Fantom has been one of the standout platforms in recent months. However, it is safe to say that the network has not enjoyed as much limelight as its counterparts, such as Polygon, Solana, or Avalanche. The Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 network is home to a thriving DeFi ecosystem. Furthermore, it has become a regular destination among some of the crypto industry’s most active developers.
2021 was highly successful for the crypto community. However, Fantom was one of the Layer 1 blockchain alternatives that gained traction during the boom. The platform emerged with a series of benefits that made it a catchy option for developers and project builders. Fantom offered its users a more friendly transaction cost. This feature attracted a large number of users and developers whom Ethereum’s hefty gas fees might otherwise turn off.
Fantom hosts both decentralized exchanges and lending and borrowing platforms. In terms of its decentralized exchanges, SpookySwap and SpiritSwap are the leading names. However, Geist Finance is the most notable borrowing and lending platform on Fantom.
What Is Geist Finance?
Geist Finance is a non-custodial, decentralized liquidity market based on the Fantom Opera blockchain. Geist Finance is a new entrant into Fantom’s DeFi market, having launched in October 2021. However, it has quickly acquired traction. Geist works in a similar way to Compound, an Ethereum-based lending protocol.
With a TVL of $762.55 million a few months after its launch, Geist has captured the attention of Fantom users with its offerings. Rather than the conventional peer-peer mechanism, Geist uses a liquidity pool to connect lenders and borrowers. Scream was the most popular lending protocol on Fantom prior to the arrival of Geist Finance. However, Geist Finance was formed to address an issue that Fantom had been trying to solve for a long time: the growth of the lending market.
Geist’s core protocol is a lending market that works very similarly to Aave. Subscribers can borrow and lend a variety of assets at competitive interest rates. Also, an algorithm based on the lending pool usage calculates the interest rates. Furthermore, Chainlink and Band oracles are used to calculate asset pricing. In addition, liquidations can be performed by anyone on Geist, just like Aave. However, Geist, unlike Aave, does not support fixed-rate loans.
How Does Geist Operate?
Geist operates an investor-focused system. This means that there is no sense of government or ownership of the protocol. The platform’s native token, GEIST, isn’t a governance token. Instead, GEIST is a reward-sharing token. Furthermore, Geist does not have a treasury. However, it transfers half of all revenue made through loans directly to GEIST investors.
Furthermore, Geist operates on a reward-based system. The platform continues to sustain attractive yields for its users by rewarding them with its native token, GEIST. However, Geist is unlike other lending platforms in terms of its withdrawals. Geist requires all GEIST tokens to be vested for three months. In addition, users can choose to leave sooner for a 50% penalty or wait for their 100% benefit.
GEIST incentivizes both lenders and borrowers on its platform. However, Geist divides the rewards in a 2:1 ratio, with borrowers receiving the greater portion. This is because borrowers are the primary source of revenue for the platform and, as a result, are responsible for Geist’s development. Furthermore, Geist rewards liquidity providers for the GEIST/FTM pool with its native token, GEIST.
GEIST Use Cases
Also, the GEIST token serves various uses, making it the central component that connects all of Geist Finance’s products. Here are some of the more prominent use cases:
- Serves as an incentive for both lenders and borrowers.
- It is used for staking and locking to earn rewards.
- Serves as an incentive for GEIST/FTM liquidity providers.
- They are given as an airdrop to other community members.
How Safe Is Geist?
Security is a top priority for projects launching in the crypto space. Geist was created by a group of industry experts with extensive expertise in collaborating on DeFi projects. According to its blog post, the project chose to remain anonymous. However, they believe they are qualified and suitable to lead a huge project such as Geist.
Since Geist is based on Aave, the owner can upgrade many of the key contracts. However, users might feel concerned about anonymous developers wielding power to upgrade contracts. Nevertheless, to assure users of safety and security, Geist employed the use of Timelock contracts for all Geist smart contracts. This feature will impose a two-day delay on any activity. Furthermore, Geist will display the contract’s address and notify its users before any action from admins concerning the timelock.
How to Get Geist
Users can get GEIST in a number of ways. The token could be gotten via airdrops or on a decentralized exchange such as SpookySwap. In addition, users can also directly lend or borrow on Geist Finance or stake and lock on the platform.
Investing in GEIST
It is almost a rule to carry out thorough research before making any investment. Geist’s meteoric rise is an advantage to Fantom. It benefited the Fantom ecosystem by increasing the FTM price and ramping up Fantom’s TVL. Furthermore, it has also established itself as a sensation that brings in new users to Fantom. As mentioned earlier, investing in Geist should come after deep research.
As of writing, GEIST trades at $0.221028. Furthermore, it has a 24-hour trading volume of $2,471,771. The platform has experienced a boost in recent days. Geist is up 14.88% in the last 24 hours.
2022 Could be Fantom’s Year
Fantom is one of the most competitive blockchain platforms. Gest is currently the sixth-largest app on Fantom by TVL. The lending platform comes behind Multichain, Solidly, Solidex, SpookySwap, and Scream. Fantom experienced increased use during the last year. The platform began 2021 with about 5,000 unique Fantom wallet addresses. However, it had more than 1.5 million at the end of the year. Fantom blockchain has grown from obscurity to a thriving ecosystem, leading to wider adoption.
As Fantom’s projects continue to soar, the platform is bound to attract more users and investors. Like Avalanche and Solana, Fantom could be among the crypto winners of 2022. In addition, projects and apps on the platform could witness huge growth.
FTM Price Activity
As of this writing, Fantom trades at $1.78 with a 24-hour trading volume of $1,119,973,208. Also, the token is up 11.37% in the last 24 hours. Fantom has a market cap of $4,497,119,394 and a circulating supply of 2,545,006,273 FTM coins.
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