Fantom is a layer-one distributed ledger that uses a direct acyclic graph (DAG) to secure transactions. DAG achieves near-instant finality because it allows transactions to be processed asynchronously. Fantom supports several application layers, each secured with the FTM token. FTM is necessary for staking, paying transaction fees and voting.
The main principles that Fantom uses were described in 2018 by a set of researchers and cryptographers. Key contributions were made by Quan Nguyen, Sang-Min Choi, Jiho Park, Michael Kong and Andre Cronje. The testnet for the platform went live in 2018, and v.0.1 with Opera was released on the mainnet in December 2019.