Introduction to the Fantom Blockchain

Fantom is a network of blockchains where transactions are finalized in a second and cost a fraction of a cent. Its main use cases include payments, digital identity, and medical records.

Fantom uses a leaderless Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism called Lachesis. The Lachesis consensus can be plugged into any blockchain and also powers Fantom’s Opera mainnet which is compatible with Ethereum.

Here are some of the things I love about Fantom:

1. It conquers the blockchain trilemma. According to the trilemma, a blockchain can have only 2 of these 3 features - scalability, security, and decentralization. Fantom achieves all 3 - scalability, security, and decentralization.

2. Fantom has a modular architecture that makes it highly customizable. Ethereum-based dApps can be ported easily to Fantom Opera mainnet.

3. In Fantom, each application has its own blockchain and its performance and stability are not affected by traffic or congestion. In many blockchains including Ethereum, all dApps use the same infrastructure. This reduces scalability.

4. Each blockchain on Fantom can have its own custom tokens, tokenomics, and governance rules. Since all these blockchains use Lachesis, they can interact with each other.

Fantom's native token is FTM, which can be staked. Delegated FTM gives investors sFTM, a synthetic asset that can be used in the Fantom ecosystem.

While anyone can run validator nodes on Fantom, there is a huge cost to this - you need to stake a minimum of 1 million FTM. This is what I hate about Fantom.

Consensus mechanism: 
Leaderless Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism called Lachesis