Fantom - the ghost in the machine?
T
he deficiencies in Ethereum have been widely publicised – slow transactions and high fees. It was these issues that led many teams to build new blockchains. In this article, we look at another of these many projects - the Fantom platform.
In this guide:
Disclaimer: All of the information written on Coincrop is without influence and based on our analysis. No guarantee is offered concerning the accuracy of this information and therefore, any individual following up on it does as such completely at their own risk. Rates are correct at time of publication.
What is Fantom?
Fantom is a permission-less, open-source, decentralised blockchain that makes high transaction throughput possible. It was established with the purpose of making smart contracts for decentralised applications (dApps) easier to build.
The development of Fantom came against a backdrop of problems on the Ethereum network during 2020/2021. Users were struggling with slow transfers and high transaction (gas) fees. Those issues with Ethereum resulted in a number of new blockchain projects.
Fantom has connected with a number of solution providers including the Graph, waves, Band protocol, Ren and Chainlink.
How does Fantom work?
Fantom utilises the Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT) consensus protocol in order to make possible the high transaction throughput, security, reliability and low transaction fees.
The Fantom Foundation has made claims that a rate of 10,000 transactions per second is possible on their “consensus engine” – such claims have yet to be tested.
There are four design principles that make up Fantoms foundations: open-source, modularity, security and scalability.
Fantom Lachesis
That protocol used by Fantom to ensure consensus is proof of stake (PoS). A mechanism referred to as Lachesis was designed specifically to achieve the high transaction per second throughputs.
The Fantom difference
Fantom makes possible secure and quick transfers at minimal costs. This is achieved using the Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT) protocol.
Fantom supports on-chain governance. Community contribution in the form of FTM voting is performed entirely on-chain – each vote is equal to one FTM token. It is possible for stakers to submit proposal for changes (at a cost of 100 FTM) – holders can then vote on the proposal.
Holders of Fantom FTM tokens can stake in order to receive rewards of 4% APY. In addition, Fantom Fluid Rewards pay upwards of 12% APR in return for a lock-up period of anything between 2 weeks and a year.
The Geist opportunity
Geist is a borrowing and lending protocol on the Fantom blockchain. The protocol is a fork of Aave (a lending and borrowing protocol on Ethereum). Geist went live on 6th October 2021 and within days attracted over $10 billion in total locked value (TLV).
There are 3 methods to earn on Geist:
• $GEIST tokens are paid as rewards for borrowers and lenders funds. Geist pays the highest APR in reward tokens than the APR it charges for borrowing money.
• Staking Geist tokens are another way of earning. It is possible to earn platform fees from the interest that borrowers are charged on their loans.
• In exchange for locking Geist tokens for periods up to 3 months, Geist reward tokens can be earned.
Geist is not without its risks – the biggest being the possibility of Geist falling in value. The security of its smart contract is another area of potential risk.
Morpheus Swap
Morpheus Swap is a yield farming and aggregator protocol with over $60 million in total locked value (TLV) across its pools and farms. Every 2 seconds, 1 new $Morph token is emitted and those rewards are paid to individuals who stake assets in the farms and pools.
The Morpheus Swap service earns revenue when charging a 2% fee on assets that individuals deposit in their farms and pools. If you deposit into Morpheus Swap, you pay 1.5% to 2% of your deposited funds in return for receiving $MORPH tokens as rewards.
Morpheus Swap then allocates those fees to individuals who stake $MORPH tokens into their Neo pools.
Whilst the Morpheus reward rates are high, the risk of losing value on the $MORPH token is significant.
Fantom saving products
The following savings products are offered by a number of providers in order to earn rewards on your Fantom tokens.
| Organization | Deposit assets | Reward assets | APY Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| OKEx Saving |
|
| 58.0% - fixed (5 days) |
| Midas Investments Saving |
|
| 10.5% - flexible |
| Nexo Saving |
|
| 10.0% - flexible |
| Trofi Saving |
|
| 10.0% - flexible |
| Nexo Saving |
|
| 8.00% - flexible |
| KuCoin Saving |
|
| 8.00% - fixed (14 days) |
| KuCoin Saving |
|
| 6.00% - fixed (7 days) |
| Bit2Me Saving |
|
| 4.50% - flexible |
| Bitrue Saving |
|
| 4.00% - flexible |
| AAX Saving |
|
| 4.00% - fixed (30 days) |
Fantom (FTM)
Nexo (NEXO)Fantom staking products
The following stakingproducts are offered by a number of providers in order to earn rewards on your Fantom tokens.
| Organization | Deposit assets | Reward assets | APY Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ascendex Staking |
|
| 5.00% - fixed (5 days) |
| BTSE Staking |
|
| 3.00% - fixed (90 days) |
| BTSE Staking |
|
| 2.80% - fixed (60 days) |
| BTSE Staking |
|
| 2.60% - fixed (30 days) |
Mike
An editor at CoincropMike is a Crop Crop staff writer based in the UK, covering the best rates for cryptocurrency earning and borrowing products. When not at work, he's likely putting his latest car project back together.
