How to stake Fantom (FTM)?

September 22, 2022 Abraham Smith

Fantom (FTM) is known for its speed and low-cost Layer 1 blockchain. Like other blockchains (e.g. Solana (SOL) and Avalanche (AVAX)) that scale better than their counterparts, it has been dubbed the “Ethereum killer”. After raising $40 million in funds, Fantom launched its mainnet in December 2019. Since then, it has become one of the most popular blockchains, ranking in the top 10 blockchains by Total Value Locked (TVL) with $1.3 billion in TVL.

Fantom’s high-throughput blockchain is an open source smart contract platform. It is scalable and EVM compatible, which means you can deploy and run your Ethereum Decentralized Applications (DApps) on Fantom. Its structure allows for the support of its decentralized finance (DeFi) apart from the management of digital assets and DApps.

The Fantom consensus mechanism is an adapted version of Proof-of-Stake and is called Lachesis. It is designed to offer high speed transactions, low fees and almost instant finality due to the aBFT algorithm. aBFT can be scaled to many nodes worldwide in a permissionless, open-source environment and offers a good level of decentralization.

The Fantom blockchain is powered by its native FTM token, and if you believe in the project and want to grow your FTM stack, you can use Fantom to generate passive income.

What is Fantom Staking?

Staking makes a blockchain more secure by locking an investor’s digital assets for a period of time. This security is provided by validators who validate transactions with their tiered tokens, which becomes an economic incentive for them to behave according to the rules of the protocol.

By staking FTM, investors actively participate in securing their network while earning passive income i.e. FTM rewards. Staking means tokens need to be locked for some time; However, they will still sit in the owners’ wallets, only they can access and unlock their funds at any time.

How to use FTM

The minimum stake to run a validator is 500,000 FTM to prevent Sybil attacks on its consensus mechanism. Sybil attacks are malicious attacks that impersonate multiple identities to gain an improper advantage within a network. Since the required amount of the validator is relatively high, it becomes easier to delegate FTM to a validator.

Some fantom staking strategies can be used:

Liquid Staking: Investors can lock their FTM token from two weeks to 365 days for better returns. The reward varies depending on the length of the staking period; The longer FTMs are staked, the higher the reward rate.
Liquid Staking: Investors can mint sFTM for improved ROI on liquid staking. You can also use farmed tokens, participate in liquidity mining, farm LP rewards, and more.
Custodial Staking: Investors can take FTM on a centralized exchange (CEX) like Binance or Coinbase. The staking reward is 1%.

To stake at Fantom, users can follow these simple steps:

Have at least 1 FTM deployed;
Go to Fantom’s staking page and click Staking your FTM;
You can sign up with a compatible wallet like MetaMask. You can open the wallet from your computer or your mobile device. You can create a new wallet or access an existing one using a mnemonic or seed phrase.
Deposit your FTM by transferring it from an exchange or other wallet to your Fantom Opera wallet address.
Click Staking.
Add a delegation by selecting a validator and an amount.
Select your blocking period and confirm.

There are a few options when it comes to the best Fantom wallets. The Fantom Opera network is a second-layer and EVM-compatible blockchain, which means you can use any wallet that works for Ethereum, like MetaMask, the Coinbase wallet, or a cold wallet like Ledger.

After creating an account with Fantom, you can also download your Fantom wallet (fwallet) by clicking on the “Create wallet” button:

Fantom wallet

Where can FTM be used?

Aside from its native blockchain network, Fantom can be deployed on many platforms including decentralized exchanges (DEX) and depot blockchains. Here we look at the places Fantom can be used so you can decide which one is best suited.

How to put Fantom on Ledger

Staking through a hardware wallet like Ledger works like other transactions through a smart contract interaction. It is enough to stake from the Fantom fWallet by signing the Fantom FTM Ledger Nano S application. Then use the “Stake” menu item in your account.

How to stake Fantom on Coinbase

In September 2021, Fantom announced support for the Fantom network on the Coinbase wallet. Coinbase wallet users can access and use the Fantom network and interact with Fantom DApps. Users can connect their Coinbase wallet account to their Fantom fWallet and engage in activities like Stake FTM and earn rewards.

How to Deploy Fantom on Binance

To stake FTM on Binance, you need to deposit an appropriate amount on the exchange, then go to Binance Earn and select the appropriate product for you; typically it is a 30, 60, or 120 day freeze period. You can choose a longer wagering period for higher returns of up to 14%.

