It’s been a busy 4months since the mainnet launch of the Avalanche Platform. Private Securities, Initial Litigation Offerings DEX’s, Synthetics, Stablecoins, DeFi, Prediction Markets, and more. The Avalanche ecosystem is growing fast and below are a small selection of the recent announcements and additions to the ecosystem, but first a quick overview of Avalanche and the benefits it provides.
Avalanche is capable of processing higher throughput that Visa (4500 tps per subnet), sub second finality, low gas fees, offering unparalleled decentralisation by being able to scale the number of validators to millions with their revolutionary consensus protocol, as well as offering a highly customisable interoperable heterogeneous platform.
Avalanche currently consists of 3 Blockchains within the Primary Network, one of which is the C-Chain which is a smart contract chain that uses the EVM and is 100% compatible with existing Ethereum tooling. Everything you can do on Ethereum you can do on the C-Chain with the added benefit of 1000’s of tps, sub-second finality and low fees. Existing DAPPs can easily be ported over to take advantage of the benefits Avalanche offers over Ethereum.
Avalanche is a platform of platforms, ultimately consisting of thousands of subnets to form a heterogeneous interoperable network of many blockchains, that takes advantage of the revolutionary Avalanche Consensus protocols to provide a secure, globally distributed, interoperable and trustless framework offering unprecedented decentralisation whilst being able to comply with regulatory requirements.
Avalanche allows anyone to create their own tailor-made application specific blockchains, supporting multiple custom virtual machines such as EVM and WASM and written in popular languages like Go (with others coming in the future) rather than lightly used, poorly understood languages like Solidity. This virtual machine can then be deployed on a custom blockchain network, called a subnet, which consist of a dynamic set of validators working together to achieve consensus on the state of a set of many blockchains where complex rulesets can be configured to meet regulatory compliance.
So whilst the C-Chain provides the EVM, other subnets can use other virtual machines which will be compatible with other blockchain tooling and DAPPs easily able to migrate across and benefit from the features Avalanche provides. Existing blockchains can even migrate their state over to Avalanche and replace their consensus with Avalanche whilst being able to keep their own native token. These subnets will then be able to interoperate with each other as well as other blockchains.
Securitize
Securitize, the industry-leading primary issuance and compliance platform for digital securities (security tokens) and SEC-registered transfer agent, has integrated with Avalanche to significantly upgrade the time and cost savings for blockchain-based financial services offerings for their customers.
Securitize is one of the most successful and recognized companies in the security token space, with currently more than 150 customers and 50,000 investors currently using its issuance and compliance platform for digital securities. Securitize’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Securitize Markets, LLC, is an SEC and FINRA registered broker-dealer and alternative trading system (ATS).
Issuers using the Securitize platform can now issue and manage private securities (via security tokens) using Avalanche, benefiting from its ability to achieve sub-second finality with low transaction fees.
“Integrating with Avalanche gives Securitize issuers and their investors seamless access to the latest blockchain technology while demonstrating our commitment to re-inventing private capital markets with proven, trusted technology solutions that are driving our industry towards an inevitable tipping point of mass adoption.”
— Carlos Domingo, Securitize CEO & Co-Founder
In 2019, private capital markets raised more than double that of public markets — $2.9T versus $1.4T (according to the World Federation of Exchanges) and did so with only 2.5% of eligible accredited investors participating. By 2023 private capital markets are projected to be worth $14T (according to Prequin). In contrast, the nascent digital securities market has a current market cap of only $500M (according to Security Token Market) indicating that the digitization of these markets has a lot of runway.
The full announcement article can be seen here
Initial Litigation Offerings
Avalanche, Roche Cyrulnik Freedman LLP, and Republic Advisory Services are bringing the $10B asset class of litigation financing to the Avalanche blockchain through the creation of a first of its kind token, the Initial Litigation Offering (“ILO”), a blockchain-enabled litigation financing product open to all investors.
