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Fantom (FTM) Jumps 180% In 4 Weeks: Just The Beginning?

Over the past 24 hours, Fantom (FTM) has emerged as the standout performer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, registering a remarkable 13.5% gain. This surge is part of a broader rally that has seen the FTM price soar by 180% over the last four weeks, propelling it from $0.42 to $1.20. This upward trajectory has significantly boosted Fantom’s market capitalization to $3.3 billion, positioning it as the 41st largest digital asset worldwide. Here’s why this might be just the beginning:

#1 Sonic Upgrade: The Catalyst for Fantom’s Rally

The anticipated Sonic upgrade is central to Fantom’s recent success. Designed to enhance the Fantom technology stack, Sonic introduces major scalability improvements without necessitating a disruptive hard fork. Key components of the Sonic upgrade include:

  • Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM): Aims to significantly boost transaction throughput.
  • Carmen Database: Promises to reduce storage requirements by up to 90%.
  • Optimized Lachesis Consensus: Improves upon the existing consensus mechanism for enhanced performance.

With these enhancements, Fantom targets a throughput of over 2,000 transactions per second (TPS), marking a substantial leap in scalability. Importantly, the upgrade ensures that existing Fantom Opera smart contracts and tools remain fully compatible with the Sonic mainnet, which is scheduled to launch in Spring 2024.

Recent testnets have demonstrated Sonic’s potential. The closed testnet, focused on ERC-20 swaps, achieved an impressive ~4,000 TPS with ~1.3-second finality. Furthermore, a reconfiguration to process only ERC-20 transfers led to a groundbreaking ~10,000 TPS at ~1.6-second finality, showcasing the capabilities of next-generation decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and wallets.

Reflecting on Sonic’s impact, Reflexivity Research highlighted, “Fantom Sonic unlocks new possibilities for the Fantom ecosystem, particularly in decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, blockchain games, high-frequency applications, and the Internet of Things (IoT).”

The research firm added that another cornerstone for Fantom is its exemplary 99.9% uptime. “Fantom’s novel solutions position it as a frontrunner in the development of decentralized networks,” Reflexivity Research stated.

#2 Andre Cronje: The Innovator’s Promise

Andre Cronje, the founder of Fantom and one of the brightest minds in the crypto industry, has been instrumental in driving innovation within the ecosystem. Cronje recently underscored his commitment to advancing the crypto space, stating, “The number 1 dex on Base, and the number 1 dex on Optimism are both built with code I wrote and pioneered. Stick to where the innovators are, post Sonic I will be adding some new primitives to crypto.”

#3 Coinbase Announcement: A New Milestone

Another factor driving today’s price rally is probably today’s Coinbase International announcement that it will launch Fantom perpetual futures on Coinbase International Exchange and Coinbase Advanced, set to commence on or after 9:30am UTC on March 28, 2024. This move by Coinbase is expected to further enhance Fantom’s liquidity and accessibility, contributing to its growing appeal among investors.

#4 Technical Analysis: FTM/USD

The bullish momentum of Fantom price is apparent in the weekly FTM/USD chart on Binance, signified by the latest candlestick closure above the key exponential moving averages (EMAs) of 20, 50, 100, and 200 periods. This week’s candlestick represents a notable increase of approximately 50% from the intra-week low.

Fantom’s ascent has propelled its value beyond the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement level, situated at $0.9176. This bullish breakout suggests the market may target subsequent Fibonacci levels, with $1.38 (0.382 Fib) acting as an intermediate psychological and technical resistance, followed by $1.76 (05 Fib), and potentially extending towards the golden ratio at $2.13, which corresponds with the 0.618 Fibonacci level.

On the flip side of this bullish scenario, should a correction occur across the broader crypto market, immediate support for FTM can be anticipated at the $0.92 level. Stability at or above this threshold could reaffirm bullish market control. Conversely, a downward breach could intensify selling pressure, possibly leading to a retest of support around the $0.56 mark.

Fantom FTM price

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Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Surges 15% As Coinbase Plans Futures Listing

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has registered a sharp 15% rally in the past 24 hours after plans of a futures listing on Coinbase have surfaced for the asset.

Coinbase Plans To Launch Bitcoin Cash Futures Product On 1 April

As an X user has pointed out, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase appears to have filed certifications with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to list futures products for three coins on its platform: Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Litecoin (LTC).

As per the CFTC filing, all of these products were certified on March 7, and they are set to go live on trading on the first of the month.

Bitcoin Cash Futures

Interestingly, all three of these digital assets happen to be based on the original cryptocurrency: Bitcoin. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart has hinted that this may be why Coinbase has chosen them.

Unlike LTC and DOGE, which are based initially on BTC’s code, BCH is a direct fork of the cryptocurrency made to fulfill BTC’s original purpose as a fast and cheap form of currency that may be used for regular purposes (hence the name).

The filling made by Coinbase on Bitcoin Cash reads:

The market position of Bitcoin Cash reflects its role as an alternative to Bitcoin that prioritizes transaction efficiency. While it has not matched Bitcoin in terms of market capitalization or price, Bitcoin Cash has established itself as a significant player in the cryptocurrency space, with a dedicated user base and ecosystem.

