**Fantom’s FTM Token Surges Over 190% in Four Weeks**
Layer 1 blockchain Fantom’s native token, FTM, has experienced a remarkable surge in price, gaining over 190% in just four weeks. This makes FTM the best-performing non-meme cryptocurrency among the top 100 digital assets by market value. The token’s price reached $1.16, the highest it has been since April 2022, with its market capitalization jumping to $3.29 billion, making it the 44th largest digital asset in the world.
**Fantom’s Sonic Upgrade Sparks Investor Interest**
Investor interest in Fantom’s cryptocurrency has been galvanized by the impending Sonic upgrade, which is expected to significantly boost transaction processing speeds. The Sonic mainnet is set to replace the existing Opera mainnet in the coming months, with the testnet already live since October. The closed testnet has demonstrated a maximum theoretical throughput of 2,000 transactions per second (TPS) and a time to finality of 1.1 seconds, a vast improvement from Opera’s processing speed of just 3.2 TPS.
**Bitcoin Faces Volatility as Market Observers Predict More Swings**
Bitcoin (BTC) tested $66,000 during Asian trading hours on Friday before retracing to around $64,800. Market observers anticipate more volatility for the leading cryptocurrency, with recent catalysts including spot bitcoin ETF outflows from GBTC. Semir Gabeljic, director of capital formation at Pythagoras Investments, noted that the recent drawdown of 10% is in line with historical patterns before the BTC halving event, suggesting more volatility ahead.
**Frax Finance Aims to Lock $100 Billion in Assets by 2026**
Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Frax Finance unveiled a singularity roadmap on Friday with the goal of locking $100 billion worth of crypto assets in its layer-2 blockchain, Fraxtal, by the end of 2026. Currently, the total value locked (TVL) stands at $13.2 million. The roadmap includes plans to launch 23 layer-3 blockchains within a year and introduce new assets like frxNEAR, frxTIA, and frxMETIS alongside existing ones like FRAX and sFRAX on Fraxtal. The proposal, put forth by founder Sam Kazemian and other contributors, aims to expand the protocol’s reach and offerings in the DeFi space.