How to bet Fantom on Kucoin

Similar to Binance, you need to deposit your FTM token on Kucoin and go to Kucoin Earn. Then click “Subscribe” to choose the product that best suits you based on rewards and the time you want to freeze your assets.

Is it Safe to Stake FTM?

It is safe to stake FTM as the validator node cannot access your staked tokens; Make sure you don’t lose your mnemonic phrase or private key. However, as with other proof-of-stake blockchains, you risk losing a fraction of your stake if the validator is not reputable and misbehaves. It is safer to choose reputable Fantom validators that always have active communities, websites and Twitter accounts.

How to stake other tokens on Fantom

Fantom offers a flexible and dynamic ecosystem that allows staking multiple DeFi tokens to generate passive income from your investment. To use any of the following systems for staking their native tokens, you will need a MetaMask or other wallet mentioned above connected to the Fantom Opera network. In this case, Fantom Staking behaves like a CEX like Binance and becomes a marketplace where non-native cryptocurrencies are traded.

Here are some of the most popular tokens based on and staking on Fantom:

Spookyswap is the largest DEX on Fantom, with $777 million TVL and BOO as a native token that can be connected to FTM for maximum liquidity and yield farming. To stake BOO, buy the tokens on an exchange or swap them into Spookyswap; Connect your wallet to Fantom Opera to view your positions and start earning.
BeethovenX is a community-driven DEX, an automated market maker (AMM) and a DeFi powerhouse. It is powered by the native BEETS token and lives on the Fantom Opera and Optimism chain, earning an APR of 31%. To stake Beets, after depositing FTM, connect your wallet to Fantom Opera and follow the procedure of choosing a validator and lock time.
QiDao is an autonomous and community-governed protocol that sits atop Fantom and allows you to borrow stablecoins against your crypto assets used as collateral with no interest. Loans are paid and repaid in miTokens (stablecoin soft pegged to the USD).
Scream is another decentralized lending protocol powered by Fantom, similar to platforms like Compound (COMP) and Aave (AAVE). Users who stake SCREAM tokens can earn around 58% APR, while liquidity provider rewards can be as high as 82% APR.

How to run a Fantom node

Validators operate full nodes and are a crucial part of the Fantom network. By running a full node, validators participate in consensus to increase security and generate new blocks. There are some technical requirements and skills that need to be considered to run a Fantom Full Node and it might be better suited for a techie.

The following are the requirements needed to run a full Fantom node:

Minimum requirement: 500,000 FTM
Maximum validator size: 15 times the amount of the self-stake
Minimum hardware requirements: AWS EC2 m5.xlarge with four vCPUs (3.1 GHz) and at least 4.5 TB Amazon EBS general purpose SSD (gp2) storage (or equivalent).
Rewards: currently ~13% APY (normal APY on self deployment + 15% of delegator rewards). APY varies based on the percentage wagered. Visit the Fantom Foundation website for the latest information on APY.

A step-by-step guide to running a full node

Users can run a node on their hardware or use a cloud provider. One of the big cloud providers is recommended, eg Amazon AWS.
You can set up a non-root user.
Install the necessary construction tools; Install Go and then Opera.
Register your Fantom validation node in the chain. To do this, users need to create a validator wallet, which becomes the validator’s identity on the network, required to authenticate, sign messages, etc.
Run their own node. To do this, they must restart their node in validator mode and then close the Opera window by typing “exit”. Then they need to return to the window where they started their node with the following command:

(validator)$ nohup ./opera –genesis $NETWORK –nousb –validator.id ID –validator.pubkey 0xPubkey –validator.password /path/to/password &

Users can refer to Fantom’s instructions for full specifications and details on how to run a validator node.

How Much Money Can You Make Staking Fantom?

You can earn 5.01% if you choose the minimum vesting period (14 days) and minimum amount. The maximum APY is currently 15.31% for the maximum lock-up period of 365 days.

The FTM Staking Reward Calculator estimates how much you can earn by staking Fantom.

FTM and most crypto tokens are down over 90% during the 2022 bear market; Therefore, staking increases the number of your tokens, but not necessarily the overall value. It is also worth considering that staking and locking your tokens can make your funds illiquid and difficult to exit a position.

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