AVAX Soars 9% As Avalanche And Chainlink Announce Partnership For Global Asset Circulation

According to a recent announcement from blockchain platform Avalanche (AVAX), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has partnered with Chainlink (LINK) Labs to explore the potential of on-chain digital assets for global movement and settlement. 

Using Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), the collaboration aims to connect the Avalanche and Ethereum (ETH) blockchains to enable uninterrupted delivery versus payment (DvP) settlement of tokenized assets across networks in multiple currencies.

Tokenized Asset Transaction Across Avalanche And Ethereum Using Chainlink

ANZ, a provider of banking products and services to millions of customers in nearly 30 markets, has reportedly taken an unusual approach to exploring the world of on-chain digital assets. 

By leveraging Chainlink’s CCIP, ANZ is validating how customers can access, trade, and settle tokenized assets across multiple networks and currencies using Delivery vs. Payment. This approach aims to improve settlement efficiency and risk management for digital assets that fall under the classification of “securities” and their transactions.

According to Avalanche, Chainlink’s CCIP has been “crucial” in abstracting the complexities of moving tokenized assets across various blockchains, ensuring “atomic” cross-chain Delivery vs. Payment settlement. 

Notably, within the collaboration, ANZ simulated a transaction where a customer used ANZ’s Digital Asset Services (DAS) portal to purchase tokenized ANZ-issued New Zealand dollar stablecoins (NZ$DC) on Avalanche. 

Subsequently, the customer purchased tokenized Australian nature-based assets issued as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), denominated in tokenized ANZ-issued Australian dollar stablecoins (A$DC), on Ethereum. 

Furthermore, ANZ facilitated the FX conversion between the two currencies, while CCIP provided the necessary infrastructure to transfer tokens and data between Ethereum and Avalanche.

ANZ Harnesses Avalanche’s Evergreen Subnet

Monday’s announcement also revealed that ANZ used its Avalanche Evergreen Subnet for the project, leveraging its Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility, permissioning, and custom gas token features. 

The Evergreen Subnet allowed ANZ to explore new use cases and business models using customizable networks like Avalanche.

ANZ’s collaboration with Chainlink and Avalanche showcases how traditional financial institutions embrace blockchain technology to enhance capital markets. 

Ultimately, Avalanche revealed that the initial results of the test transactions were promising, and the initiative could change how the financial services industry approaches tokenized assets. 

The next steps include deploying the solution on blockchain mainnets and extending the workflows to include communication between different blockchain networks for different use cases.

AVAX Nears 22-Month High 

At the time of writing, Avalanche’s token AVAX has been on a steady uptrend, resulting in a remarkable increase of over 60% in the last 30 days. Currently, the token is trading at $58.31, just below its 22-month high of $65 set on Monday the 18th.

Within the last 24 hours, AVAX experienced a 9% increase after the announcement of the collaboration with Chainlink and ANZ Group. This surge allowed the token to break through the $55 resistance level. However, the $60 level is expected to be another obstacle that could lead to a consolidation period between $55 and $60 should the bullish momentum fade.

Avalanche

Further demonstrating the interest in AVAX, the token’s trading volume in the last 24 hours reached $1,135,122,192, indicating a significant increase of 127.20% compared to the previous day. 

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com

Avalanche Unleashes Durango Upgrade, AVAX Price Rockets 8% With ‘Teleporter’ Debut

Blockchain platform Avalanche (AVAX) has announced the launch of the Durango upgrade and introduced Teleporter, a tool designed to improve communication within the protocol’s ecosystem.

Simplified Cross-Chain Messaging?

Teleporter, built on Avalanche Warp Messaging (AWM), the platform’s native messaging protocol, serves as a “developer-friendly interface” that reportedly simplifies the process of sending and receiving cross-chain Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) messages. 

According to the announcement, by leveraging Teleporter, Avalanche blockchains will be able to share various types of information, including tokens, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and oracle price feed data. 

This “coordinated” communication will reportedly promote fluid EVM interoperability, enabling developers to create cross-subnet applications that provide “full functionality” and a “seamless user experience.” The Avalanche announcement goes on to say:

Since the beginning, Avalanche was developed to be a sprawling network of lightning-fast custom app chains. Subnets launched in Spring 2022, sparking an initial cohort of custom app chains that has grown to dozens, with many more coming across all major blockchain verticals. Since then, breakthroughs and highly anticipated releases like AWM (Subnet interoperability), HyperSDK (VM optimization), and Firewood (throughput) have vastly improved the potential capabilities of Subnets, and now Teleporter allows EVM Subnets to pass messages unhindered, natively linking the growing universe of Subnets. 

The protocol also highlights that developers can now build cross-chain swaps and create gaming environments where one subnet can unlock features in another. Institutions will reportedly be able to use Circle’s USDC as a subnet’s native gas token, which Avalanche sees as an avenue for “financial innovation.”

Avalanche Durango Upgrade

The introduction of Teleporter coincided with the successful activation of the Durango upgrade on Avalanche’s Mainnet on March 6. Durango implemented several community-proposed Avalanche Community Proposals (ACPs), including ACP-30, which activated AWM, forming the foundation for Teleporter’s functionality. 

