A Look at Fantom's Steep Weekend Drop

This large volume cryptocurrency is seeing some tough times. Does that mean it’s time to sell or buy?

A closer look at Fantom

Fantom is an open-source smart contract platform for digital assets and dApps. Platforms such as Ethereum, Cardano, and Fantom are an answer to Bitcoin’s lack of transaction speed and scalability. Fantom has its own token (FTM) and boasts of its speed, security, and scalability. According to CoinMarketCap, it has a market capitalization of approximately $1.9 billion and ranks at #47 for the largest cryptocurrency.

Fantom’s all-time high was in October 2021 when it hit $3.47. It has seen a decline since then, with large drops in March, and again over the weekend. Now, it's currently fluctuating around $0.75.

Factors that influenced the drop

Fantom made major news headlines in March when two of its key crewmembers unexpectedly left Fantom Foundation, taking around 25 apps and services with them. These members were Solutions Architect Anton Nell and Developer Andre Cronje. Not only was Cronje a major factor in creating dApps and building Fantom itself, but he's famous in the DeFi world and attracted a large number of followers and Fantom users. Needless to say, in the wake of his (and Nell's) exit, Fantom's price suffered, dropping a hefty 22%.

What’s next for Fantom?

While Croje and Nell's exit was certainly a loss for Fantom, Michael Kong (a computer scientist and CEO of Fantom Foundation) assured investors that there is more to Fantom than these superstar developers. He said in a Tweet, “Fantom isn’t and never was a one-man team.”

We have also seen Kong and the rest of the Fantom team share strategies for moving forward with Fantom. For instance, they are looking into decentralized storage solutions, such as arweave, to store transactions. These plans bode well for the platform having a future in the crypto space.

However, Fantom has a limited amount of time before it runs out of staking rewards to incentivize its validators. Kong has announced that they are hard at work to find a new solution for ensuring that the incentives remain. But this is certainly something to keep an eye on.

There are ups and downs in all cryptocurrencies, and it may be worth waiting to see if Fantom levels out and finds a floor at the current price. It may be keen for a rise again, but only time will tell.

Katie Clinebell does not own any of the cryptocurrencies listed in this article.