What is Fantom (FTM)?
Fantom, created in 2018 by a South Korean computer scientist, is a secure, scalable, high performance smart contract platform. Created prior to the 2021 cryptocurrency boom, Fantom was as speculative as could be but has since experienced tremendous highs and lows.
Before you jump into looking for a Fantom price prediction, it helps to know more about the platform, what it is capable of doing, and its fairly recent brand change to become known as Sonic. Read on and become more familiar with Sonic/Fantom and its near-decade history.
About Fantom (Migrated to Sonic) Price
Like any form of cryptocurrency, the price of Fantom (which has since migrated to become Sonic) has been a topic of hotly debated discussion. It experienced its high price back in October 2021, coming it at roughly $3.46 per token.
Prices across the cryptocurrency market have come down substantially since then, even the biggest names like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Currently, Sonic trades at about $0.44 per token with a daily trading volume of roughly $300,000 USD. Those numbers change each day, so a monthly average is a much better barometer of a token’s price.
What is Fantom (Migrated to Sonic)?
Fantom is a blockchain platform, previously known as the Fantom Opera platform. It is the foundation of the Fantom Foundation, which has since been re-branded as Sonic. The blockchain is the foundation of the platform, an open-source acyclic graph network that is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. This allows it to create and run smart contracts that are capable of interacting with contracts on the Ethereum network.
The backbone of the network is its leaderless Proof-of-Stake system called Lachesis. This custom asynchronous byzantine fault-tolerant consensus mechanism means less expensive and faster validations than those with a conventional Proof-of-Stake or Proof-of-Work scheme. Transactions using ABFT systems are capable of finalizing transactions within seconds.
Fantom is also capable of running decentralized applications (dApps) within the Fantom blockchain. These apps are capable of having their own economies, custom tokens, and governance rules. Some have described Fantom as a network of networks because of these capabilities.
Who are the Founders of Fantom (FTM)?
Fantom is the brainchild of Ahn Byung Ik, a computer scientist from South Korea. He founded the Fantom Foundation in 2018, previously serving as president of the Korea Foodtech Association. He also created SikSin, a Yelp-like platform that proved to be quite successful.
Ahn left Fantom shortly after its creation, moving on in February 2019. Since then, Fantom has been run by the Fantom Foundation. The team at the Fantom Foundation is roughly 28 scientists, researchers, designers, entrepreneurs, and engineers.
What Makes Fantom (FTM) Unique?
Perhaps the most important aspect of Fantom and what makes it unique is its focus on supporting the development of decentralized apps. For that reason, it has a unique niche within the cryptocurrency space, particularly when it comes to developers. Though the utility token, FTM (now S) has value, it is mostly there to make transactions smoother and to reward validators.
The rich Fantom ecosystem makes the platform unique, especially its modular tools. Each of these tools can be pieced together to speed up development and share information. Each element within the Fantom platform was created with interoperability and decentralization in mind.
A major goal and something that makes Fantom unique is its commitment to openness. The platform makes its source code available through open-source licensing at Github. Because of this, virtually anyone is capable of creating building blocks by using APIs and Fantom’s native code.
The open participation aspect of Fantom makes it unique. Literally anyone can run a node within the Fantom Opera blockchain. Running a node, however, requires a stake of 3.175 million FTM, though participation isn’t limited there. By delegating even one validator node, users can earn rewards right away.
The Fantom blockchain also has an ERC-20 token, though it can’t be directly used within the Opera blockchain. These tokens that go straight to a Fantom wallet are immediately and automatically converted to the Opera FTM. Even better, these tokens can be used on the Ethereum network as well.
Finally, there is the consensus mechanism. It is a Proof-of-Stake concept, but not a conventional one. The asynchronous byzantine fault-tolerant consensus mechanism (ABFT) makes transactions much more affordable compared to other blockchains.
How Many Fantom (FTM) Coins are There in Circulation?
After its creation, the FTM token was launched for an ICO. The total supply of tokens was capped at 3.175 billion with all of them technically in circulation. Whether Fantom implements a burning mechanism to limit the supply remains to be seen.
The platform made 40% of its total token supply available as part of the ICO. Of the remaining 60%, 30% went to market development, 15% went to founders and team members, and the final 15% to contributors and advisors.
How is the Fantom Network Secured?
One of the most unique aspects of Fantom as a network is its consensus algorithm, Lachesis. According to the platform itself, Lachesis comes with four clear benefits that enhance the security of the Fantom ledger, making it a safe place for all users.
Fantom is asynchronous, meaning nodes don’t have to wait for the other nodes to act in order to process commands. Because of this, throughput is far greater and performance far better when it comes to the execution and finalization of on-network transactions.
What’s cool about Lachesis is that it is totally leaderless and decentralized. There is no participant who plays a privileged role when it comes to securing or validating the network. Ultimately, Lachesis is secure because the algorithm has been designed in a way to provide reliable information even if one or more of the nodes is acting maliciously. There is also final confirmation, with no need to wait for 30 minutes or more for a confirmation.
