Fantom

Fantom
File:Fantom Logo.png
Denominations
Symbol	FTM
Development
White paper	https://arxiv.org/pdf/2108.01900.pdf
Code repository	https://github.com/Fantom-Foundation
Development status	Active
Developer(s)	Fantom Foundation
Source model	Open source
Website	https://fantom.foundation/
Ledger
Ledger start	December 27, 2019
Timestamping scheme	Lachesis
Block explorer	https://ftmscan.com/
Supply limit	3,175,000,000 FTM

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Fantom is a decentralized, open-source, smart contract platform that aims to provide fast, secure, and scalable infrastructure for decentralized applications (dApps). Developed by the Fantom Foundation, Fantom was designed to address some of the scalability and security challenges faced by other blockchain networks through its proof-of-stake, aBFT consensus protocol, Lachesis.

Its focus on improving the performance of the underlying distributed ledger is Fantom's key differentiating factor from other smart contract platforms, meaning no segmentation between different networks, thereby not trading security for performance.

History

Founding

Fantom was under development by the Fantom Foundation from late 2018 through 2019 as a chain aimed to address the blockchain trilemma, a trade-off between decentralization, security, and scalability that affects many blockchains.

Development

Andre Cronje, a DeFi developer and technical advisor at the Fantom Foundation at the time, played a central role in Fantom’s efforts to build the platform. Alongside Michael Kong, Fantom Foundation’s CEO, and others, he helped to build a team of developers and researchers, including Dr. Quan Nguyen, Fantom Foundation’s CTO, and he was a big factor in Fantom’s push towards innovating DeFi.

On December 27, 2019, Fantom’s production-ready smart contract platform — commonly known as a mainnet — was launched, the first EVM smart contract layer built on top of its consensus protocol.

Although Cronje announced his departure from the DeFi space in March 2022, he remained at the Fantom Foundation as a core contributor and became a director in December 2022.

Fantom’s development is now led by a number of key individuals, including Dr. Quan Nguyen, a Ph.D. graduate from the University of Sydney, and Professor Bernhard Scholz, a professor of Computer Science at the University of Sydney, specializing in Programming Languages.

Technology

Consensus

Fantom uses a proprietary consensus mechanism, called Lachesis, which combines proof-of-stake with directed acyclic graph-based asynchronous Byzantine fault tolerance.

Byzantine fault tolerance

Practical Byzantine fault tolerance (pBFT) is a consensus mechanism designed to enable decentralized systems to function correctly in the presence of malicious or faulty nodes. It is named after the Byzantine generals’ problem, which is an idea that illustrates the difficulties of achieving consensus in a decentralized system when some of the participants may be acting in bad faith.

In a pBFT system, nodes in a network communicate with each other to reach consensus on the state of the system. To achieve this, they send messages back and forth that contain information about the state of the system and the actions they are proposing. Every node verifies the message it receives, and if it determines the message is valid, it sends a message to all the other nodes to indicate its agreement. In the context of cryptocurrencies, the message with which all nodes must agree is the blockchain, a ledger that stores a history of transactions.

Before the invention of cryptocurrencies, the major flaw with pBFT systems was their susceptibility to Sybil attacks. If an attacker were to control sufficient nodes, they could control the entire system. Hence, there needed to be a deterrent to launch many nodes, solved first by Bitcoin with proof-of-work, which forced nodes to invest considerable energy to partake in the consensus. Since then, many new solutions have been developed, such as proof-of-stake that forces nodes to deposit tokens that have monetary value, which is the solution Fantom uses.

Asynchronous Byzantine fault tolerance

In an asynchronous Byzantine fault tolerant (aBFT) network, nodes are able to reach consensus independently, and they are not required to share final blocks to confirm transactions. As a result, aBFT consensus mechanisms are leaderless. Every node verifies transactions on its own and is not required to incorporate specific blocks created by other miners or validators when it is creating new blocks.

Directed acyclic graph

Example of a block DAG. Every circle, or vertex, is an event block full of transactions. Every arrow, or edge, connect these event blocks together.

A graph is a non-linear data structure used to represent objects, called vertices, and the connections between them, called edges. For example, a graph used to represent social media connections would incorporate every user as a vertex and their connections to other users as edges. A directed graph dictates that all its edges, the connections between objects, only flow in a certain direction. An acyclic graph does not contain any cycles, which makes it impossible to follow a sequence of edges and return to the starting point. As such, a directed acyclic graph (DAG) contains sets of data that only connect in a certain direction and never repeat, or cycle.

In a block DAG, every block is represented by a vertex, and the relationships between the blocks are represented by edges. For example, the edges may represent the dependencies between the blocks or the order in which they were added to the DAG.

Multiple blocks, each of which contains transactions, can be created and added to a block DAG concurrently. The blocks do not need to be added in a specific order, which enables the system to achieve faster transaction times as it is not limited by the requirement to incorporate blocks sequentially.

Lachesis

Lachesis is Fantom's proof-of-stake, DAG-based, aBFT consensus mechanism. In Lachesis, every validator, or node, stores a local block DAG and batches incoming transactions into event blocks, which are batches of transactions they add to their DAGs as vertices.

To create a new event block, a validator first needs to validate all transactions in its current event block and part of the event blocks it has received from other validators. The new event block then is communicated with other validators through asynchronous communication. During this process, validators share their own event blocks, and the ones they have received from others, with other validators that incorporate them in their own local DAGs. Consequently, this spreads information throughout the entire network. The process is asynchronous as the event blocks shared between validators are not required to be sequential similar to how blocks are in a blockchain.

