Andre Cronje Reveals Fantom Financials, Has 30 Years of Funds

Fantom is in a very healthy position, according to a new Medium post by famed crypto guru Andre Cronje.

It’s been a whirlwind of a year for Fantom. With Cronje, who co-developed the project, calling it quits on the DeFi space only to recently return Fantom’s Vice President of Memes, FTM holders have experienced a rollercoaster of emotions and prices.

Read more: Andre Cronje Supposedly Returns to Fantom, FTM Pumps 34%

Fortunately Fantom fans can take a breather, as Cronje detailed the project’s finances in a recent blog post titled “Fantom: an inside financial peek at being a ‘crypto company’.”

Dating back to 16 June 2018, Cronje detailed the company’s raised funds (US$40,000,000) and expenses, growth and earnings since.

As of November 2022, Cronje said the project has “over 450,000,000 FTM, > $100,000,000 in stables, > $100,000,000 in crypto assets, $50,000,000 in non-crypto assets.” With a salary burn rate of US$7,000,000 per year, Fantom has around 30 years left without having to touch FTM, Cronje wrote.

What’s more, Fantom earns more than US$10,000,000 per year excluding capital gains and is cash flow positive whilst still scaling up.

Lessons learned

It goes without saying that it’s been a rocky ride for the crypto industry over the past year, and Cronje himself has admitted to learning a couple of lessons during the process.

The first lesson Cronje shares is “don’t try to compete with competitors for “integrations”, “listings”, “partnerships”.” According to Cronje, the Fantom foundation actually owns very little FTM, of which it buys rather than sells for partnerships.

Secondly, Cronje reveals that blockchain companies do not actually make revenue. “Being a validator is not part of the foundation, we do that to support the network we believe in, and for that we earn fees,” he says, adding that the revenue is not part of the core business.

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“Blockchain companies, realistically, only make money by selling their token, these are finite models,” Cronje explains. “If your entire revenue model is selling your token, you are doing a disservice to yourself, your blockchain, and your supporters.”

Cronje further says Fantom evaluates what impact partnerships will have in 10 years and how to sustain it in 10 years to base their decisions.

FTM holders and Fantom fans should take reassurance from Cronje’s post. Although there is no evidence of audit, if we assume the figures are correct and take Cronje’s long-term outlook at face value, it would seem that Fantom is once again a project to be excited about and to have confidence in.

Signing off his post with a rather tongue-in-cheek message, Cronje ends with “crypto is dead. Long live crypto.”