Is FTM reacting to the launch of Fantom Sonic?

• Fantom has announced the testnet launch of its next major upgrade.
• FTM has surged by double digits in the last week.

In a recent blog post, the developer team behind the leading Layer 1 (L1) blockchain network Fantom [FTM] announced the launch of Fantom Sonic.

Today, #Fantom is thrilled to announce the launch of the #FantomSonic testnet environment!

Sonic’s three main upgrades include:

• Fantom Virtual Machine, which offers drastically faster smart contract execution compared to the old EVM.

• Carmen database storage, which uses a… pic.twitter.com/shovQtzMkd

— Fantom Foundation (@FantomFDN) October 24, 2023

According to the announcement, Fantom Sonic represents a major upgrade to the Fantom blockchain. It is an umbrella name for the network’s new technology stack, which is designed to replace Fantom Opera. 

Fantom Opera was launched in 2019 as the first additional layer within Fantom. It is an EVM-compatible smart contract platform and a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network where validators use Lachesis to validate transactions and produce new blocks.

Read Fantom’s [FTM] Price Prediction 2023-24

Here comes Fantom Sonic 

According to the Fantom Foundation,

“Sonic is the next iteration of the Fantom network, with no hard fork required for the upgrade.”

The upgrade is expected to come with three significant features. They include the Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM), a Carmen database storage, and a different consensus mechanism known as the Optimized Lachesis consensus mechanism.

The FVM is a new virtual machine that is designed to be faster and more efficient than the current EVM operated on Opera. This will allow Fantom to process transactions more quickly and reduce costs for users.

Further, Sonic will introduce a new database storage engine known as the Carmen database storage. It is expected to reduce node storage requirements on Fantom and improve the network’s overall performance.

Regarding the consensus mechanism on the upgraded network, Sonic will introduce the Optimized Lachesis consensus mechanism. 

As noted above, Fantom Opera adopts Lachesis consensus wherein validators on the network can process transactions independently and asynchronously. Validators will no longer have to wait for others to finish processing a block before starting on the next one. 

With an “optimized” version of this mechanism, validating transactions on Sonic has been designed to be more efficient, faster, and reliable. 

Fantom has launched a testnet wherein the network users can test some of the new upgrades. According to the announcement, the mainnet will launch in the spring of 2024.

New demand for FTM climbs to multi-month highs

An assessment of the daily count of new addresses created to trade FTM revealed an 86% inter day spike between 22 and 23 October.

Realistic or not, here’s FTM’s market cap in BTC terms

According to data from Santiment, as of 23 October, the number of new addresses that completed FTM transactions for the first time totaled 371.  This was the highest address count since July. 

Source: Santiment

This surge was due to the ongoing bullish momentum in the general crypto market, and it showed that demand for FTM was starting to climb. Exchanging hands at $0.2293 at press time, FTM’s price has risen by over 25% in the last week. 

Source: CoinMarketCap