What is Fantom (FTM)?

Fantom is a decentralized, permissionless, open-source smart contract platform for decentralized applications (dApps) and digital assets — one of many blockchain networks built to provide an alternative to Ethereum. The Fantom blockchain mainnet went live in December 2019 and its network architecture intends to provide a viable solution to the blockchain trilemma by providing a steady balance of scalability, security, and decentralization.

Like other Ethereum alternatives, Fantom intends to provide more scalability and lower costs than the legacy first-mover smart contract platform is able to provide in its Ethereum 1.0 iteration. Fantom’s infrastructure is tied together through its Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT) Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which maintains the operational efficiency of the entire network. The aBFT network structure is designed to preserve network security while maximizing speed.

Fantom Network Structure

Fantom operates atop a bespoke “leaderless” PoS consensus mechanism dubbed Lachesis that secures the Fantom network and ensures both transactional speed and security. Lachesis is an aBFT consensus mechanism, which means that network data can be processed at different times, and the network can tolerate up to one third of participants engaging in faulty or malicious behavior without causing undue harm to network processes.

Lachesis also boasts near-instant finality. This means that transactions are confirmed and finalized in an average of one second, without the need to wait for laborious block confirmation as experienced in Proof-of-Work (PoW) networks. By avoiding the relatively lengthy block confirmation process, this aBFT system is much faster and more scalable than many of its Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) counterparts.

Diving deeper into how Fantom’s Lachesis functions, we see how each network node contains its own Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG), which records the chronology of “event blocks” and respective transactions, with each node achieving internal consensus independently. Confirmed batches of events blocks are then compiled into finalized blocks that are confirmed on the wider Fantom network. Finalized blocks, which form the base layer Fantom blockchain, are composed of confirmed event blocks from the independent nodes.

While independent Fantom nodes will occasionally communicate with one another about transactions and events, they do not confirm finalized blocks or the overall state of the network. This architecture results in a system that processes transactions quickly, and achieves finality within seconds. Fantom stresses that its PoS mechanism is leaderless, which means there are no block leaders and no participants have a special role in its operation. Anyone can join or leave the node network at any point, and all nodes hold equal weight in the consensus protocol.

Fantom Blockchain Mainnet: Opera 

The Lachesis consensus apparatus servers power Fantom’s mainnet deployment platform — Opera — which hosts dApps operating on the network. Opera is a permissionless and open-source environment for development. It boasts the full range of smart contract capability that Ethereum has due to its support of the Solidity programming language and integration with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Applications built on Fantom can be designed to be interoperable with platforms built on Ethereum, while still maintaining the transactional efficiency of the Fantom network.

A proprietary software development kit (SDK) known as the Fantom Virtual Machine will eventually be released for native Fantom-based development alongside continued support for the EVM — a strategy meant to entice Ethereum-based dApp developers to make an easy transition over to building applications on Fantom.

Fantom Staking, FTM Token, and DeFi Suite

Fantom’s native utility token — FTM — powers the entire Fantom blockchain ecosystem. FTM tokens are used for staking, governance, payments, and fees on the network. There is a total supply of 3.175 billion FTM coins, with 2.5 billion in circulation as of March 2021. The remainder will be distributed as Fantom staking rewards. FTM is available as a native mainnet coin, an ERC-20 token in the Ethereum ecosystem, and a BEP-2 token in the Binance ecosystem.

Anyone can participate in Fantom staking with a minimum stake of 1 FTM by using Multichain to swap their ERC-20 FTM or BEP-2 FTM tokens for Opera FTM coins. Also, to operate a validator node on Fantom’s permissionless network at least 1 million FTM must be staked (valued at over $1 million USD as of March 2021).

Fantom provides a fairly dynamic and lucrative staking structure for users. Users can stake their FTM at-will with a validator node for a 4% annual percentage yield (APY) staking reward, which is a common staking model. However users can also take advantage of Fantom’s Fluid Rewards by choosing to lock up FTM for a predetermined period of time — ranging from two weeks up to a year — to secure higher reward rates up to 12% APY.

Fantom also employs a feature called Liquid Staking, whereby stakers can mint sFTM at a 1:1 ratio to their staked FTM to be used as collateral in Fantom Finance, which is a suite of DeFi apps provided by Fantom, thus allowing users to get more use out of their staked FTM. Some of the DeFi offerings that Fantom provides include:

  • fUSD: a Fantom-based stablecoin that’s pegged to the U.S. dollar 
  • fSwap: a synthetic asset decentralized trading platform
  • fLend: a liquidity pool from which users can lend or borrow

Fantom’s approach to the DeFi and dApp landscape is innovative — as is its staking reward program structure. Further proposed use cases for Fantom’s highly scalable smart contract platform are dApps related to supply chain management, payments, and smart city programs, some of which are already being piloted around the world.

As the first of its kind with its complex and unique infrastructure, Fantom’s approach to fast, scalable dApp development is still establishing its place in the wider blockchain ecosystem. Although there is already much competition in the burgeoning dApp sector, the speed and interoperability benefits that Fantom offers dApp developers are notable, and the platform is poised to gain further traction.

Coinbase currently doesn’t support Fantom trading. However Coinbase confirmed the integration of FTM and now the wallet enables users to carry out transactions in one second with near-zero fees. Over a million users have installed the wallet app and this integration will give them access to Fantom’s secure and fast DeFi ecosystem.

Fantom has extended Coinbase Wallet support within the Fantom fWallet. Users can sync their Coinbase Wallet account to their Fantom fWallet and conduct a number of activities such as stake FTM and earn rewards.

Coinbase Wallet users can easily access and use the Fantom network, and engage with a number of Fantom dapps. Coupled with the streamlined interface of the Coinbase Wallet, fast transaction speeds and low fees on the Fantom network ensure an excellent user experience.


Connect Fantom to the Coinbase Wallet

Connecting to the Fantom Opera network is simple

  • Log into the Coinbase Wallet mobile app
  • Simply click the Settings icon
  • Select Active Network, and select Fantom Opera 


Getting started with Fantom and fWallet

Once connected to the Fantom network on the wallet mobile app, users can get started by connecting Coinbase Wallet to the Fantom fWallet


Connect to a Fantom Dapp

Explore the world of Fantom dapps!

  • Make sure on your Coinbase Wallet mobile app Settings, that you’re connected to Fantom Opera in your Active Networks
  • Head over to a Fantom dapp such as Screamer (lending and borrowing), Tomb (algorithmic stablecoin), SpiritSwap (DEX), and SpookySwap (DEX) – more to come
  • Click on Connect Wallet and select the Coinbase Wallet option
  • Once you get a pop-up, confirm the authorization by clicking on Connect
  • Play around with the dapp! Lend out some fUSDT or DAI and earn an interest


Developers can Integrate their dApps with Coinbase Wallet

Fantom developers can easily add support for Coinbase Wallet users by integrating the WalletLink SDK, which lets users sign into dApps with Wallet. Get started here.

By Michael Kong