Avalanche (launched September 2020) is a layer-1, decentralized, open-source proof-of-stake blockchain that functions as a platform for decentralized applications, custom blockchain networks, and also smart contracts. The native cryptocurrency of the blockchain is AVAX. ^[4][5]

History

Avalanche was first conceptualized and shared on InterPlanetary File System (aka IPFS) in May 2018 by a pseudonymous group of enthusiasts named "Team Rocket." Later it was developed by a dedicated team of researchers from Cornell University. The research was led by Emin Gün Sirer, a professor of computer science and software engineer, assisted by doctoral students Maofan "Ted" Yin and Kevin Sekniqi. Following the research stage, Ava Labs was founded to develop the network primarily to meet complex financial industry requirements. In March 2020, the AVA codebase for the Avalanche consensus protocol became open-source and available to the public.

Avalanche's initial coin offering (ICO) ended on July 15, 2020, followed by the launch of mainnet in September 2020 during which the protocol also issued the native token AVAX (an acronym for "Avalanche"). ^[14]

Ava Labs

Ava Labs Inc. also known as Ava Labs, was founded to develop the Avalanche (AVAX) network primarily to meet complex financial industry requirements. It is located in Brooklyn, New York, United States, with an employee size of 51 to 200 members. ^[6][14]

AVAX Token

The Avalanche (AVAX) token is the native token of the Avalanche platform and is used to secure the network through staking, transact peer-to-peer, pay for fees, and provide a basic unit of account between the multiple subnetworks created on the Avalanche platform. The token's ticker is denoted as AVAX and it has a total supply of 720 million AVAX. ^[13]

Tokenomics

At launch, 360 million AVAX (50%) were minted and sold through private and public sales. The remaining 360 million AVAX (50%) are for staking rewards distributed over the following decades.

• 2.5% - seed sale, with 10% released on mainnet launch and the rest being released every three months.
• 3.5% - private sale, with 10% released on mainnet launch and the rest being released every three months.
• 10% - public sale, with 10% released on mainnet launch and 15% released every three months over a period of 18 months.
• 9.26% - allocated to the foundation, released over ten years.
• 7% - community endowment, released over twelve months.
• 0.27% - testnet incentive program, released over one year.
• 5% - strategic partners, released over four years.
• 2.5% - airdrops, released over four years.
• 10% - team, released over four years.
• 50% staking rewards. ^[5]

Funding Rounds

In February 2019, AVA Labs raised $5.9 million from VC firms: Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain, MetaStable, and Initialized Capital, as well as individual investors Balaji Srinivasan^[15], Naval Ravikant^[16], and Ramtin Naimi of Abstract Ventures^[17]. ^[18]

In June 2020, the development team, Ava Labs raised $12.6 million in a private token sale. Participants included Galaxy Digital, Bitmain, Initialized Capital, NGC Ventures, and Dragonfly Capital, among others. ^[18]

On July 15, 2020, Ava Labs raised $37.58 million in a public sale. Participants purchased tokens through three options:

• Public Sale Option A1 (Staking Round #2): This option allowed participants to purchase tokens at $0.50 per AVAX, which was subject to a one-year vesting schedule with quarterly unlocking.
• Public Sale Option A2 (Staking Round #2): This option allowed participants to purchase tokens at $0.50 per AVAX, using an 18-month vesting schedule, with quarterly unlocking. Option A2 allowed purchasers to a much larger set of tokens than Option A1.
• Public Sale Option B: This option allowed participants to purchase tokens at $0.85 per AVAX, with no lockups. In order to prevent concentration and incentivize distribution, this allocation enforced a maximum check size of $5,000. ^[18]

Technology

Avalanche is an open-source platform offering interoperable and scalable decentralized finance applications and enterprise blockchain deployments. It uses a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, requiring validators to stake AVAX to validate transactions on the network. The platform features multiple chains, with core chains and application-specific subnets. Validators must be a member of the Primary Network; all other subnets are optional. The Primary Network contains three blockchains:

Contract Chain (C-chain)

It hosts smart contracts and decentralized applications. It has its own Avalanche Virtual Machine, similar to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allowing developers to fork EVM-compatible DApps. It uses the Snowman consensus mechanism. ^[5]

Exchange chain (X-chain)

The X-Chain handles the creation of new digital assets and the exchange of tokens between the core blockchains and their various subnets. It uses the Avalanche consensus mechanism. ^[19]

Platform Chain (P-Chain)

This is the base staking platform that manages network validators and enables developers to create new subnets. Every validator must stake on the P-Chain and participate in securing Avalanche’s Primary Network. ^[19]

Governance

AVAX provides on-chain governance for certain network parameters, enabling participants to vote on changes and settle network upgrade decisions democratically. These parameters, such as the minimum staking amount and minting rate, may be subject to dynamic parameter optimization through a crowd oracle. Modification of the system is limited to a predetermined number of parameters, to ensure predictability and safety, and all governable parameters are subject to time bounds. ^[20]

Core

In June 2022, Ava Labs launched Core, an all-in-one browser extension for Avalanche dApps, NFTs, bridges, Subnets, & more. Core supports Avalanche, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and all EVM-compatible chains. ^[7][8]

On December 7, 2022, Core expanded support to eight additional languages.

