FTM token was launched by South Korean blockchain development scientists. It is a 2nd generation smart contract platform that offers high scalability and extremely low fees. The developers claim that smart contract interactions on the network have been reduced to a maximum of 2 seconds waiting time, and this speed makes Fantom a good potential destination of DeFi products that are being stifled by the Ethereum gas system.

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Fantom is an open-source project, which means anybody can read the project’s code and suggest changes to it. The platform uses its unique consensus mechanism called “Lachesis”.

Lachesis is built to be an improvement over traditional proof-of-stake models, bringing a “leaderless” design that allows for building and transactions to happen without the requirement for the network confirmation. This removes some large barriers to onboarding, which is the key objective of the Fantom team. Deploying App on Fantom is similar to doing it on Ethereum, except it comes with only a small cost.

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It is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, which means Ethereum developers who wish to build decentralized applications on Fantom can do so using familiar tools like Truffle and coding languages like Ethereum’s Solidity.

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How is the FTM token used?

In addition to the native FTM coin, FTM has two more versions called ERC-20 and BEP-2 version. All of these tokens can be used in Metamask, providing easy access to the DeFi ecosystems of Fantom, Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain.

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Transactions made with the FTM token get confirmed in less than 2 seconds and cost less than 1 cent, which is why projects like USDT and USDC have been built out onto Fantom.

Fantom’s proof-of-stake network is secured by FTM holders and this can be done by two methods.

Users can choose the stake-as-you-go option and receive approximately 4% APY (at the time of writing) on their deposit, being able to unstake and get their liquidity back at any time. Or, they can go for locking up their Fantom tokens for one year, in which case they receive a higher APY of up to 13%.

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One staked FTM token counts for one vote on Fantom governance decisions. Voting on Fantom is easy and can be done on-chain. It ensures that the network stays democratic and decentralized.

Those to choose to stake FTM for longer can also keep some liquidity, with synthetic Fantom (sFTM) tokens available to be unlocked and used in the Fantom DeFi ecosystem.