Although we’re still in the midst of a bearish phase in the cryptocurrency markets, many projects are taking this time as an opportunity to build and improve.Let’s check out 3 cryptocurrency and blockchain projects that will be especially interesting to follow in the next few days.
3.Qtum (QTUM)
Qtum is an open-source blockchain platform founded in 2016 in Singapore by Patrick Dai.The company aims to bring together the best components of both Bitcoin’s and Ethereum’s designs to create a flexible and secure blockchain solution.Qtum’s aim is to create a blockchain platform that enables fast transactions while not charging users high fees.
Qtum adopts the UTXO (unspent transaction output) model from Bitcoin and the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) from Ethereum .The platform leverages a mechanism called the AAL (Account Abstraction Layer) to make flexible smart contracts possible even though it uses the UTXO model.
The Qtum platform is designed for decentralized governance, in which smart contracts can be used to change the blockchain’s settings.This allows community members to decide parameters like block size, gas costs and other key settings of the network.
Why Qtum? The network successfully completed a major upgrade
The Qtum network has successfully completed a hard fork which upgraded the network to version v22.0.It introduced several upgrades including Taproot and Schnorr signatures, which were introduced to Bitcoin in November 2021.
In addition, Qtum’s Ethereum Virtual Machine implementation was switched over to EVMone to provide faster and more efficient execution of smart contracts.Qtum has also implemented the changes from Ethereum’s Berlin and London upgrades.
The upgrade provides another example of the Qtum blockchain’s ability to adopt improvements from both the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems.The markets for the blockchain’s native asset QTUM showed a strong rally in the second half of July in anticipation of the hard fork.interesting to see if Qtum’s hard fork was a “buy the rumor, sell the news” event, or if QTUM will be able to sustain some of the gains from its rally.
Although we’re still in the midst of a bearish phase in the cryptocurrency markets, many projects are taking this time as an opportunity to build and improve.Let’s check out 3 cryptocurrency and blockchain projects that will be especially interesting to follow in the next few days.
2.Fantom (FTM)
Fantom is a layer 1 blockchain contender that started gaining momentum in 2021 as an alternative to Ethereum.
The network is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which makes it simple to deploy apps and smart contracts that have already been built for Ethereum to Fantom.
The platform offers cheap and efficient transactions thanks to its aBFT consensus mechanism, which different blockchains deployed on top of Fantom get their security from.In Fantom’s architecture, every decentralized app deployed on the network has its own customizable blockchain, while still being able to interoperate with others chains deployed on Fantom because they’re all connected to the same Lachesis consensus layer.
Why Fantom? FTM holders approve new vault for funding projects on Fantom
Fantom’s community has decided to support a proposal which entails a portion of the transaction fees collected by the network to go into an “Ecosystem Support Vault” instead of being burned.
The vote was passed with almost unanimous approval from FTM holders.
This vault will be used by the community of FTM holders to fund projects deemed to be positive contributors to the Fantom ecosystem.The use of the vault’s funds will be determined through governance proposals which will be voted on by the community.
In the previous system, 30% of the FTM spent on transaction fees is burned.Under the new proposal, 10% of the transaction fees will go to the Ecosystem Support Vault, while 20% of the collected transaction fees will be burned.Even though this change will reduce FTM’s burn rate, more incentives for quality projects to build on Fantom could certainly offset that.
1.FTX Token (FTT)
FTX Token is a token issued by [FTX](/exchange/ftx/) , a leading cryptocurrency exchange.
The token is issued on the Ethereum , Solana and Binance Smart Chain blockchains, and trades under the ticker FTT.Holders of FTT enjoy discounted trading fees on FTX, and are also eligible for weekly airdrops of SRM tokens.By staking FTT, users can access better airdrop rewards or avoid withdrawal fees for ETH or tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.FTX periodically purchases FTT tokens on the market and burns them on a weekly basis, reducing the FTT supply over time.
Why FTX Token? FTX continues expanding during the bear market
The FTX cryptocurrency has been extremely active amidst the recent turmoil in the cryptocurrency industry in an attempt to expand through relatively cheap deals.
According to a report from Bloomberg, FTX is considering an acquisition of [Bithumb](/exchange/bithumb/) , one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the South Korean market.Per the report, FTX and Bithumb have been discussing a potential acquisition for “several months”.However, representatives of the two exchanges declined to comment on the report.
Recently, FTX has also secured full approval to operate in Dubai, which appears to be an attractive destination for many international cryptocurrency exchanges.FTX, which will be operating in Dubai through its FTX Exchange FZE subsidiary, will initially offer crypto trading, derivatives, custody and other services to institutional investors, with plans of gradually expanding to retail investors as well.
FTX has also been expanding its market share as of late.Per an article from the Wall Street Journal, FTX’s share of the cryptocurrency spot trading market has grown from 6% in January to 8.95% in June.The exchange now has the second-largest share of the spot trading market, but is still lagging significantly behind [Binance](/exchange/binance/) , which has further cemented itself as the industry leader by growing from a 45% market share in January to 49.7% in June..
