Avalanche

Avalanche is a blockchain platform launched in September 2020 by Ava Labs that aims to address scalability, speed, and decentralization challenges faced by older blockchain networks. It utilizes a unique architecture consisting of three interoperable blockchains - the Exchange Chain (X-Chain) for asset creation and trading, the Contract Chain (C-Chain) for smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps), and the Platform Chain (P-Chain) for coordinating validators and creating subnets. Avalanche employs innovative consensus protocols like Avalanche Consensus and Snowman to achieve high throughput and fast finality. The platform can process over 4,500 transactions per second with sub-second finality. Avalanche is compatible with Ethereum tools and smart contracts, allowing easy porting of Ethereum-based projects. Its native token AVAX is used for transaction fees, staking, and governance. Avalanche enables the creation of custom application-specific blockchains called subnets, which can have their own validators and token economies while leveraging the security of the main network. The platform has gained significant traction in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.

Key customers and partnerships

Avalanche has formed partnerships with major companies to drive adoption. In January 2023, Avalanche announced a collaboration with Amazon Web Services to accelerate blockchain adoption by enterprises, institutions and governments. AWS will support Avalanche's infrastructure and decentralized applications. Mastercard selected Ava Labs for its Start Path Crypto accelerator program to help blockchain startups scale. Deloitte partnered with Ava Labs to improve its disaster relief platform. BitGo, an institutional digital asset custodian, added support for AVAX, enabling its clients to offer the token. The Avalanche ecosystem has attracted over 150 projects, including DeFi protocols like Aave and 1inch. Avalanche had over USD 11 billion in total value locked, making it the fourth largest DeFi ecosystem. Popular applications on Avalanche include decentralized exchange Trader Joe and lending platform Benqi.