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5 curiosities that make Fantom a unique DeFi platform

5 interesting facts about Fantom

What metaverse and NFTs are on Fantom? Why is it linked to Cronje? What is its logo doing on F1 circuits? Find out 5 interesting facts about Fantom!

FTM, the Fantom token, is now available on Young Platform! Surely you’ve already heard about it, this blockchain platform is one of the most widely used for the provision of DeFi services, but are you sure you know everything about it? Certainly its “spooky” branding doesn’t go unnoticed, between emoji of ghosts and the reference to the musical “The Phantom of the Opera,” the developers who use Fantom indulge in metaphors and creepy names. One example? The BOO token from Spookyswap, the dapp Tomb Finance and the NFTs from Fantums of Opera. But the FTM ecosystem doesn’t only hide horror easter eggs, here are 5 interesting facts about Fantom!

1. Andre Cronje’s history with Fantom

A simple search on Google or Twitter shows that Fantom is often associated with the name Andre Cronje. But who is Andre Cronje? And most importantly, why is he so important to Fantom? Cronje is one of the most prolific developers in the DeFi industry, creating several protocols and dapps that have helped shape the current image of DeFi and Web3. Cronje has become a crypto star because of his coding skills but also because of his repeated “rage quitting” over DeFi (after the last one a few months ago, in the past few days he broke his silence by talking about the need for crypto regulation). His most famous creations are Yearn Finance and Keep3r, but Cronje has also contributed to the development of other protocols such as Fantom. The developer worked on Fantom from 2018 to 2022 as a technical advisor and as chairman of the Fantom Foundation Technology Council. His imprint was decisive and his prestige in the DeFi field attracted the trust of many people who became Fantom supporters.

After Cronje’s farewell, Fantom suffered in terms of popularity and TVL decline, but DeFi is not made by individual developers. The team has continued to work, gaining deserved success!

2. Fantom cradle of Metaverse

When designing a Metaverse on blockchain you have to take into account all the transactions that need to be processed by all the active users, and Fantom has all the makings of a platform loved by Metaverse developers: it’s fast, scalable and cheap! 8BIT Nostalgia is one of the Metaverse on Fantom, essentially an interactive 3D space that can be explored by avatars sold as NFTs. On 8BIT there are game areas and arenas where users can come together to chat and design new features. 8BIT is expanding through various collaborations, for example owners of the ADAPunks collection on Cardano will be able to use their skins on Fantom as well. As the name implies, the atmosphere of 8BIT is very nostalgic. You can’t help but shed a tear when you think back to Pokemon Perla on Nintendo DS!

Another Metaverse on Fantom is Pod Town, which is distinguishing itself by building a solid in-game economy. Pod Town is integrating a number of DeFi services that allow players to manage and monitor their in-game assets and wallets. The third noteworthy project is Slothtopia, this Metaverse on Fantom is developing a 3D virtual world compatible with VR. 

3. A strong team

Fantom works with the crème de la crème of Web3. In fact, among the protocols integrated into the blockchain platform are Chainlink, The Graph and Ankr. In detail, Fantom works with Chainlink to ‘build secure and scalable DeFi products such as decentralised stablecoins, lending protocols and synthetic assets’. Developers using Fantom’s infrastructure can freely access Chainlink’s oracles to combine and compare on-chain and off-chain data from trusted sources. The Graph, on the other hand, comes in handy when one wants to consult information from different blockchains, information that can be useful for developing and offering cross-chain solutions. With The Graph, Fantom has found the solution to interoperability problems. Finally, Fantom uses the API and development tools of the Ankr protocol.

4. Book your holidays with Fantom

Among the five facts about Fantom, there is an initiative that makes people dream about holidays. In 2020, Fantom started a partnership with Travala.com, the leading cryptocurrency travel booking platform active since 2017. Thanks to this partnership, people can directly use their FTMs on Travala to book hotels, houses, flights, tours and various activities. The Travala project aims to make the travel industry cheaper, fairer and more inclusive, those who use FTM for payments will be able to save over 40% (compared to other classic online travel agencies) and be able to choose from 2 million properties and 600 airlines. 

