Fantom (FTM) Eyes $1 as Sonic Testnet Launches

Fantom Price Growth Amid Sonic Testnet Launch

Fantom (FTM) is experiencing a notable price increase today, driven by the positive developments in its ecosystem with the launch of Sonic. The recently rebranded Sonic Testnet has officially gone live, bringing Fantom closer to its mainnet launch. This advancement represents a significant shift in Fantom’s evolution as one of the key players in the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector.

Fantom Ecosystem in Low Adoption Mode

The journey towards the Sonic Testnet began over a year ago. Prior to its rebrand, Fantom had potential but faced limited adoption compared to its peers. According to data from DeFiLlama:

• The protocol’s Total Value Locked (TVL) is $111.8 million.
• This is a small fraction of Ethereum’s $77.67 billion TVL.
• The Fantom TVL figure decreased from a high of $8.4 billion in March 2022.

This decline began around May 2022 with the Terra (LUNA) crash, which triggered a prolonged crypto winter. Since then, Fantom’s TVL has remained stagnant.

Impact on Fantom (FTM) Price

Fantom’s price has struggled to rebound following the crash. The rise of new competitors, such as Optimism and Coinbase-backed Base, has provided users with more alternatives. Despite its advanced technology, Fantom has not kept pace with trends such as the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) boom and memecoins. This lack of progress has contributed to its decline and difficulty in returning capital as DeFi liquidity.

The Sonic Testnet – Key Features

The rebranding to Sonic Labs is part of Fantom’s strategy to tackle its ecosystem challenges. Sonic is an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible chain designed to enhance application reach on Fantom. Key features of the Sonic Testnet include:

• A responsiveness check of 400ms, deemed “perfect for synchronous events” by co-founder Andre Cronje.
• A finality time of 720ms with no need for users to wait for multiple blocks.
• 90% of generated fees directed to developers, with no gas subsidies.
• An average block time of 0.4 seconds and the capability to handle over 2 million transactions daily.

For Sonic to compete with current EVM-compatible blockchains, it needs to be faster, more cost-effective, and user-friendly. These are the goals the developers aim to achieve before the mainnet launch.

Fantom Price Rally

The latest ecosystem update has led to a rebound in Fantom (FTM) price. At the time of writing, the coin was trading at $0.3983, marking a 2.3% increase over the past 24 hours. This uptick follows a 3% decline over the previous week. The sustainability of this positive trend amid the broader market downturn remains uncertain. However, further advancements in the Sonic Testnet could potentially drive more investor interest in the coin.