Fantom: A rising star in the Blockchain world

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The firm is steadily establishing itself as a prominent Blockchain provider

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Published: Thu 20 May 2021, 11:54 AM

Last updated: Thu 20 May 2021, 2:25 PM

With reports about prohibitive Ethereum gas fees and the prices of Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) having dominated tech headlines, one might be forgiven for not noticing Fantom Foundation's steady stream of announcements about the Fantom Blockchain platform. Over the last months, developers, general users keen to explore Fantom's DeFi offerings, and even government agencies have signed on to use Fantom's leading-edge Blockchain applications. Further, investment firms Alameda Research, BlockTower Capital, and HyperChain Capital have either announced backing or increased their stake in the project. A rapidly growing platform with unique technology, it is quickly establishing itself as a leading Blockchain service provider.

What is Fantom?


Called Opera, the Fantom Blockchain is fast, secure, and decentralised. The Fantom platform is open-source and permissionless, allowing anyone to participate on the network. Transactions on Fantom generally take less than one second. But perhaps a more important metric is time to finality, which refers to the time for information to be recorded on the immutable Blockchain ledger. Fantom is blazingly fast in this regard, with a time to finality of less than a second (as a point of comparison, time to finality on Bitcoin is upwards of 30 minutes).

Impressively, Fantom continues rapidly to develop its high-performance Blockchain. In late April 2021, for example, the project seamlessly underwent a major network upgrade that increased efficiency, lowered storage requirements, enhanced wallet functionality, and more. 


An Ethereum helper

Other platforms jockey for the title of "Ethereum killer," but Fantom distinguishes itself as an "Ethereum helper." Fantom offers full Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility, meaning that the platform can run any Ethereum dapp. Developers can use standard Ethereum tools on Fantom, and all users can turn to familiar interfaces like Metamask to easily transact across the Fantom and Ethereum networks. Of late, as the DeFi boom continues unchecked, Fantom has been playing an essential role in facilitating transactions on the Ethereum network to increase speed and lower transaction costs. Simply put, Fantom is a complete Layer-1 Blockchain platform with the versatility to serve as a Layer-2 that increases efficiencies on the Ethereum network.

The global market for Fantom Blockchain solutions

Fantom offers a range of enterprise solutions and an open public chain that hosts an ever-expanding list of dapps. The market and user base are global. Lately, the project has established a firm foothold in Central and South Asia. After concluding successful trials, the Afghanistan Ministry of Health announced in April 2021 that it will deploy the pharmaceutical supply-chain tool Fantom Tracker to combat the illegal sale of counterfeit medicines and medical goods. Fantom Tracker will verify the authenticity and integrity of over 200 million products, including vaccines and Covid-19 test kits. Plans are underway for the further implementation of the solution in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Numerous governments and enterprises have adopted Fantom's CRM suite as well. In Afghanistan, the national energy provider Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, and the Afghanistan Standards Authority will all use Fantom tools to manage data flow, monitor databases for unauthorised changes, extend outreach to customers, and certify documents. 

In the Republic of Tajikistan, the Ministry of New Technology recently contracted with Fantom to develop customised CRM/MIS tools and jointly establish a local Blockchain R&D hub. In the medium-term, the ministry plans to explore how Fantom Blockchain solutions can be deployed across the country to manage information systems and serve as the backbone of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). 

The Punjab Prisons Department and the Private Educational Institutions Regulation Authority, both in Pakistan, are also using Fantom's CRM solutions to streamline data transmission, manage resources, and offer data transparency.

The Fantom team

Fantom is led by CEO Michael Kong, who, among other accomplishments, is known for building one of the first Ethereum decompilers and smart contract vulnerability detectors. His team is distributed globally and includes experts from various fields, including business development, software engineering, finance, cryptography, architecture, and more. Andre Cronje, the founder of Yearn and a renowned developer, holds the title of DeFi architect.

In a rapidly evolving and frequently volatile Blockchain landscape, the Fantom project has been a consistent performer that has shown organic growth and a rapidly expanding user base. The project has matured quickly and is well-positioned to serve as a complete dapp platform, provider of innovative enterprise solutions, and long-term Ethereum scaling solution.


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