Avalanche

Avalanche is a cryptocurrency platform designed by Emin Gün Sirer, Kevin Sekniqi, and Maofan “Ted” Yin and was launched in September 2020. The project began as a way to achieve consensus among machines and network nodes that may be unreliable. They hoped this technology would improve the stability of available cryptocurrency networks, but it grew over time to become a crypto platform in its own right.

Currently, the Avalanche platform operates three chains: the X-Chain, the C-Chain and the P-Chain. The X-Chain is the platform's exchange chain, utilised for creating and trading assets across the network. The C-Chain stands for contract chain, where smart contract transactions are processed. The P-Chain refers to the platform chain, where staking and validating activities are carried out.

AVAX is the native coin of the Avalanche network, so it is sometimes known simply as the Avalanche Coin. The name ‘AVAX’ comes from Avalanche and X-Chain, the chain on which the coin is traded. However, the AVAX Coin is also used on the C-Chain and P-Chain — on the P-Chain, for example, a Proof of Stake model is used to validate transactions using AVAX.

The Avalanche network is similar to the Ethereum network because it can be used to support other digital assets outside its native currency, the AVAX Avalanche Coin. Users can utilise the network to create smart contracts that transfer various assets, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Developers can also use the platform to build their own crypto-integrated applications, hosting these apps on Avalanche itself.

While Avalanche is the platform, AVAX is the native Avalanche Coin. Traders can buy AVAX to use as an alternative form of currency or to speculate on its value ahead of a later sale. The currency can also be utilised for staking — under Avalanche's Proof of Stake model. Users can pledge a stake from their AVAX assets to bid for the right to validate transactions on the network. Each validation rewards the user who owns that specific network node, although they will need to put forward large amounts of AVAX as their initial stake.

It's important to remember that Avalanche is the platform, and AVAX is the native currency. So, if we are talking about the price of the Avalanche Coin, we are referring to the value of the AVAX currency. AVAX is not a Stablecoin, and its value is not tied to that of any external currency or other assets. Instead, the value of one AVAX is determined according to market forces.

Like with other non-pegged currencies such as Ether or Bitcoin, the relative AVAX or Avalanche price is subject to supply and demand. The supply of AVAX is limited to 720 million units, and around half of these units were made available at launch. Additional currency units are added to the supply as transactions, validated and recorded on the P-Chain. This helps ensure supply does not spiral out of control, driving the currency's value down.

But demand still plays a big role in determining the price of AVAX. If people want to buy AVAX or investigate AVAX price in AUD, the value goes up — if there is no such desire in the market, the value will decrease. As of September 2022, the AVAX/AUD rate is around 1 AVAX to AUD 0.04.