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Fantom, one of the leading Ethereum-compatible smart contract platforms, is experiencing rapid growth in its DeFi ecosystem despite shaky market conditions.

Fantom DeFi Ecosystem Soars

Fantom is on a tear.

The Layer 1 smart contract blockchain’s DeFi ecosystem is growing despite uncertainty following a selloff across the broader crypto market.

According to DeFi Llama, Fantom’s 129 DeFi platforms have attracted $12.35 billion in total value locked, placing the Layer 1 chain third in total value locked behind Ethereum and Terra.

Fantom is an outlier to other leading Layer 1 blockchains as its total value locked has jumped over 50% over the last week. The total value locked for other networks like Ethereum, Avalanche, Solana, and Harmony has plummeted in the same period. The DeFi dip can be attributed partly to market volatility; ETH and other assets have followed Big Tech stocks into the red over the last week amid fears over the

Fantom’s DeFi ecosystem has also been boosted by the upcoming launch of a new project from Andre Cronje and Daniele Sestagalli. Solidly, is it’s been dubbed, is set to launch imminently. The project will feature an automated market market that will prioritize compatibility with other protocols. It will also utilize a “ve(3,3)” tokenomics model, operating a vote escrow model popularized by Curve Finance, as well as a (3,3) staking mechanism that OlympusDAO pioneered in 2021.

The project will let users deposit a base token in exchange for a non-transferable token in order to receive transferable token rewards. Users who lock up tokens will receive an NFT.

Similar to other projects Cronje has been involved with, Solidly is taking a “fair launch” strategy. Two million tokens will be distributed as incentives per week, and the rewards will be distributed to the top 20 projects on Fantom by total value locked until voting weight can determine token distribution (there will initially

Two million new tokens will be distributed as incentives per week, and these rewards will be distributed to the top 20 DeFi projects by total value locked on Fantom until voting weight can determine token distribution (no voting will exist initially).

Solidly might be the most anticipated DeFi launch of 2022 so far. In the lead-up, several new projects have emerged on Fantom. veDAO, for example, formed with the specific goal of making it into the top 20 projects on Fantom in order to receive Solidly’s token rewards. DeFi users looking to acquire veDAO’s WEVE token had to engage in yield farming; the protocol now holds over $174 million in locked value.

Going against veDAO’s hyper-focused mission to acquire Solidly’s tokens, another DAO called 0xDAO has formed. 0xDAO bills itself as a “community-centered” project that hopes to bring “long-term value for the entire Fantom ecosystem.” Its fundamental goal is to build decentralized infrastructure that will create a liquidity “free market” on Fantom. 0xDAO already has a total value locked of nearly $4.3 billion after launching this month.

FTM has also fared well relative to the rest of the market over the last 24 hours. Despite suffering from the recent market decline, it’s up 20.5% today, far outpacing every other leading Layer 1 coin.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this feature owned BTC, ETH, and several other cryptocurrencies. Andre Cronje is an equity holder in Crypto Briefing.