The Filecoin (FIL) token witnessed a significant increase in its prices Friday, October 1, according to CoinMarketCap. The surge has sparked the interest of social media users in the upcoming launch of the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM) in March. The blockchain-based software platform provides smart contracts and enables developers to build decentralized applications on the Filecoin network.
The coin’s rate rose from $5.38 at 10:00 UTC to a maximum of $7.82 at around 5 p.m. Eastern time (22:00 UTC). At the time of publication, FIL was trading at $7.35, a 36.7% hike.
The reason behind the rally isn’t quite clear yet.
Crypto enthusiast Colin Wu, who tweets under the handle Wu Blockchain, may have played a part in the digital asset’s rise. Wu shared news of the pump, along with details about the FVM launch, on his Twitter page (with over 250,000 followers) – view the tweet.
The FVM addition to Filecoin means that it will be a fully-fledged layer-1 blockchain. At the Filecoin Singapore Conference in September, the platform was announced to support a range of user-defined functions such as perpetual storage, storage replication, repair automation, and liquid staking through block rewards. It will also allow users to develop decentralized, data-based autonomous organizations (DAO) to manage pay-per-view transactions and create Web3 games.
Furthermore, the Filecoin Virtual Machine is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), thus allowing the creation of cross-chain bridges that facilitate the transfer of tokens between different blockchain networks. This can result in lower gas costs and improved transaction speeds.
The growing attention towards DeFi projects, including the development of layer 1 blockchain protocols, is a reflection of investor’s loss of faith in centralized exchanges due to several major cryptocurrency firm collapses.
CORRECTIONFeb. 18, 2023 15:34 UTC): The FIL prices rose between 10:00 UTC and not 05:00 UTC and 5 p.m. Eastern time.