5. Speed champions agree: Fantom and F1

Fantom has signed two agreements to sponsor Formula 1 projects. In 2021, the partnership with the Italian team Scuderia Alpha Tauri was announced, with the Fantom logo appearing on the car, helmets and drivers’ overalls. 

Since March 2022, the Fantom brand has also been present on the equipment of Pietro and Enzo Fittipaldi, the two F1 drivers also known as the Fittipaldi Brothers. In addition to the sponsorship, the two brothers have chosen Fantom as the platform to create their first NFT collection. “My brother and I have been interested in the cryptocurrency space for some time, we are fascinated by the potential it has to inspire financial freedom and the tools for athletes to engage with their fans,” commented Pietro Fittipaldi.

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Comment reconnaître un Bitcoiner en 6 mèmes

Bitcoin : comment reconnaître les fans en 6 mèmes

Les dictons sont nombreux chez les adeptes du Bitcoin et reflètent la communauté des fans de Satoshi Nakamoto. Découvrez les principaux !

Il y a ceux qui possèdent des bitcoins pour diversifier leurs portefeuilles, et il y a ceux qui en possèdent parce qu’ils croient au concept, et puis il y a les fameux maximalistes qui voient l’or numérique comme la seule vraie monnaie. Les Bitcoiners les plus avides suivent une philosophie bien précise, dans la lignée du whitepaper publié en 2008 qui a tout déclenché. Pour simplifier les concepts les plus importants, au fil des années, la communauté a utilisé des idiomes qui peuvent sembler étranges à ceux qui se sont récemment aventurés dans la blockchain. Découvre comment reconnaître un fan en 6 mèmes !

Les chiffres grimpent

Le premier dicton largement utilisé est « number go up » et fait référence à la nature déflationniste du Bitcoin. Habituellement, les monnaies fiduciaires sont inflationnistes et perdent donc de la valeur avec le temps. Le Bitcoin, en revanche, a un maximum de 21 millions de pièces. Lorsque ce nombre sera atteint, plus aucune pièce ne pourra être « émise » ! Number go up fait donc référence à la valeur du Bitcoin qui, selon une théorie née sur les réseaux sociaux, aurait tendance à augmenter sur le long terme. En particulier quand le marché est en baisse, les bitcoiners se consolent ainsi en se répétant « number go up » et en s’encourageant ! L’avenir du Bitcoin en dépend-il vraiment ?

Le Bitcoin règle cela

Tu n’aimes pas le système économique actuel ? Tu détestes le fait que ton compte bancaire perde de la valeur même si tu ne dépenses rien ? Le Bitcoin peut y remédier ! Cet idiome est largement utilisé par les Bitcoiners qui tentent de faire comprendre à leurs amis le potentiel de la blockchain. Les passionnés de Bitcoin, en fait, croient que les crypto-monnaies sont le seul moyen de « réparer » le système économique actuel. La monnaie fiduciaire ? Vade retro !

Analyse les chiffres, fais les calculs

Le grand avantage de la blockchain est que chacun peut contribuer au développement des plateformes décentralisées, et surtout chacun peut vérifier que les transactions sont correctes ! « Fais le calcul » est très similaire à l’autre principe de base de la crypto, à savoir DYOR. Les organismes centralisés ne sont plus dignes de confiance, quelque chose ne va pas ? Toi, l’utilisateur, disposes des outils pour t’assurer que tout fonctionne correctement ! Et si la communauté travaille ensemble, alors un système décentralisé devient plus sûr qu’un coffre-fort !

Je suis dans les Bitcoins pour la technologie

Qui a dit que le Bitcoin n’était qu’une monnaie ? La blockchain a apporté d’innombrables innovations dans de nombreux domaines, et promet de continuer à le faire à l’avenir. Dès lors, si le prix du Bitcoin baisse, il est facile de reconnaître un fan : il te dira sûrement qu’il possède la crypto non pas à cause de son prix sur le marché, mais à cause de sa vraie valeur, la technologie. 

Peu de gens le comprennent

Pour un Bitcoiner, le Bitcoin n’est pas qu’une monnaie mais une véritable révolution. Et, comme on le dit souvent sur les réseaux sociaux, peu le comprennent ! En effet, il est difficile de penser que les crypto-monnaies puissent changer radicalement le système financier tel que nous le connaissons, composé de monnaies fiduciaires, de géants et d’institutions financières centralisées.