Litigation funding, also known as legal financing and third-party litigation funding, provides individuals who otherwise lack the necessary resources the funds needed to litigate or arbitrate a civil claim. ILOs raise the funding required to pursue litigation in these cases and tokenize an economic right in such claims. Each token indirectly represents a legal claim to a portion of the potential financial recovery which has been converted to a digital asset.
Since these arrangements are secured only against the outcome of the litigation, the funders bear the risk in the event the claims are unsuccessful. However, if the litigation does return a recovery, the funders share in the financial upside.
One of the leading litigation funds, LexShares, has invested in 103 cases since 2014. Of those, 43 have been resolved, with a 70% win rate, and median annualized returns after fees and expenses of 52% (CNBC), beating out many hedge funds and far exceeding the 8.7% annualized return of the S&P 500 over the same time period.
“ILOs are a breakthrough for both individuals lacking the resources to seek remediation, and for retail investors who are often locked out of the most highly-performant asset classes. They are fundamentally unique from any other investments, and the creation of the ILO marks the first time blockchain technology will be used to democratize financial products at a multi billion-dollar scale.” — Kevin Sekniqi, Ava Labs
The first of many contemplated ILOs arises from one of the largest wholesale destructions of personal property by government entities in the history of the United States. The plaintiff in that matter, Apothio LLC, is a California-based industrial hemp research, development, and commercialization institution focused on hemp-derived cannabidiol oil (CBD). In late October 2019, without providing any notice or opportunity to be heard, Kern County Sheriff’s Office (“KSCO”) deliberately and wrongfully destroyed 500 acres of the plaintiff’s legally grown hemp farm, estimated to be worth at least $1 billion. The ILO, which is expected to take place in Q1 2021 will provide investors the ability to participate in the upside of a potential recovery.
Apothio LLC is represented by Roche Cyrulnik Freedman LLP, a prominent, NYC-based law firm with deep experience handling cryptocurrency and cannabis matters. It will be the first time a civil action is partially financed in a tokenized offering.
Avalanche and Republic Advisory Services are working on the regulatory processes to enable primary issuance and secondary trading of the litigation offering tokens minted on the Avalanche blockchain.
Make sure to check out Kevin’s thread below as well as more info here
Pangolin
Pangolin is a decentralized exchange (DEX) which runs on Avalanche, uses the same automated market-making (AMM) model as Uniswap, features a native governance token called PNG that is fully community distributed and is capable of trading all tokens issued on Ethereum and Avalanche. In a crowded marketplace with multiple contenders, Pangolin offers three critically important benefits: fast and cheap trades, community-driven development, and a fair and open token distribution.
First, Pangolin can finalize trades quickly and cheaply. Since Pangolin is built on Avalanche, it enables users to swap assets while enjoying sub-second transaction finality and transaction fees as low as a few cents. Oftentimes, trades on Pangolin will feel as fast as trades on centralized exchanges. Second, beyond the significant performance upgrades to the technical status quo, Pangolin is community-driven. The native governance token, PNG, enables the community to drive the development of the product in full. Third, but not least, Pangolin features a 100% community-focused token distribution model, meaning that all tokens are distributed directly to the community, without any allocations to team, advisors, investors, or insiders.
Users of existing AMMs, such as Uniswap and Sushiswap, are already familiar with their mechanism of action. Therefore, the rest of this post does not discuss how Pangolin achieves its trading capabilities. Instead, we discuss the PNG token in more detail, including its distribution mechanism and governance rules.
No PNG tokens are allocated to the team, investors, advisors, or any sort of insiders. Therefore, Pangolin is entirely community-driven and entirely community-owned. PNG is capped at a supply of 538 million tokens, 100% of which will be distributed to the community. The first 95% of tokens, or 512 million tokens, are dedicated to the community treasury, where they will initially be used to fund liquidity mining. The remaining 5%, or 26 million tokens, are dedicated to a community airdrop.
