Phantom [FTM] demands $0.45 back: Will THIS drive prices to $1?

• Fantom Foundation was renamed Sonic Labs in May as part of an overhaul designed to fix network issues and improve the user experience.
• The hype surrounding Fantom revolves around the upcoming launch of its improved Layer 1 chain, Sonic.

The majority of cryptocurrencies traded higher on August 22, despite a slight decline from late Wednesday prices.

Phantom [FTM] stood out among the top winners alongside Polygon [MATIC]both recorded solid growth.

According to AMBCrypto’s view on TradingView, FTM printed a daily green candle of 15.64% on August 21 and was on its way to completing a smaller green candle.

Source: TradingView

Outside of the market, Fantom is seeing growing interest and user participation due to the ongoing rebranding that will ultimately lead to the network's transition to a new identity.

In May, the Fantom Foundation introduced the Sonic Foundation and Sonic Labs as new entities connected to a new high-throughput chain, Sonic Network.

Sonic Network Narrative

Sonic Network operates as a high-speed Layer 1 chain with a native Layer 2 bridge connected to Ethereum. [ETH]thereby releasing more liquidity.

The launch of Sonic is expected to usher in a new phase of growth for the ecosystem thanks to the network's greater scalability and faster transaction speeds.

Sonic Labs claims that the new chain can process over 10,000 transactions per second (TPS), a significant improvement over the 2000 TPS of the Opera network.

A look at the network’s milestones

This week, on August 20th, Sonic Labs launched the Sonic Boom Bounty Program to encourage developer activity.

The program, which represents the first major initiative of the Sonics Airdrop, runs until November 4th and rewards developers building on the chain with Sonic Gems.

Earlier this month, Sonic Labs announced that DeFi veteran Andre Cronje had taken on the role of Chief Technology Officer.

Cronje will lead the development of Sonic, particularly the native bridge technology Sonic Gateway.

The bridge is designed to improve interoperability between blockchain ecosystems and features a failsafe that allows users to restore their funds on-chain.

Last month, Sonic Labs launched a gas-free trading program in partnership with Rabby, a wallet for Ethereum and all EVM chains.

The program began on July 22 and will continue until October 20 or until allocated funds are exhausted.

Phantom [FTM]: Technical Analysis

FTM has seen a gain of almost 25% over the past seven days. This price increase has been accompanied by significant daily trading volumes, reflecting increased market engagement.

Data from CoinMarketCap showed that FTM’s 24-hour trading volume exceeded the $200 million mark several times on August 21.

Source: TradingView

Sonic’s upcoming mainnet launch could reignite on-chain activity and potentially drive prices higher, making FTM a strong buy.

FTM has already seen growing interest ahead of the launch of the Sonic blockchain later this year.

Technical indicators suggested that FTM's short-term and long-term outlook was good. At press time, FTM was trading between the 50-day and 100-day moving averages (SMA).

The $0.54 level, which coincides with the 200-day exponential moving average (EMA), represents the next price target for bulls. Overcoming resistance at this level would bring $0.68 and the May high of $0.97 into sight.

Source: TradingView

Read Fantoms [FTM] Price forecast 2024-25

Although Fantom [FTM] has recovered more than 90% from its August 5 low of $0.24, but is still behind Bitcoin [BTC] and other major alternatives in the market in terms of year-to-date returns.

FTM has shrunk 2.40% since the beginning of the year, lagging behind Bitcoin, which traded 36% higher over the same period.