Pourtant, l’esprit d’un Bitcoiner est toujours projeté vers l’avenir. S’il est impossible de prédire les politiques économiques des États et des banques, la politique économique du Bitcoin est écrite dans son whitepaper depuis 2008, et reste immuable. Donc, si un de tes amis t’explique tous les avantages de la blockchain, prépare-toi à rejoindre le club des « rares personnes » qui comprennent le potentiel du Bitcoin !

Taux d’accumulation

Si tu crains qu’il ne soit trop tard pour acheter du Bitcoin, ne t’en fais pas, les vrais fans sont toujours ouverts aux nouveaux arrivants ! Même si un Bitcoin vaut aujourd’hui plus de 30 000 dollars, ne baisse pas les bras, tu peux aussi te contenter d’en acheter juste un « morceau » ! Un satoshi équivaut à 0,00000001 BTC et est la plus petite unité de division possible d’un Bitcoin. Même si tu ne peux pas te permettre d’acheter un Bitcoin complet, tu as encore le temps d’accumuler des satoshis ! Le nom dérive évidemment du célèbre Satoshi Nakamoto, à qui la communauté a voulu rendre hommage en donnant son nom à la « petite monnaie » du Bitcoin.

Tu sais maintenant comment reconnaître un fan de Bitcoin ! Es-tu d’accord avec ces mèmes ? Ou peut-être te sents-tu plus proche de la façon de penser de l’équipe Ethereum ? Le challenge entre Bitcoiner et Etherean est toujours ouvert !

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Exclusive Interview with Sebastién Borget, The Sandbox Co-Founder

Diego: Sebastien is COO and co-founder of The Sandbox. So, can you describe to our community what the Sandbox project is all about. And if you want you can describe your role at The Sandbox.

My name is Sebastien Borget and I’m COO and co-founder at the Sandbox

The Sandbox is a gaming virtual world on the Ethereum blockchain where creators can make free assets and games and monetise them through the use of Non-Fungible Tokens, NFTs, as well as SAND, our main utility token of the platform.

We are a franchise that has existed for now 10 years. We started on mobile in 2011, we had more than 40 million players in installs back then.

Over the last 3 years we launched a sequel, a new version that this time is in 3D multiplayer, multiplatform, and it uses NFTs to allow anyone to make their own NFT and start owning the assets, owning the land where they publish the games, monetise their time, monetise their creation, trade them, exchange them, sell them, if they want, on Marketplaces.

We have more than 60 partnerships to date, including major brands that are part of our virtual world

So far the Sandbox is one of the most active communities, we are really thankful to our community and specifically to our community today for being part of this fantastic journey with us.

 

Diego: Thank you Sebastien, and how did the idea for the Sandbox come about?

When we founded my previous company, Mobile Games Studio. As i mentioned, the Sandbox came out about 10 years ago. There was this kind of game, called Powder game, this game where you could play with physical elements: salt, water, steam etcetera, and it was mostly a physics simulator.

We took that idea and we said “what if we just allow any player to become the creator?” dropping elements with the touch of their fingers on the mobile screen, and share those creations online.

That’s how the first Sandbox idea started. And 10 years later, the new Sandbox, this time 3D and on the blockchain is essentially keeping all the roots from the franchise.

We want to allow anyone to make games without any programming knowledge, to just drag and drop assets, to drag and drop NFTs into a virtual world, and publish that world on the LANDs so that they can then allow players to participate in game experiences, play, earn, collect rewards, collect tokens and engage with that.

📚 Read the Academy article on the Sandbox here.

Diego: Everyone right now is talking about these NFTs, Non-Fungible Tokens. Can you describe to our community what is a Non-Fungible Token and why do you think they can represent a real revolution?

We’ve been true pioneers in the space of Non-Fungible Tokens – we’ve been building the Sandbox for the last 3 years and we launched already several ones.

What is a Non-Fungible Token? It essentially is a piece of digital asset. It can be music, it can be art, it can be a collectible, it can be game assets, sports tickets, anything essentially that is reproduced on the blockchain and has specific attributes.