BCH Has Enjoyed A 14% Surge During The Last 24 Hours

The cryptocurrency sector has been up in the past day, but two coins in particular have stood out among the top 20 assets by market cap: Bitcoin Cash and Dogecoin.

Both of these have managed more than 14% returns in this period, notably outperforming their peers. Bitcoin itself has only been able to put together a rally of about 6%.

Given that the Coinbase filling has been making the rounds in this window, it would appear likely that it was at least partially responsible for the extraordinary surges of these coins.

Even though Litecoin is also planned to see its futures contract launch on the same day as the other two, its price performance has been more or less in line with the rest of the market with its profits sitting at just 4%.

Following the sharp rally, Bitcoin Cash has now arrived at the $424 level. The chart below shows how the cryptocurrency’s trajectory has looked in the last few days.

Bitcoin Cash Price Chart

Regarding the market cap, Bitcoin Cash is currently the 17th largest asset. While there is some distance to Polygon (MATIC) in 16th place, LTC may be able to catch it if it can keep up this rally.

Bitcoin Cash Market Cap

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Crypto Analyst Touts Base As Next Memecoin Hotspot: Top 8 Picks

In an analysis shared with his nearly 100,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter), the crypto analyst known by the pseudonym Xremlin (@0x_gremlin) has pinpointed Base as the burgeoning hub for memecoin enthusiasts and investors. This proclamation follows a season of unprecedented gains in the Solana memecoin market, with tokens like BOME, WIF, and SLERF achieving returns ranging from 300x to 1000x.

Xremlin’s insight into the crypto market dynamics suggests a potential replication of these astronomical returns on Base, underlined by a tweet stating, “Meme traders on Solana printed millions this season: BOME: 800x, WIF: 1000x, SLERF: 300x. BASE season is just revving up, and might have a similar rally.”

The transition of focus towards Base is attributed by the analyst to its association with Coinbase and an upcoming product launch aimed at simplifying on-chain trading. Xremlin elaborates, “Why Base? Coinbase has a large user base in the US, but trading on-chain can be too complex for normies. Soon, Coinbase will launch a product that enables its CEX users [100M+] to trade on Base without requiring seed phrases or private keys.”

This move is anticipated to significantly lower the entry barriers for new investors, potentially catalyzing a memecoin rally on the Base platform.

However, amidst the excitement, Xremlin issues a word of caution to their followers: “Remember: Investing in memes is high risk. Only bet what you can afford to lose. Projects might rug, slow rug, or suddenly tank by 50%-70% when the hype fades.” This cautionary advice reflects the inherent volatility and risk associated with memecoin investments, where the line between significant gains and losses can be remarkably thin.

Diving Into The Top Crypto Memecoins On Base

Xremlin’s curated list of Base memecoins is not only varied but also rich with potential, highlighting projects inspired by cultural references, pets of notable figures, and even caricatures of industry leaders. Here’s a closer look at the analyst’s picks:

  • TOSHI: Touted as a tribute to Brian Armstrong’s cat, named after the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto, TOSHI represents a playful investment opportunity. Xremlin notes, “TOSHI could be the flagship memecoin of Base, drawing on the crypto community’s reverence for Nakamoto and Armstrong’s influence.”
  • DEGEN: With its strategic distribution to Farcaster users, DEGEN taps into a community already engaged and familiar with crypto, setting a precedent for community-driven value.
  • DOGINME: This memecoin capitalizes on the popular phrase “Got that dog in him,” embodying the resilience and tenacity celebrated in crypto trading circles.
  • MOCHI and PONCHO: Both cat-themed coins seek to attract the attention of cat lovers, just as dog-themed memecoins such as Dogecoin, Shiba Inu and FLOKI attract that of dog lovers. MOCHI is based on Brian Armstrong’s pet.
  • TYBG: Self-described as “The most based meme on Base,” it signifies the meta-culture of memes within the crypto space, where self-referential humor often garners substantial community support.
  • BRIUN: A direct caricature of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, BRIUN embodies the intersection of meme culture and crypto’s leadership, underlining the community’s penchant for satire.
  • ELONRWA: Inspired by a sketch of Elon Musk, this project aims to bridge the gap between digital tokens and real-world assets, representing the innovative and often speculative nature of memecoin investments.

Xremlin further emphasizes the importance of community and research in navigating the memecoin market: “For those interested in researching Base memes, I recommend joining the /base channel on Warpcaster. Community insight is invaluable, and collective due diligence can help mitigate risks associated with memecoin investments.”

At press time, TOSHI traded at $0.000321653, up 210% in the last three weeks.

TOSHI price

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Coinbase’s Allies Join Crypto Firm’s Case Against SEC

Several allies joined Coinbase Inc. (COIN) in its court fight against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to force the agency to rethink its refusal to write specific rules to govern the crypto industry, with Paradigm, the Crypto Council for Innovation and others filing outside arguments with the circuit court.