Founded by Ava Labs, Avalanche is said to be one of the fastest smart contract platforms in the blockchain industry. It’s focused on decentralized applications (dApps). 

AVAX is the network's native asset. It pays fees and secures, via staking, the platform while serving as a basic unit of account among the Avalanche ecosystem's sub-realms.

A rival to Ethereum, and one that is gaining momentum, Avalanche has positioned itself as a speed merchant able to process up to 6,500 transactions per second.

Ava Labs co-founder, Emin Gün Sirer, is known as a reputable cryptographic research veteran, bent on solving scalability issues confronting Ethereum and several other smart contract platforms. 

In early November 2021, the project created a $200 million fund to incentivize developers to build on the network.

Avalanche is also divided into three "interoperable" blockchains: The Exchange Chain (X-Chain); The Contract Chain (C-Chain); and The Platform Chain (P-Chain). 

The X-Chain functions as a source of creation and distribution of the native AVAX token; it's similar to the Ethereum ERC-20 standard. 

The C-Chain is tasked with hosting smart contracts and dApps using its own Avalanche Virtual Machine, (similar to the Ethereum Virtual Machine). 

Finally, the P-Chain acts as a sole coordinator of network validators. It also tracks and enables active subnets.

The Avalanche network essentially builds upon pre-existing smart contract technology to provide users with a range of potentially more efficient capabilities. 

The Avalanche Bridge (AB) allows blockchain users to transfer Avalanche and Ethereum assets between blockchains. 

Other blockchain applications and their native tokens have also migrated onto the AVAX Layer One system, with the likes of Curve Finance, Tether, Chainlink and AAVE bringing significant liquidity.

As AVAX continues to aggressively attract other projects into its ecosystem, the blockchain prepares to enter what it's calling "Phase 2" of its plan to build out its network capabilities, with new projects preparing to launch in early 2022.

The current price of AVAX

As of early November 2021, AVAX was hitting its all-time high of about $80. 

After being in the teens for most of the summer of 2021, the coin, now the 13th-largest, per CoinGecko, began to rally as of mid-August and proceeded to travel pretty much straight up, or parabolic as analysts would put it. In 12 months ending Nov. 4, 2021, AVAX has increased by more than 2,000%. In late December 2020, AVAX fell to as low as $2.80.

How the price of AVAX is determined

According to CoinGecko, AVAX is “a hard-capped, scarce asset.”

Its maximum total supply: 720 million native tokens; AVAX has a distribution tactic that ensures different areas of its community, as well as its holders, are reimbursed for their contributions. 

Some 50% of the AVAX token supply goes toward staking rewards, and the remaining 50% is split between public sale, community endowment, airdrops, team, and seed sales, released over designated periods of time, with the maximum supply being released over 10 years.

What the bulls are saying about Avalanche (AVAX)

AVAX price forms a symmetrical triangle with potential for a 40% breakout taking it to $100, FXStreet said in late October.

It is now a good time to buy Avalanche, CoinCodex said on Nov. 4, 2021.

If AVAX can clear its resistance zone before it, $50-$60, it will be off for a new high, said Today UK News as of early September 2021.

What the bears are saying about Avalanche (AVAX)

AVAX’s recent price action “leaves much to be desired and could be a warning of sustained congestion or a future correction,” FXStreet said in late October 2021.

A breakdown of AVAX’s ascending support trend line (connecting past historic lows) clears the path for a corrective decline, InvestingCube said as AVAX was hitting an all-time high on Nov. 4.

The near-term trend for AVAX looked bearish, TheMarketPeriodical said in mid-October.