Unlike a blockchain, the DAG-based approach used by Lachesis does not force validators to work on validating the current block that is being produced, which places restrictions on transaction speed and finality. Validators are free to create their own event blocks that contain transactions and share these with other validators on the network asynchronously, creating a non-linear record of transactions.

File:DAGs in Lachesis.png

Event blocks part of a DAG in Lachesis

As an event block is sent and propagated across validators, it becomes a root event block once the majority of validators have received and agreed upon it. These root event blocks eventually are ordered and included in the main chain, which is a blockchain that contains the final consensus among all root event blocks. Every validator stores and updates a copy of the main chain, which provides quick access to previous transaction history to process new event blocks more efficiently. As such, the Lachesis consensus mechanism combines a DAG-based approach with a final blockchain.

Currently, the process of submitting a transaction and having it added to the main chain through the Lachesis consensus mechanism takes approximately 1-2 seconds. This involves the following steps:

1. A user submits a transaction
2. A validator batches the transaction into a new event block as part of their DAG
3. The event block becomes a root event block once the majority of validators have received and incorporated it in their DAG
4. Through a complex process, the root event block is ordered and finalized into the main chain as a block

When a user explores Fantom through a block explorer, they view the blocks on the main chain. Event block generation in validators' DAGs is an internal process only and is not visible to end users.

Mainnet

The Fantom mainnet, named Opera Chain, is a decentralized, open-source, smart contract platform that uses the Lachesis consensus mechanism. It was launched on December 27, 2019, and is built using the Ethereum Virtual Machine, enabling support for Ethereum-based smart contracts developed using the Solidity or Vyper programming languages.

As Fantom is based on the Lachesis consensus mechanism, it uses a proof-of-stake solution, where validators store a local block DAG and batch incoming transactions into event blocks, which they add to their DAG. These event blocks are then shared with other validators, who incorporate them into their own DAGs. Once the majority of validators have received and agreed upon an event block, it becomes a root event block and eventually is ordered and included in the main chain. Fantom is the main chain and contains the final consensus of all root event blocks.

Fantom integrates the benefits of both DAGs and a blockchain in an attempt to address the common blockchain trilemma that often requires a network to compromise between decentralization, security, and scalability.

FTM

FTM is the native cryptocurrency of Fantom. It is used to secure the network through staking, participate in governance, and pay for transaction fees.

Staking

Staking allows users to earn rewards for participating in the security and maintenance of Fantom, powered by the Lachesis consensus mechanism. To run a validator node and participate in the consensus process, a user must stake at least 500,000 FTM tokens. Users who do not have enough tokens can delegate their stake to a validator, but they will be charged a 15% fee on any staking rewards earned.

If a validator behaves dishonestly, it may lose its staked tokens, including those delegated to it by other users. The staked tokens serve as a financial incentive for validators to act in good faith. Both validators and delegators can lock up their stake for up to 365 days to earn higher rewards. The maximum validator size is 15x its self-stake amount, including the tokens delegated to it. After unstaking, there is a 7-day "unbonding time" during which funds are inaccessible.

Fantom operates on a leaderless proof-of-stake system, meaning that anyone can run a validator node and there is no process for electing a set number of validators in charge of securing the network.

Governance

Fantom uses a decentralized governance proposal process to decide whether to implement community suggestions. Users must have staked FTM to submit or vote on proposals. Submitting an on-chain proposal requires a 100 FTM fee.

Proposals can have a range of custom options for voters to express their level of agreement, rather than just a simple yes or no choice. To pass, a proposal must receive a minimum number of votes and an average level of agreement by a set date.

Partnerships

Formula 1

2021

File:Fantom Logo on Pierre Gasly's Car.jpg

The Fantom logo on Pierre Gasly's car in the 2021 Formula 1 season.

In March 2021, Fantom announced a partnership with French racing driver Pierre Gasly, who competed for the AlphaTauri team in the 2021 Formula 1 season. During Grand Prix races, the Fantom logo could be found on Gasly’s helmet and car. On October 20, Gasly auctioned off three unique NFTs on Fantom dedicated to his three podium finishes in Formula 1. These NFTs included:

1. Baku 2021 Podium, which included Gasly’s race-worn helmet and a meet and greet
2. Brazil 2019 Comeback, which included a signed promotion helmet and a meet and greet
3. Monza 2020 First Victory, which included a VIP experience for two at a race weekend, a meet and greet, and a signed mini-helmet

An additional 350 NFTs were sold following the auctions. These were redeemable for a signed merchandise cap and a limited edition T-shirt celebrating Gasly’s first NFT release. 10 of these NFTs were selected randomly to be redeemable for a signed mini-helmet in addition to the merchandise.

In May 2021, Fantom became an official partner of Gasly’s team, Scuderia AlphaTauri.

2022

In January 2022, AlphaTauri announced an extension of their partnership with Fantom for the entire 2022 Formula 1 season. The partnership saw the Fantom logo displayed on the cars and helmets of both AlphaTauri drivers, Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda.

On May 2, 2022, Gasly debuted his second NFT collection on the Fantom platform. The collection featured three unique NFTs depicting his helmets, which included:

1. 2022 Miami GP Helmet
2. 2020 Monza Race Win Helmet
3. 2022 Pierre Gasly’s Helmet

Winners of all three auctions received hospitality packages for the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix, meet and greets with Gasly, signed helmet replicas, and official merchandise.

An additional 500 NFTs were sold featuring a custom helmet design that combined Fantom and Gasly branding. These were redeemable either for a signed cap or a signed mini helmet and cap, depending on the NFT.

References

This article "Fantom (smart contract platform)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Fantom (smart contract platform). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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