Avalanche Coming after our contract and holder checks finish for this coin. See the Scorecard for every call so far.
What it is
Avalanche is a smart-contract platform whose main network went live in September 2020, developed by the company Ava Labs. It is built as a family of chains. Three core chains form the 'Primary Network': the C-Chain, which works with Ethereum tools and hosts most apps; the P-Chain, which handles validators and staking; and the X-Chain, for simple transfers. Projects can also launch their own custom chains, now called Avalanche L1s, connected to the main network.
Validators reach agreement by repeatedly polling small random groups of other validators until the network settles on an answer, so transactions become final in about a second or two. Running a validator requires staking at least 2,000 AVAX, and holders can delegate 25 AVAX or more. The Avalanche9000 upgrade in late 2024 made launching new L1s much cheaper, and later changes cut C-Chain fees.
AVAX has a hard cap of 720 million coins. Half were created at launch, and the rest are minted gradually as staking rewards. All transaction fees are burned, which offsets part of that new issuance.
What can go wrong
- In February 2024 the C-Chain stopped finalizing blocks for several hours during a surge of 'inscription' transactions, leaving users unable to transact.
- Ava Labs and the Avalanche Foundation drive most development and hold large token allocations, so the network depends heavily on their decisions.
- Much of the planned growth is on separate Avalanche L1s that do not have to use AVAX for fees, so their success may not translate into demand for the coin.
- Staking rewards keep adding new AVAX until the cap is reached, and fee burning only offsets that when the network is busy.
Avalanche has several chains with different address formats. Most wallets and exchanges use the C-Chain, with addresses starting '0x'; sending to an X-Chain or P-Chain address by mistake can strand funds until you move them across.
Safety checks
- Track recordGoodTrading since 2020, about 6 years. It has been through at least one full market cycle.
- Trading activityGood$252.6 million traded in the last 24 hours, 5.9% of its market value. That's enough activity that a normal-size order shouldn't move the price.
- Coins still to comeCaution443.8 million of 720.0 million maximum coins are in circulation, so about 38% are still to be released. New coins entering the market can push the price down as they're sold.
- Distance from its peakRed flagDown 93% from its all-time high of $144.96 in November 2021. Most people who bought near the top have lost most of their money. A big drop doesn't make a coin cheap.
- Past yearFor context−52.7% over the past year, against −25.3% for bitcoin. It has done worse than simply holding bitcoin.
History of trouble and big events
- 2020: The main network launched in September.
- 2024: The C-Chain halted for several hours on February 23; the Avalanche9000 upgrade went live in December.
Holding a token on a smaller network, or got sent one you don't recognize? Run its address through the free checker. Copycat tokens often borrow big names.