Fantom Price: Can FTM Reach $1.50 Thanks to Sonic Launch?
Will Sonic Launch Positively Affect FTM Price? | Credit: Getty Images
Key Takeaways
- Fantom’s Sonic testnet is complete and the CEO unveiled the plans for the mainnet launch.
- Fantom’s Total Value Locked has fallen drastically but the FTM price performed well this year.
- Will anticipation surrounding the Sonic launch lead to new highs for the FTM price?
Fantom’s Sonic upgrade wants to improve transaction output, simplify staking and make the mainnet much more community-centric. The testnet was successfully completed last week, providing promising results.
The FTM price has more than doubled this year, but its rally stalled in the past week. The excitement surrounding the Sonic launch could be the spark the price needs to break free above the current resistance.
What is Sonic?
On March 25, Fantom’s CEO Michael Kong unveiled his plan for the launch of the new Sonic mainnet. This comes on the heels of last week’s completed testnet. Sonic will use a new Fantom Virtual Machine (FVM) to improve transaction throughput.
Kong announced the new proposal will enhance security by implementing a decentralized bridge with Ethereum, which will simplify staking and introduce liquid staking. Furthermore, it will expand grant programs in a bid to become more community-centric.
One of the biggest improvements of Sonic is the ability to process 2,000 transactions per second with realistic traffic and finality of less than one second, as determined in the testnet.
This is a giant leap compared to the capabilities of the current technology, Opera, which can achieve a maximum of 200 transactions per second. Sonic will also reduce network storage requirements by up to 90% through the new database storage, Carmen.
The upgrade is much needed, because the current mainnet has become unattractive to new projects. This is clearly seen in the dwindling Total Value Locked (TVL), which has fallen to $208 million after reaching its all-time high of $8.72 billion in March 2022.
Despite this lack in interest, the FTM price has actually done very well in 2024, increasing over 130%.
FTM Price Prediction: Correction Before $1.50?
The daily time frame technical analysis shows the FTM price is in wave three of a five-wave upward movement (white). The sub-wave count (black) indicates it is either nearing the top of wave three or has already begun wave four.
Since March 8, the daily RSI has generated a bearish divergence (green). This happens when a momentum decrease accompanies a price increase, and often leads to price corrections. Similarly, the MACD has just made a bearish cross (red icon).
These readings suggest the FTM price has started wave four and will undergo a short-term correction toward the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement support level.
However, the long-term trend remains bullish. After the correction is complete, another upward movement is likely, marking the end of wave three. The most likely target for this movement is between $1.45 and $1.55, created by a long-term Fibonacci resistance level (red) and short-term fib extension (white).
Short-Term Pain and Long-Term Gain
The FTM price rally has seemingly hit a roadblock which could lead to a temporary drop. Afterward, the upward trend can continue to new highs. The launch of the much-improved Sonic mainnet can aid in this ongoing bullish trend.
FTM Price Could go Parabolic as Fantom Makes Staking 90% More Accessible
