Fantom
Fantom is a high-performance, scalable, EVM-compatible, and secure smart-contract platform.[1]
Fantom’s mainnet deployment—Fantom Opera—is built on Fantom’s consensus mechanism, Lachesis.
Purpose of the FTM token[2]
The FTM token has a number of use cases within the Fantom ecosystem.
It plays an essential role for a well-functioning, healthy network.
1. Securing the network
Fantom uses a Proof-of-Stake system that requires validators to hold FTM.
Anyone with at least 1,000,000 FTM can run their own validator node to earn epoch rewards and transaction fees.
Every FTM holder has the option to delegate their tokens to a validator (while keeping full custody of their funds) to receive staking rewards.
Validators then take a small fee for their services.
By locking in their FTM, validators help the network to be decentralized and secure.
2. Paying for network fees
To compensate validators for their services and prevent transaction spam, every action performed within the Fantom network costs a small fee.
This fee is paid in FTM.
3. Voting in on-chain governance
Decisions regarding the Fantom ecosystem are made using transparent on-chain voting.
Votes are weighted according to the amount of FTM held by an entity.
Basically, 1 FTM equals 1 vote.
With FTM as the governance token, validators and delegators can vote on network parameters such as block rewards as well technical committees and so forth.
Lachesis[3]
Lachesis is Fantom’s aBFT consensus algorithm. Simply put, a consensus mechanism is the engine that powers the blockchain.
Compared to Classical and Nakamoto consensus, Lachesis is a faster, more scalable, and more secure choice.
Developers can use Lachesis to build peer-to-peer applications without having to create their own networking layer.
Lachesis is:
- Asynchronous: Participants have the freedom to process commands at different times.
- Leaderless: No participant plays a “special” role.
- Byzantine Fault-Tolerant: Supports one-third of faulty nodes, including malicious behavior.
- Final: Lachesis’s output can be used immediately. There is no need to wait for block confirmations; transactions are confirmed in 1-2 seconds.