A brief history
The Fantom platform, which is overseen by the Fantom Foundation, was originally created in 2018, with its mainnet launched in December 2019. Fantom is a blockchain for DeFi, crypto, and enterprise decentralized applications. It aims to offer unparalleled speed, security, and reliability using its novel "Lachesis" consensus algorithm that enables near-instant transactions and low fees. Lachesis is a variant of proof of stake, called asynchronous byzantine fault tolerant (aBFT). The advantage of this mechanism is that it can operate without a hitch even if a third of transaction data is fraudulent. Fantom developers also emphasize that the Lachesis mechanism is “leaderless,” meaning there are no leaders of blocks or participants- anyone can join (or leave) the network of nodes at a convenient moment.

FTM in practice
The platform's native utility token FTM powers the entire Fantom blockchain ecosystem, and is available as a native mainnet coin, an ERC-20 token in the Ethereum ecosystem, and a BEP-2 token in the Binance ecosystem. FTM is required for on-chain governance. By holding FTM, users can propose and vote on modifications and improvements. Because Fantom is a fully permissionless and leaderless decentralized ecosystem, on-chain governance is in charge of all network decisions. FTM can also be staked to secure the Fantom network, and anyone can participate with a minimum stake of 1 FTM. By staking users can earn FTM tokens as a reward without requiring any special hardware or software.m Additionally, FTM is used to pay for network fees such as fees for deploying Fantom smart contracts or creating new networks or even transaction fees.