Those attributes being the fact they have scarcity, so a limited supply that anyone can see on the blockchain.

They are unique, so unlike one bitcoin and another bitcoin, which can be interchanged, with NFTs – each one is unique.

So a gold sword and a silver sword even if they are both swords they have different attributes, they cannot be interchanged that easily. They are undividable.

Similarly, you cannot have 0.00001 of a sword, 1, many or zero and one main benefit of these NFTs is that as a user, as a player is that you own them in your wallet and you can use them in a game but you can also trade them in marketplaces in a permissionless manner. You don’t need to ask the permission to the developer of the game to be able to transfer the content to another user, to sell that content on marketplaces, or use that content potentially in other games, which is a major revolution in gaming.

Games today are centralised, well-guarded, they are trying to keep their users and they have all the data, all the virtual currency of the game assets that you bought in-game, you can never take them away.

If you leave the game you basically lose all your progress, all your content, all your virtual currencies, all that content you bought, you spent time to acquire by playing was never really yours, basically – and it’s difficult to put value on something that is not really yours, you cannot transfer.

With the use of Non-Fungible Tokens, all the content, all your avatars, you identities the objects or assets you acquire are yours, including also the tokens, the equivalent of virtual currency, so SAND in our case.

So this is because it’s yours, it can be exchange, it can be valued, other users can want it. So this is the premise of building a virtual economy into a virtual world, this is why NFTs are so important.

They are growing, they facilitate access to the greater economy, to monetize your time in ways that were never done before.

That’s why now we are seeing a lot more influencers, celebrities, artists, creators, game makers as well, jump on board.

📚 Learn all about NFTs!

Diego: You mentioned these NFTs connected to the world of art, music and of course video games, how do you see them connected to the world of videogames?

Because you mentioned that with NFTs you are the real owner of something, even in a non-physical world – how do you see them connected to the specific world of videogames?

In videogames, more specifically, unlike art, music and sport collectibles, which are also very hot NFTs at the moment. Those are just collectibles. You own them, they are rare, but they don’t necessarily have a specific utility.

Rather than being maybe aesthetically great-looking, or just being rare, in videogames NFTs have additionally a utility. Like if you acquire a character that is very powerful and rare, you’re most likely to be able to use that character in the game.

The characteristics, the attributes of that character will impact your gameplay, will impact maybe the way that you can earn rewards, finish first at the tournament, complete your goals. And this is participating to a new model called play-to-earn, where your assets can be put to use to produce actively more return on your time for you and that I think is something really interesting and unique in gaming, that you don’t find in other industries.

In The Sandbox, additionally, there’s this concept of virtual real estate, with LAND, because, besides being a gaming platform, we’re also a virtual world with a limited map and on each of those maps – and it’s pretty simple to understand – as you own the map, it’s a piece, it’s a place, it’s a digital space where users can publish their games can start monetizing their content.

If you cannot publish your game, you cannot monetize it to have players coming into it and also enable other business models like renting that LAND to a creator creating different points of attraction based on your content etc.

So, that’s something we’re seeing more and more people interested in – digital land, virtual land as NFTs.

Diego: About The Sandbox, what are the developments that await us in the coming months?

We’ve already achieved several milestones at The Sandbox. Since about 3 years ago we’ve launched in beta several creation tools for our platform, our NFT maker, called VoxEdit, which is a 3D editor where you can make Voxel-based content, animate them, publish it to the marketplace or the users to acquire it

We’ve launched the marketplace and it’s essentially a map where we sold in the pre-sell round up to 35% of the whole map, each of those LAND being a unique NFT, and interestingly last month, in February we sold more values than in the past 2 years, showing an acceleration in the adoption of NFTs in general.

We’ve launched the beta of the Game Maker as well. That, as I mentioned, enables anyone to create game experiences by drag-n-drop, no programming knowledge required. And we have hundreds of active users using those products on a daily basis. The next step for this year is to open the public Alpha to players, so to let them discover some of the games made by the creators using the tools to participate in play-to-earn seasons where they’ll be able to collect rewards and exchange those rewards if they want to for tokens of value and hence turn their time into a potential revenue stream.

