Fantom (FTM) has demonstrated resilience amidst recent market volatility, with its price rallying to $1.14 on March 21. Despite facing bearish sentiment earlier last week, FTM has witnessed a price change of +9.14%, trading at $1.02 as of 00:21 a.m. EST. This surge comes amid a broader crypto market resurgence.

Technical analysis reveals FTM's price action consolidating within an ascending channel, indicating an impending breakout. The token's price currently hovers near the upper boundary of this pattern, suggesting potential upward momentum. Moreover, FTM trades above both the 50-day and 200-day Simple Moving Averages (SMA), reinforcing bullish sentiment.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovers above the 50-midline level, indicating potential for further upside. Additionally, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) exhibits a bullish crossover, with the MACD line surpassing the signal line, signaling a bullish trend. The histogram's green bars extending above the neutral line further affirm positive momentum.

Analyst Forecasts 50% Surge

FTM bulls have breached breach the $0.98 resistance level, with a target set at $1.2. However, a potential downside exists as the RSI moves toward oversold territory. In the event of a breakdown below the channel's lower boundary, bears may take control, leading to a retrace towards the support zone around $0.7244.

Since the beginning of March, Fantom (FTM) has experienced an impressive surge of more than 150% in value, climbing from $0.41 to its current price of $1.05. This surge has been attributed to a multi-year breakout on the chart, as highlighted by crypto analyst Ali Martinez. Martinez, in a recent update, has revised his price target for Fantom to $1.44.

Ali Martinez's tweet on March 16, 2024, suggests a bullish outlook for Fantom, with a projected increase to $1.44. This optimism is grounded in technical analysis and market trends.

Despite the ongoing surge, Fantom's value remains significantly lower than its all-time high of $3.16, recorded back in 2021. Additionally, approximately 43% of investors are holding their positions at a loss compared to their initial investment. This indicates that many investors are awaiting further growth in the token's value before considering selling.

Fantom (FTM) anticipates a significant surge as it approaches the mainnet launch of its Sonic upgrade. The broader market's accumulation signals a potential bull breakout, further strengthening this outlook.

Sonic Upgrade Enhancements

Fantom's Sonic upgrade, scheduled for spring, promises to revolutionize the platform. Testnets launched last October have raised anticipation for the upgrade's potential. Sonic aims to improve the Fantom Virtual Machine, introducing a new smart contracts language while reducing costs and boosting throughput. 

The platform targets 2,000 transactions per second (TPS) on the mainnet, with a 90% decrease in storage costs. Fantom aims to expand its presence in DeFi and web3 gaming sectors through its EVM-compatible FVM.

A recent post revealed that the closed testnet for the Sonic upgrade achieved significant milestones, including 10,000 TPS with ERC-20 transfers only, and 2,000 TPS with realistic traffic. Time to finality for ERC-20 token transfers was noted at 1.6 seconds, further validating the upgrade's potential.

Fantom's price surged in the past 24 hours, reaching a range of $0.8141 to $0.9452. Over the past two weeks, FTM/USD has risen by over 40%, and it's up by more than 126% in the last 30 days. Last week, FTM approached $1, marking a new two-year high. Despite a decrease in total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols since 2022, the Sonic upgrade could catalyze network growth, aligning with the broader market outlook.