Fantom Ecosystem
There are two main components of the Fantom Ecosystem. The first is for investors, those looking to stake tokens and earn rewards by participating in the governance and decision-making within the platform. FTM tokens can be processed within a Fantom wallet, allowing for fast exchanges.
The other side of the equation is acting as a developer of a decentralized application. Because of the low transaction fees and the completely leaderless and decentralized nature of the platform, users have the opportunity to create their ideal application with fewer attachments than other blockchains would come with.
Software developers will find that the Fantom blockchain is a perfect place for dApp developers to meet their own unique needs, especially where scalability is concerned. Fantom’s ability to run on the Ethereum blockchain only adds to the appeal for both investors and developers who have an interest in the Fantom (now Sonic) platform.
FAQs
What can FTM be used for?
For now, the uses of Fantom (FTM) are relatively limited. These are the main uses of the Fantom FTM token:
Payments. Though it may not be available for mainstream payment use, FTM can be used for payments within the Fantom ecosystem. This includes paying for transactions when using decentralized applications (dApps).
Staking. A major part of owning FTM is being able to stake tokens. By staking, users can secure the network, earn rewards, and have a say in the governance of the Fantom blockchain.
Governance. Holders of the FTM (Sonic) token are able to have an active say in the future direction and development of the Fantom network as a whole. By staking FTM, holders are able to vote on various proposals regarding the direction of the Fantom network.
Transaction fees. One of the main uses of FTM is for transaction fees within the Fantom (Sonic) network.
Acquiring fUSD. Another perk of FTM is that it can be used to purchased fUSD, which is a stablecoin on the Fantom network. This stablecoin can be then used as a form of collateral for DeFi protocols.
What is the highest and lowest price for Fantom (FTM)?
Like most other cryptocurrencies, Fantom has had massive swings in terms of valuation. Having been around since 2018, Fantom saw a big rise during the cryptocurrency boom of 2021, hitting an all-time high price of $3.46 in October 2021. Its all-time low came right around its release, trading at a value of $0.001902 per token. Currently, the market price of Sonic (formerly Fantom) is roughly $0.44 per token.
What is the fully diluted valuation of Fantom (FTM)?
The fully diluted valuation of a token is calculated by taking the current market value and multiplying it by the maximum token supply. Fantom (now Sonic) has a total token supply of 3.175 billion S tokens. With a current market price of $0.44 per token, Fantom’s current fully diluted valuation is roughly $1.424 trillion USD.
The total supply of Fantom is technically in circulation, but not all of it has been made for sale. Initially, 40% of the supply was made available for the ICO, 30% went to market development, 15% for contributors and advisors, and 15% for team members and founders.
What is the history of Fantom?
Fantom began as the Fantom Foundation, originally founded in South Korea by computer scientist Dr. Ahn Byung Ik. Initially, the project was focused on something known as the “Blockchain Trilemma,” with a goal to achieve security, decentralization, and scalability.
By 2018, Fantom launched its testnet, showing the ability of the network to handle high transaction throughput of more than 20,000 transactions per second. The mainnet, OPERA, was launched in December 2019. Fantom also launched its native ERC-20 token, FTM, with a total supply of 3.175 billion.
After launching its mainnet, Fantom shifted to supporting DeFi applications and even introduced on-chain governance. By 2024, Fantom started the process of migrating to a new token and network called Sonic (S). Even since the brand shift, it still continues to support its original Opera network.
How many addresses does Fantom have?
Though it has since rebranded to Sonic Labs, Fantom’s blockchain has seen massive growth in terms of its total hosted addresses. As of second quarter 2023, Fantom had 44,000 active daily addresses on average. That number has since growth exponentially.
As of 2025, Fantom has more than 700,000 active addresses per month. That kind of explosive growth is what has made Fantom an interesting potential play for investors of all backgrounds.
How many Fantom transactions have been executed?
The growth of Fantom in just a few short years is definitely worth noting. For instance, since it launched its mainnet, there have been more than 400 million transactions processed on the Fantom blockchain. One of the factors to consider when choosing a digital currency to invest in is the ability of the blockchain to handle large transaction volumes in short order.
Is it safe to invest in Fantom?
There are inherently risks involved when it comes to investing in cryptocurrencies. Though there is some potential for growth, Fantom is considered a riskier investment at the moment. It is quite speculative and experiences major price fluctuations.
A lot of this has to do with the lack of regulation within the cryptocurrency industry. There is also a history of security risks involved in cryptocurrencies, even if Fantom’s blockchain is considered to be secure.
That said, it has a growing ecosystem and scalability behind it. Those factors, plus the potential for the cryptocurrency market, could potentially create a valuable investment in Fantom (FTM).