We’re also preparing our soon-to-open marketplace in beta, allowing anyone to make their NFTs and start selling them. We’ll do it progressively, first through selecting great content and high-quality creators and we know we do have some in our Italian community, so I’m excited to see this content coming from Hackatao – to mention one of the most talented creators working with us on The Sandbox, but there are many others and we’re excited to have this marketplace launch – I would say before the end of the month in March – and really enable anyone to buy, collect, own and use NFTs in The Sandbox.

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Everything you need to know on Ripple, XRP and the SEC

According to European legislation, Ripple is compliant. Therefore Young Platform will not be removing XRP

The Enquiry

On 22 December, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, the company behind the cryptocurrency XRP. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) is the federal agency that oversees the US stock exchange. The SEC is investigating the relationship between Ripple Labs and XRP, alleging that the latter is actually a security token.

The SEC alleges that the founders launched the XRP currency by selling it as a share of the Ripple company, without registering it as such. The ICO launched by XRP raised more than $1.3 billion from investors all around the world. Therefore, the lawsuit centres on the fact that the SEC holds Ripple Labs responsible for failing to register its offering as an investment contract for investors. Ripple promptly responded to the lawsuit, anticipating the SEC’s official charges on Twitter.

XRP will stay on Young Platform

The debate has led to the major US-based exchanges delisting or planning to delist XRP.

However, according to European legislation, Ripple is compliant. Therefore Young, like other European exchanges, will not be removing XRP from the Young Platform and Young Platform Pro exchanges at this time. This is because we want to avoid harming our users and give them the ability, in accordance with current European regulations, to continue to sell, buy or trade their XRP.

The future of XRP on Young Platform

Should the company’s main liquidity providers remove Ripple from their offerings, it is likely that Young will also be forced to delist XRP. Should this happen, our customers’ funds will still be protected by allowing them to be converted to fiat or sent to external wallets prior to removal. Again, users will be notified well in advance to allow them to better plan and manage their XRP funds.

Young will continue to follow the debate closely and keep its users updated.

XRP recorded a 55% growth in the last 24 hours.

Read more about Ripple and XRP in our dedicated Academy article.

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How Bitcoin community helps Italy during coronavirus emergency

Looking at the fundraising campaign powered by Croce Rossa and Young Platform: Bitcoin are a powerful tool to deliver fast economical aid during calamities,

On April 6th the second level Advanced Medical Post for pre-triage was set up in Castel Gandolfo by the Italian Red Cross – Colli Albani Committee. The AMP was purchased using the bitcoin donations raised thanks to the Helperbit platform and with the support of Young and Blockchain Education Network Italy, and in a short time, it was delivered and deployed.

On March 12th, Colli Albani Committee launched a bitcoin fundraising campaign focused on the COVID-19 emergency in Italy. This was the first initiative in the cryptocurrency sector and this led to media attention and international visibility. The first target of € 10,000 in BTC was achieved in just three days; it was possible to quickly exchange the raised money in Euro and purchase the material needed to build the AMP, which is already functioning at the time of writing. The fees of the procedures, from the initial donations to the purchase, are worth 0.55%.

The campaign is still running and the second target of € 25,000 in BTC is almost reached.

Bruno Pietrosanti, President at Colli Albani Committee, said: “With great pleasure, we reached the first main milestone of our fundraising. We are happy to have turned the received donations into a tangible aid and we are excited to have received so much help from the Bitcoin community.”

Guido Baroncini Turricchia, CEO at Helperbit, commented: “When Colli Albani Committee sent me photos of the tent, a gift granted by the solidarity of the Bitcoin community, I was excited. The efforts of Helperbit, jointly with Bitcoin donors, are now saving lives and helping to protect first responders on the front line. Those people, that in the silence of their home donated to the project, must be proud to be part of this charitable initiative. Bitcoin confirmed to be a powerful tool, a technology that allows to deliver direct and fast international aid during calamities, increasing also the transparency level. ”

Fundraising project created by Colli Albani

The Italian Red Cross – the Colli Albani team during the set-up at Castel Gandolfo
The QR code, which shows the Bitcoin address managed by the Albani Colli Committee