Patrick O’Grady, VP of Platform Engineering at Ava Labs, expressed excitement about the Durango Upgrade, stating that Subnets can now natively communicate with the C-Chain using AWM. 

O’Grady further emphasized that Teleporter provides an EVM-compatible interface, enabling Solidity developers to trigger contract invocations across any Avalanche Subnet. 

On the other hand, Emin Gün Sirer, founder and CEO of Ava Labs, highlighted the role of Avalanche Warp Messaging and Teleporter in “revolutionizing” communication within Avalanche blockchains. Sirer emphasized that these “lightweight primitives” enhance user and developer experiences while solidifying Avalanche’s position as an “interoperability leader.”

Ultimately, with the release of Teleporter, Avalanche states that it is taking a step toward realizing its vision of a connected network of chains, providing increased interoperability and enabling developers to easily build cross-chain applications.

Avalanche

The native token of the Avalanche network, AVAX, has experienced a significant surge of 8% in the past 24 hours, reaching a trading price of $44.18. This increase follows its consistent upward trend, with a remarkable year-to-date growth of over 173%.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com

Avalanche C-Chain Experiences Block Production Halt, AVAX Price Responds

In a recent development, the Avalanche (AVAX) C-Chain encountered a significant disruption in block production, leading to a halt for over one hour. The interruption, which affected the primary network, was observed through the Avascan browser, with the last transaction recorded at block 42046853 (19:13 UTC+8).

Although other subnets experienced a slight delay, the primary network faced the most substantial impact.

Avalanche C-Chain Block Production Halt

Ava Labs, the team behind the Avalanche protocol, acknowledged the issue and promptly initiated an investigation. According to Kevin Sekniqi, co-founder of Avalanche, the disruption is believed to be related to a new inscription wave that was launched approximately an hour before the block production interruption. 

Sekniqi expressed confidence that the incident was caused by an “esoteric bug” stemming from an untested edge case, emphasizing the need for a swift resolution.

The disruption is presumed to be associated with a mempool handling issue specifically tied to inscriptions, which encountered untested edge cases.

When questioned about the possibility of such untested scenarios arising, Sekniqi acknowledged that while ideally, there should be no untested edge cases, the vastness of the codebase and continuous updates make it challenging to anticipate every possible scenario. 

Avalanche

The Avalanche co-founder further clarified that thorough testing is conducted on testnets, but the intricacies of the mainnet environment can introduce “unforeseen challenges.”

At present, no further official statement has been issued by the Avalanche protocol, awaiting additional reports and updates from the development team to gain further insights into the situation. 

AVAX Price Dips

During the occurrence of the block production halt, the AVAX price, which serves as the native token of the Avalanche protocol, exhibited a negative reaction, further extending the ongoing decline observed since Thursday when the price was at $43.

As of now, the AVAX price has reached $36.13, indicating a decline of over 2% within the past 24 hours, accompanied by a substantial drop of 11.7% over the course of the previous seven days.

Avalanche

The subsequent actions taken by the Avalanche team in response to this situation, as well as the consequential effect on the AVAX price, are yet to be determined.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com

AVAX Holders Beware: $204 Million Token Unlock Could Trigger Price Crash Today

Token unlocks for cryptocurrencies such as AVAX are not new but that does not negate the kind of impact that these unlocks can have on the price. Depending on the size of the unlock, it could trigger a market crash as millions of new coins roll into circulation and are dumped on retail. This could certainly be the case for AVAX today given the size of the upcoming unlock.

AVAX Unlock At $204 Million

AVAX’s most recent unlock is about to see a total of 9.5 million tokens being brought into the open market. With the price of the altcoin trending above $21, this puts the total value of the unlock at approximately $204 million.

According to data from the Token Unlocks website, this unlock will see another 2.68% of the total token supply added to the circulating supply. This will take the percentage of the total supply already unlocked from 55% to 57.68%. This cliff unlock will continue to inflate the AVAX supply, posing a potential roadblock for rallies as the supply increases.

AVAX token unlock

The standard allocation for this cliff unlock is spread across multiple spheres, with the largest portion going to staking rewards. 50% of the total unlocked tokens usually go to these stakes. Then the team portion is 10%, while the foundation gets 9.3%.

Implications For Token Price

Naturally, an inflation in supply is not good for the token price and this will likely be reflected in the AVAX price soon after. However, taking a look at the last unlock event carrying the same number of coins which took place on August 23, 2023, the chart shows only a small dip in price, suggesting that the unlock event had already been priced in.

If this were to repeat, then it’s possible that the AVAX price could maintain its momentum. But the difference between the current trend and that of August is that the token’s price has risen quickly in the last day. This could trigger selling as investors try to take advantage of the price recovery and secure their gains.

As data from IntoTheBlock shows, the percentage of AVAX holders that are currently sitting in profit has reached a new 20-month high. A total of 4.02 million holders are sitting in profit, which makes up 66% of the total holder base.