Airdrop to UNI and SUSHI Holders
The airdrop allocation will be distributed on the basis of ownership of UNI and SUSHI. In order to claim the PNG in the airdrop, UNI and SUSHI holders that had tokens on December 7th, 2020 will need to call withdraw on a distribution contract. This transaction must be from the same address that holds UNI/SUSHI on Ethereum and must be sent within one month of Pangolin’s launch.
For more details on the airdrop, liquidity mining and the exchange see here
Polyient Games
Ava Labs, the development team behind the Avalanche blockchain has teamed up with non-fungible token (NFT)-focussed investment firm Polyient Games to launch a decentralized exchange (DEX) for crypto collectibles.
Polyient’s NFT exchange will be powered by the Avalanche blockchain and will exist within the firm’s forthcoming Polyient Games Marketplace. The exchange is slated to host exclusive NFT auctions and peer-to-peer trading, with plans for “more liquid NFT trading products” and “NFT-adjacent tokens” in the future.
Polyient’s native utility and rewards token, PGFK Particles (XPGPs), will be used to power the exchange. It will be the base currency for all NFT sales, pairings, and auctions on the platform, as well as a membership token that yields rewards for users of the Polyient Games Ecosystem. Polyient has opened pre-registration for its PGFK token sale.
V1 of the DEX is currently built on Ethereum and is currently a top-10 Ethereum exchange protocol in terms user numbers over the last 24 hours. They plan to release v2 of the Polyient DEX on Avalanche to leverage a more scalable and efficient decentralized environment.
Blockchain Game Alliance
Avalanche values the blockchain industry and the broader technology sector at large and has joined the Blockchain Game Alliance (BGA) in a shared mission to raise individuals’ and businesses’ awareness about how blockchain can transform games, improve or disrupt existing business areas, and accelerate adoption. Avalanche joins BGA alongside prominent gaming organizations like Ubisoft and AMD and blockchain organizations like Maker, Matic, and Galaxy Interactive.
In 2020 alone, a report by Newzoo forecasted that the global gaming market will generate $159.3 billion in revenue (Reuters). The non-fungible token (NFT) market is experiencing tremendous growth as well: according to the NFT data analysis website NonFungible.com, NFT transaction volume in the first half of 2020 soared to $230 million, an increase of nearly 300% year-over-year.
With gaming and NFTs being a rapidly growing industry, we couldn’t be more thrilled to support BGA by giving game developers access to new ways to improve the gaming experience; new and actionable improvements in NFT performance, usability, and some of the lowest transaction fees in the industry, to mention a few
You can read more about Polyient Games announcement here and here as well as The Blockchain Game Alliance here
Arrow Decentralised Financial Markets (DFMs)
Arrow decentralized financial markets (DFMs) are the financial engines of the future. They will allow users to create cash-settled options on any asset and to synthesize any asset. Settlement operates through a network of decentralized aggregate counterparties (DACs) financed by liquidity providers who lock-up collateral in exchange for platform income.
The Arrow protocol implements a decentralized aggregate counterparty (DAC) to act as both a settlement authority and a funding vehicle for each user-chosen reference outcome. The DAC is coupled with a contract factory to produce a decentralized financial market (DFM). DFMs live on blockchains and generate economies of scale for contingent contract creation and settlement.
For more info see the video above
Prosper
Prosper, a non-custodial, cross-chain prediction market and hedging platform, has started integrations with Avalanche. The integration is set to be completed in late January 2021.
The integration brings advantages for both Avalanche and Prosper ecosystems: Avalanche supporters will be able to use AVAX as the basic prediction token for all of Prosper’s features and functionalities. Any AVAX holder can maximize their yield or hedge their positions, which also introduces a whole new source of liquidity across prediction market pools.
Price movement predictions for AVAX will be opened on other blockchains shortly after mainnet launch. The Avalanche-based prediction market will remain non-custodial and decentralized using Chainlink oracle price feeds.
