Fantom Storms Q1 with Market Surge and Growth

In Q1 2024, Fantom (FTM) and its native token surged, with a 101% QoQ increase in market cap and a 59% QoQ rise in TVL (USD). Amidst the crypto bull market, FTM has witnessed growth in key metrics, including daily transactions and active addresses, despite a 53% QoQ decline in FTM revenue due to reduced inscription activity.

Fantom's Q1 Performance: Significant Gains and Market Growth

Introduction

Fantom (FTM), a Layer-1 (L1) blockchain protocol, has showcased remarkable achievements and substantial growth in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024. A comprehensive analysis by Messari highlights Fantom's emergence as a major beneficiary in the burgeoning crypto bull market, characterized by significant growth in key metrics and market capitalization.

FTM Market Capitalization Surges

FTM's circulating market capitalization has experienced an impressive 101% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) increase, escalating from $1.3 billion to $2.6 billion. This surge has propelled FTM up ten positions to 48th among all tokens (currently ranking 58th). The token's rally has extended for two consecutive quarters, resulting in a fourfold increase since the end of Q3 2023.

Revenue Dynamics

Although FTM's revenue measured in FTM tokens exhibited a 53% QoQ decline, amounting to 1.8 million FTM, revenue denominated in USD demonstrated a modest 4% QoQ increase, reaching $1.2 million. According to Messari, the revenue decline was primarily attributed to reduced inscription activity across smart contract platforms in Q1.

Despite this, Fantom maintained an upward trend in average daily transactions, excluding inscription-related activity. The number of daily transactions surpassed the Q3 average, reaching 247,000. Daily active addresses also saw a 24% QoQ increase to 40,500.

Staking Dynamics

In Q1, Fantom implemented a significant reduction in the staking requirement for validators, from 500,000 FTM to 50,000 FTM, aiming to enhance accessibility. However, the number of active validators remained unchanged at 55.

The total amount of FTM staked witnessed a notable 17% QoQ increase, rising from 1.1 billion to 1.3 billion FTM. This surge translated into a substantial 135% QoQ jump in the total dollar value of staked FTM, amounting to $1.2 billion. Among proof-of-stake (PoS) networks, Fantom ranked 22nd in terms of the dollar value of funds staked by the end of Q1.

On-Chain Activity

The Total Value Locked (TVL) denominated in USD experienced a significant 59% QoQ increase during Q1, rising from $810.8 million in Q4 to $1.28 billion. Conversely, TVL denominated in FTM decreased by 21% QoQ, suggesting that the surge in USD-denominated TVL was partially attributed to FTM's price appreciation.

Fantom's average daily decentralized exchange (DEX) volume surged by 64% QoQ, from $10.2 million to nearly $176.8 million. The "Memecoin Mania" trend during Q1 contributed to elevated on-chain activity across various networks, including Fantom.

Fantom's monthly DEX volume surpassed $1 billion in March, marking the first time since March 2023. The number of DEXs on Fantom reached 31 by the end of Q1, with no single DEX dominating more than 30% of the market share.

Stablecoin Liquidity

Following an exploit in the Multichain: Fantom Bridge, which affected stablecoins on Fantom in Q3 2023, the Fantom Foundation took measures to improve the liquidity of stablecoins.

As of Q1 2024, two independent third-party bridging solutions emerged: Axelar (axlUSDC and axlUSDT) and LayerZero (lzUSDC and lzUSDT). USDC remains the dominant stablecoin on Fantom, accounting for 98% of the stablecoin market cap. USDT also experienced considerable growth, exhibiting an 86% QoQ increase.

Current Market Dynamics

At the time of writing, the FTM token is trading at $0.7037, reflecting an 8.7% increase in price over the past seven days. However, FTM has experienced a decline of approximately 20% in the monthly time frame.