Fantom (FTM) Surges 70% in 30 Days Amid Upgrade Anticipation

The native token of the Fantom blockchain, FTM, has seen a remarkable price surge of over 70% in the past 30 days, defying the broader cryptocurrency market downturn. As of October 2, 2024, FTM was trading at $0.6850, up 5% in the last week alone.

Sonic Upgrade: A Game-Changer for Fantom

This bullish momentum comes as the Fantom community eagerly awaits the upcoming “Sonic” upgrade, scheduled for late 2024. The upgrade promises significant improvements to the network’s performance, including:

• A new Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM)
• Optimized Lachesis consensus mechanism
• Enhanced Carmen database storage
• Increased transaction processing speed from 30 to over 2,000 transactions per second
• Reduced finality time to approximately one second

Alongside the technical upgrades, Fantom is undergoing a major rebranding. The Fantom Foundation has already rebranded to Sonic Labs, with plans to change the native token ticker from FTM to $S by the end of 2024. Existing FTM holders will be able to convert their tokens to S at a 1:1 ratio during the migration process.

Renewed Interest in Fantom’s Ecosystem

The anticipation surrounding these developments has revitalized interest in Fantom’s ecosystem. Data from DefiLlama shows a 55% increase in Total Value Locked (TVL) across Fantom’s DeFi applications over the past month, reaching $108.8 million. While still far from its all-time high of $7.93 billion in March 2022, this growth signals renewed confidence in the platform.

Network activity has also seen a significant uptick. Glassnode data reveals a 162% increase in daily active addresses between September 1 and October 1. Additionally, the number of daily transactions rose by 66% in the same period, according to FTMScan.

Market Outlook and Fantom Price Predictions

Market analysts attribute FTM’s price rally to a combination of factors, including:

1. Excitement over the Sonic upgrade and its potential to enhance Fantom’s competitiveness in the layer-1 blockchain space
2. The upcoming token migration and rebranding, which could attract new investors
3. Increased network activity and growing TVL in DeFi applications

While the broader altcoin market has experienced corrections of 5-15% entering Q4, FTM’s resilience stands out. Some bullish price predictions for 2024 range from $1.02 to $1.72, with more optimistic forecasts suggesting FTM could reach $3 in the near future.

However, investors should remain cautious, as the cryptocurrency market is known for its volatility. Bearish predictions for 2024 put FTM’s potential low at $0.32.

As Fantom transitions to become a major player in the layer-1 blockchain space under its new Sonic Labs identity, all eyes will be on the successful implementation of the upcoming upgrades and the market’s response to the rebranded ecosystem.