Why Prosper is building on Avalanche
“Currently, Avalanche is one of the biggest, most reputable players in the blockchain solutions market. Besides two consensus mechanisms, subnets, and various virtual machines (VM) support, which are important for proper product operation, it also has one of the biggest and most active communities in the entire crypto space.” — Iva Wisher Co-Founder of Prosper.so
There are three core points on why Prosper is building on Avalanche:
- Performance: over 4,500 tx/sec with transaction finality of less than a second
- Easy to integrate: Avalanche supports the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which simplifies and accelerates our integration process
- Community: Avalanche has a vibrant and engaged community of developers, users, and supporters for using retail trading products such as Prosper
You can find more info here
LACChain
Ava Labs, the builders of Avalanche, has joined the LACChain Alliance of the IDB Lab, a global organization led by the InterAmerican Development Bank Group Innovation Laboratory to accelerate the development of the blockchain ecosystem in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. Avalanche, Ava Labs’ flagship platform, is a highly scalable, open-source platform for launching decentralized applications.
The Alliance aims to foster innovation, reduce inequalities, catalyze the creation and security of quality jobs, promote financial inclusion, consumer protection, and market integrity. Members include ConsenSys, MIT Media Lab, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, the Blockchain Research Institute, NTT Data, and Microsoft and Citibank have also recently joined as well.
LACChain recently partnered with the European Commision’s International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA) to work together to expand the blockchain ecosystem in these regions.
Ava Labs makes it simple to launch finance applications using blockchain technology. By joining the LACChain Alliance, Ava Labs will explore opportunities for blockchain in the region with other participants in the ecosystem, as well as accelerating the adoption of the technology within LAC.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Ava Labs to the Alliance as another member who not only sees the vast potential of the LatAm region but understands the unique challenges it faces. With Ava Labs joining an already robust roster of partners, the Alliance is primed for even faster growth.” — Alejandro Pardo Vegezzi, Leader at LACChain
Avalanche-Ethereum Bridge
The Avalanche-Ethereum bridge, developed by ChainSafe through the Avalanche-X grants program, is in the final phase of testing before deploying to mainnet and opening the gates for simple, secure transfer of assets between Avalanche and Ethereum.
The Avalanche-Ethereum Bridge, using ChainBridge*, is a two-way token bridge that enables seamless ERC-20 and ERC-721 transfers between Avalanche (via the C-Chain) and Ethereum. If you want to use ETH within decentralized applications on Avalanche, you will be able to lock WETH (wrapped ETH) in the ChainBridge contract, and an equivalent token on Avalanche will be minted. The Bridge can be used either by interacting with apps that integrate the Bridge or with an Avalanche-Ethereum asset swap app (coming soon).
You can read more about the bridge here
Stablecoins
The BiLira company have launched a stablecoin backed by the Turkish Lira, on Avalanche. Previously, TRYB was limited to the Ethereum blockchain as an ERC-20 token; but now, with Avalanche, BiLira will offer fast, efficient, and secure transactions that will allow for greater scalability and user adoption.
TrueUSD (TUSD), a top-five fiat-backed stablecoin by market cap, will launch natively on Avalanche in Q1 2021.
Tether is also planned to be added shortly as well as other top stablecoins.
This is just the beginning
It’s been an incredible 4 months since the launch of Avalanche (which in itself has only been in development for just 2 years. Not only have they provided a revolutionary consensus protocol, but also a revolutionary platform, enabling everyone to take full advantage of the incredibly high performance, low latency, unparalleled customisation, interoperable and unprecedented decentralisation network to enable mass adoption of Blockchain and transform traditional finance and DeFi whilst being able to comply with regulatory requirements. This is just the beginning; Avalanche will usher in mass adoption of blockchain.
For more information see this 25-tweet thread for an overview and links to more info.
As well as the following articles:
Comparison between Avalanche, Cosmos and Polkadot
Avalanche, a Revolutionary Consensus Engine and Platform. A Game Changer for Blockchain
Avalanche Consensus, The Biggest Breakthrough since Nakamoto
Why Avalanche (AVAX) has the potential to be an incredible store of value