The last time that the holder profitability was this high was back in April 2022 when the price was at $94.93. What followed was aggressive profit-taking that would send the price falling more than 70% in a few months. So a repeat of this could see the AVAX price return toward $10.

AVAX price chart from Tradingview.com (token unlock)

Bullish Sentiment Surrounds AVAX Price As Republic Adopts Avalanche Blockchain

Tech firm Republic has recently announced its mission to democratize private market investing, with the selection of Avalanche as the platform for launching its profit-sharing digital asset, the Republic Note (R/Note).

The R/Note is a revenue-sharing digital security that is backed by Republic’s private equity portfolio, which includes over 750 assets.

Republic And Avalanche Forge Partnership

According to Republic’s announcement, Avalanche was chosen for several key reasons. Firstly, its scalability and speed ensure that Republic Note holders can enjoy seamless and cost-effective transactions. 

Notably, Avalanche has established partnerships with renowned brands like Amazon Web Services and Mastercard, highlighting its technical capabilities.

Additionally, Republic plans to launch a dedicated Subnet on Avalanche next year, offering a purpose-built network specifically designed for the Republic Note. 

This will provide enhanced security, privacy, and regulatory compliance, creating a robust digital security environment.

Mission alignment between Republic and Ava Labs, the team behind Avalanche, is another crucial factor. Per the announcement, both entities share a commitment to fostering a more inclusive future for financial markets through tokenization.

Furthermore, Avalanche’s “eco-friendliness” sets it apart from other blockchains, consuming significantly less energy, per the announcement. 

The pre-sale of Republic Notes has already attracted participation from thousands of individual retail investors, resulting in pre-sales exceeding $30 million. The public listing of the Republic Note is scheduled for December. 

Optimism For AVAX Price

The partnership between Republic and Ava Labs is anticipated to have a positive impact on the AVAX price. The launch of the Republic Note on Avalanche’s platform establishes a strong foundation for expanding its reach to a global audience of investors. 

Despite a 5% decline in the past 24 hours, AVAX has outperformed major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), with a 130% rally over the past 30 days, positioning itself as one of the industry’s top performers.

Avalanche

However, it is important to note that AVAX has recently undergone a correction, and its ability to surpass the $20.64 level will be crucial in determining its prospects amidst the ongoing bullish momentum.

Resistance levels at $21.59 and $22.74 have proven challenging for AVAX to breach and consolidate since February 2023.

Overall, the forthcoming launch of the Republic Note on Avalanche’s mainnet is a significant milestone in making the asset accessible to pre-sale participants who have contributed over $30 million. 

It remains to be seen whether this partnership can further bolster AVAX’s price and reinforce the positive trend observed over the past 30 days, potentially driving AVAX to new yearly highs in 2023.

The collaboration between Republic and Ava Labs underscores their shared vision of democratizing access to private markets through tokenization. 

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com

AVAX Price Bucks Under The Pressure Of Upcoming $102 Million Token Unlock

While most altcoins are looking toward a recovery from the recent market crash, the AVAX price seems to be gearing up for the opposite. The reason behind this is the massive token unlock that is set to occur this week, which will undoubtedly place more sell pressure on the already struggling price of the digital asset.

$102 Million In AVAX Set To Be Unlocked

The Avalanche network, like a lot of others, has locked a portion of its total token supply to be released into circulation on a periodic basis. Given that these unlock events can put bearish pressure on a token, they can often be a signal to exit.

For AVAX, the next token unlock event is set to take place on August 26, five days from now. But the most interesting thing about this event is the number of tokens set to be brought into circulation. According to the token tracking website Token Unlocks, a total of 9.54 million tokens are set to be unlocked on Saturday. This accounts for 2.77% of the total circulating supply of the asset, worth $102.29 million at current prices.

AVAX token unlock

The website also shows that the unlocked tokens are being distributed in four allocations. These include 1.13 million tokens ($12.06 million) for airdrop, 1.67 million tokens (17.87 million) for Foundation, 2.25 million tokens ($24.12 million) for strategic partners, and 4.5 million tokens ($48.24 million) for the team.

With this unlock, over 55% of the total token supply will be unlocked, leaving less than 45% of the supply locked. And as these 9.54 million tokens make their way to the market, it could be very bad for investors.

Will AVAX Price Be Impacted?

Given the allocation of the $102 million in tokens set to be unlocked, it is likely that a large chunk of it is going to hit the open market. As a result of such a large amount of selling, the AVAX price will certainly be impacted, making an already bad situation worse.

This will likely see the price of the digital asset fall below $10 for the first time since July 2021. Trading in the single-digit will see AVAX holders plunged further into losses, even though the vast majority are already sitting in the red, according to data from IntoTheBlock.

AVAX’s indicators are also incredibly bearish at this point with the price sitting below the 100-day and 200-day simple moving averages. This rules out a recovery for the digital asset in the short term, especially with the unlock event coming up.

At the time of writing, the AVAX price is sitting tentatively at $10.56, down 13.15% in the last week.

AVAX price chart from Tradingview.com