update
The rise of FTM is believed to be influenced by the anticipated Sonic update, which is expected to increase transaction speed on the Fantom Blockchain. The update seems to have sparked investor interest in the altcoin.
The Sonic update, which is planned to replace the current mainnet Opera this spring, has shown significantly better performance in its testnet launched last October. The testnet demonstrated a maximum theoretical throughput of 2,000 transactions per second (TPS) with a 1.1-second finality time, a substantial improvement over the current Opera mainnet’s 3.2 TPS.
A significant feature of the update is the Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM), designed to convert the code of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) into its own format, thereby significantly increasing the speed of smart contract execution. This backward compatibility will provide developers with a seamless transition and facilitate the migration of popular Ethereum-based decentralized applications (dApps) to Fantom.
Expected to Create a Significant Impact
Reflexivity Research highlighted in its recent report the potential of Fantom’s Sonic update to create a significant impact across various sectors, including decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, blockchain games, high-frequency applications, and the Internet of Things (IoT). The increased transaction volume and efficiency of Fantom’s network are expected to enhance DeFi transactions, enrich gaming experiences, facilitate microtransactions, and provide secure IoT data exchange.
Despite the anticipation surrounding the Sonic update, investor interest in Fantom’s DeFi ecosystem appears low. Data from DeFiLlama indicates a significant drop in the amount of FTM locked in Fantom’s DeFi applications, reaching the lowest level since May 2021, at 123,085 FTM.
