Since 2024, the DeFi ecosystem has shown signs of recovery, with total value locked (TVL) increasing by over 50%. New solutions and use cases continue to emerge. Recently, Fantom (FTM) has led the altcoin surge, with a 24-hour peak increase reaching 16.4%. While the project’s fundamentals are strong, the upcoming Sonic upgrade could be a key driver for further growth. The progress of this upgrade may attract more attention to Fantom and fuel its future expansion.

What is Fantom?

Fantom is a Layer 1 blockchain that supports smart contracts and is built on DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) technology. It aims to address the blockchain trilemma of decentralization, security, and scalability.
Unlike other blockchains, Fantom’s foundation lies in the Lachesis consensus mechanism, an advanced asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerance (aBFT) system based on DAG. This allows nodes to asynchronously exchange information and independently validate transactions, ensuring high network speed even during peak times. Moreover, Lachesis’ security mechanism ensures that the system remains operational even if one-third of the nodes are compromised, maintaining the network’s safety and stability.

Source: CoinGecko
On the application side, in 2019, Fantom launched the Opera mainnet, which is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This enables developers to create various DApps or seamlessly migrate any DApp built on Ethereum or other EVM-compatible networks to Fantom. Later, Fantom upgraded Opera, reducing the average time to finality (TTF) to one second and tripling P2P speed. With its broad applicability and efficient processing capabilities, Fantom has become one of the leading projects in the DeFi space.

Sonic: Crafting a New Narrative for Fantom

On August 2, 2024, the Fantom team officially announced the rebranding of Fantom to Sonic Labs, with plans to launch a new EVM-compatible chain called Sonic by the end of this year. The Sonic chain is a blockchain system comprising the Layer 1 Sonic network and a fully Ethereum-compatible native Layer 2. Sonic combines the low fees, high speed, and security of a Layer 1 solution with economic security, liquidity, and user access to Ethereum. While the mainnet has yet to go live, Sonic has already made significant strides in scalability and security, achieving a transaction processing speed of 2,000 TPS with sub-second performance, showcasing its promising future potential.

Source: CoinGecko

Technological Innovations

At the heart of the Sonic upgrade is the Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM), a key component designed to offer a more efficient smart contract execution environment than the existing Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). FVM addresses some of EVM’s performance bottlenecks while maintaining full compatibility with it, allowing existing EVM-based smart contracts to migrate seamlessly to the Fantom network. This reduces migration costs and development efforts while retaining support from the EVM ecosystem.
Performance-wise, FVM delivers faster smart contract processing speeds, lower transaction latency, and higher resource efficiency. For developers, FVM offers enhanced debugging tools, expanded support for more programming languages, and a variety of built-in optimization strategies and automatic security checks. These features enable developers to better control contract execution while detecting potential vulnerabilities and risks, ultimately improving the performance and security of smart contracts.
Additionally, the Carmen data storage solution is a crucial part of the Fantom Sonic upgrade, addressing the challenges of data storage on blockchain networks. By utilizing an innovative data storage structure, Carmen reduces storage requirements and enhances network efficiency and scalability. Specifically, it cuts the storage demand for validator nodes from 2,000 GB to 300 GB and reduces the archival node requirement from 11 TB to 1 TB, lowering the cost of running nodes while boosting decentralization and security. Its intelligent storage strategy dynamically manages storage based on data importance and access frequency, improving storage efficiency and data security.

Token Transition

The Sonic token ($S) is a new token introduced during the Sonic upgrade, replacing the existing FTM token and driving the development of the Sonic network. The initial supply is set at 3.175 billion, equal to the total supply of FTM. Upon the launch of the Sonic network, users can convert their FTM tokens to Sonic tokens at a 1:1 ratio. Six months after the mainnet launch, an additional 6% of Sonic tokens will be issued to reward users and developers, with a 15% annual increase to support network expansion and marketing. Unused tokens will be burned. The Sonic token will play a crucial role in the Sonic ecosystem, being used for transaction fees, staking, liquidity mining, incentives, and supporting DApp development and security.

Source: Fantom

Key Figure Andre Cronje Appointed Chief Technology Officer

Since the rise of DeFi in the crypto world, Andre Cronje—DeFi architect, technical advisor to the Fantom Foundation, and founder of Yearn.finance—has been one of the most influential figures in the space.
In 2022, Andre Cronje announced his temporary departure from the DeFi industry, which led to a significant loss of confidence in Fantom, despite the Fantom Foundation’s statement that the team would remain unaffected by his exit. Following the announcement, the price of FTM tokens plummeted from a peak of $30 to a low of $0.17 and remained below $0.60 for an extended period. It wasn’t until this year when Andre Cronje began frequently updating the progress of the Fantom ecosystem, that investor enthusiasm was reignited.

Source: Sebastian Sinclair
Now, alongside the new Sonic narrative comes the return of Andre Cronje. On August 14, Sonic Labs announced on X that Andre Cronje had been appointed as the new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He will continue to lead the design and development of the Sonic network, with a particular focus on the new native bridging technology, “Sonic Gateway,” which is expected to significantly enhance the security and ease of transferring assets from other chains like Ethereum. As a pivotal figure in Fantom’s ecosystem development, Cronje’s return is anticipated to have a positive impact on the Sonic project, making its future developments worth watching closely.