• English
• Chinese — Simplified (简,体中文)
• Chinese — Traditional (繁體中文)
• German (Deutsch)
• Hindi (हिन्दी)
• Japanese (日本語)
• Korean (한국인)
• Russian (Русский)
• Spanish (Español)
• Turkish (Türk) ^[32]

“The Core team continues to listen to its community and has taken another stride towards building a globally accessible Web3 future by providing multi-language support, making every effort to make the user’s journey personalized and delightful,”

- said Akash Gupta, Director of Product at Ava Labs. ^[32]

Core Mobile Wallet

On December 13, 2022, Ava Labs released Core mobile, a free, multichain mobile wallet packed with features for both experts and those new to crypto, while keeping crypto assets and digital collectibles safe under self-custody. It launched first on Android with support for iOS planned for 2023. According to the announcement, Core mobile aims to be the fastest and most intuitive wallet for connecting to the rapidly-growing DeFi, NFT, and gaming ecosystems across Avalanche. It also includes support for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and EVM-compatible blockchains. ^[29]

Avalanche Flash Loan Attack

On the 6th of September 2022, CertiK Skynet reported a flash loan attack on Avalanche impacting a specific contract. The attacker profited $370k USDC. These Possible impacted protocols include DEX Trader Joe, staking platform Nereus Finance and AMM Curve Finance.^[10][11]

Avalanche x Amazon

Ava Labs announced in a blog post^[21] on January 11, 2023, to work with the cloud-computing platform Amazon Web Services (AWS) to bring wider adoption of blockchain technology by enterprises, institutions, and governments. The partnership will make it easy for developers to launch and manage nodes on the Avalanche blockchain, as AWS will support Avalanche’s infrastructure and decentralized applications.

Ava Labs also plans to add "subnet" deployment, a network within a network, to the AWS Marketplace, enabling both individuals and institutions to easily launch custom subnets. ^[22]

“It has been a huge boon for both individual and enterprise developers to be able to spin up nodes and test networks on the fly with AWS in whatever legal jurisdiction makes the most sense for them. I’m proud that we’ve implemented a protocol that can accommodate millions of participants with near-instant finality. Our work with Amazon can accelerate the positive impact of Avalanche.”

- said Emin Gün Sirer, Founder and CEO of Ava Labs in the blog post. ^[21]

Avalanche x Shopify

Shopify (SHOP) expanded its non-fungible token (NFT) integration on 5th January 2023, allowing its merchants to begin designing, minting, and selling Avalanche NFTs.

With the Venly Shopify merchant app^[23], retailers can sell NFTs with "minimal technical knowledge," according to a press release ^[25]. NFTs created by merchants are "automatically turned into products" that can be displayed and purchased on their storefronts. In addition, buyers are not required to have an existing crypto wallet and instead will receive an email with a link to a newly created blockchain wallet.

"The integration makes it easy to navigate Avalanche NFT sales from initial design all the way through final distribution,"

- said John Nahas, vice president of business at Ava Labs. ^[24][25]

Avalanche x International Chess Federation

The International Chess Federation (FIDE)^[26], the sport’s governing body, announced on 23rd December 2022, it is partnering with the Avalanche blockchain to bring its competitions into Web3. ^[27] The partnership will create “operational efficiencies for players and federations and improve game integrity,” according to a press release, such as publishing tournament data and player rankings on-chain, as well as AVAX-hosted tournament prize pools.

“We are excited to get into this project. Ava Labs is one of the leaders or rather driving forces behind on-chain technologies, while FIDE is constantly working on improving players’ engagement and experience. Chess is a unique sport, and this cooperation will allow us to unify our community and strengthen the ties between players, clubs, federations and FIDE.”

Emil Sutovsky, FIDE CEO, said in a statement. ^[27][28]

Avalanche Warp Messaging (AWM)

On the 22nd of December 2022, Avalanche Warp Messaging (AWM) rolled out in AvalancheGo Banff 5^[33] to “bring fast, reliable native communications to all Avalanche Subnets.” AWM is available in both the Golang and Rust VM SDKs for use by any VM builder. ^[30]

Prior to the release of Banff 5, Subnets were already a leading solution to help scale custom blockchain networks. Subnets gave anyone the power of Avalanche along with fully customizable parameters and rulesets that catered to the unique needs of every deployment. ^[31]

To showcase Avalanche Warp Messaging (AWM), Ava Labs developed the XSVM with 2 basic capabilities: transferring assets on a Subnet and transferring assets between Subnets. Ava Labs deployed this VM to the “let there” and “be messaging” Subnets on Avalanche Mainnet. ^[31]