Avalanche is known as the “Internet of Blockchain”, a platform that can deploy enterprise blockchain with high interoperability and scalability. In this article, let’s explore with Coinminutes what is Avalanche Blockchain? and what makes it unique.
What Is Avalanche Blockchain (AVAX)?
Avalanche Blockchain is a platform that allows project developers to launch decentralized financial applications. Developed by Ava Labs, Avalanche is one of the first Smart contract platforms with fast transaction processing speed and high scalability. The appearance of Avalanche has solved three major problems of blockchain: scalability, security, and decentralization thanks to its unique Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism.
What Makes Avalanche Blockchain Unique?
For Avalanche blockchain, technology is what makes it unique and outstanding. While blockchain platforms struggle to balance scalability and decentralization, Avalanche has solved this problem extremely well.
Thanks to its unique Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanism, Avalanche has made a core innovation to solve the above problems, which is the integration of 3 interoperable blockchains instead of 1 conventional blockchain.
Because the Avalanche Blockchain ecosystem is so vast, each blockchain will perform a separate task instead of one blockchain having to complete many tasks. This makes Avalanche Blockchain agile and solves interoperability and scalability problems.
Where Avalanche Came From?
In 2018, a group named “Team Rocket” disseminated a white paper outlining the Avalanche technology on the InterPlanetary File System, a peer-to-peer network. Cornell University researchers, led by computer scientist Emin Gün Sirer, were the minds behind this innovation. They not only established the Avalanche blockchain network but also founded Ava Labs, a technology company dedicated to its management.
The initial sale of AVAX tokens occurred in a seed sale in February 2019, followed by a private sale in May 2020 and an initial coin offering (ICO) in July 2020. Avalanche was officially launched by Ava Labs on September 21, 2021. Notably, there are reports of Ava Labs engaging in a substantial funding round in 2022, potentially propelling it to one of the most valuable crypto startups.
How Does Avalanche Work?
The point that makes Avalanche different from other competitors is that its system solves current Blockchain problems well. It is thanks to the operation of the consensus mechanism, the combination of subnetworks, and the use of multiple Integrated blockchains.
Avalanche Consensus
When making transactions on a blockchain network, to maintain security, we need to use a protocol that allows its nodes to reach consensus. Avalanche Blockchain uses a new consensus mechanism built on a PoS platform, called Avalanche Consensus. Avalanche Consensus is a scalable, robust, and decentralized consensus mechanism
Avalanche’s consensus mechanism works through voting. When a node is determining whether a transaction is accepted or not, it asks a random set of validator nodes for their opinion. When the majority of validators pass, the transaction will be authenticated.
Subnetwork
Subnetwork (or Subnet) is an extension solution on Avalanche that allows anyone to create their own L1 blockchain.
A subnet can be a blockchain or a group of blockchains with separate customizations that are validated by a common group of validators. The Subnet exists in Avalanche’s Primary Network, consisting of validators that operate according to a common consensus mechanism to validate a set of blockchains. To put it simply, one subnet can authenticate many blockchains, conversely, one blockchain is guaranteed to be authenticated by one subnet. Validators can participate in many different subnets.
The subnet takes advantage of the Avalanche consensus protocol to provide a scaling solution that inherits Avalanche’s transaction speed and security, which is considered the secret weapon to expand this network.
Built-in Blockchains
A special feature of Avalanche Blockchain is that there are 3 main chains, and each chain will have a different task:
- X-Chain (Exchange Chain): An exchange chain that serves as a decentralized platform for creating and trading assets on X-Chain with other digital assets that have their own set of rules. All transactions in this chain are charged by AVAX (X-Chain), which is the chain serving payments.
- C-Chain (Contract Chain): Contract chain, allows users to create smart contracts using C-Chain’s API, which runs smart contracts compatible with the Ethereum virtual machine (EVM). The sibling DApps that interact daily on Avalanche are actually on C-Chain.
- P-Chain (Platform Chain): Platform chain, in charge of coordinating validators and monitoring subnet activities. In addition, P-Chain is where these subnets are created.
P-Chain and C-Chain both use the Snowman consensus mechanism, which is optimized on-chain with high throughput and suitable for use with smart contracts. X-Chain specifically uses the Avalanche consensus mechanism.
The common point is that these 3 chains are all secured and have transactions confirmed from the main network (Primary Network).
Pros and Cons of Avalanche Blockchain
Pros
Avalanche Blockchain has interesting characteristics that become distinct advantages, specifically the following advantages:
- Secure, robust, and reliable applications, flexible in being able to customize private or public blockchains.
- Ability to create assets on top of existing ecosystem or build new networks with defined parameters for validators.
- High speed and scalability for DApp(s).
- Every day, the transaction volume is high – Avalanche can manage more than 4,500 per second, making it one of the fastest and most reliable P2P payment systems.
- Openness, transparency, and clarity are shown in the influence of the validator community on the validity of the transaction.
- High throughput and efficiency without the risks of decentralization.
Cons
- Transactions are delayed if there are validity issues that are not agreed upon by validators.
- Failure to reach consensus in transactions if conflicts arise.
Avalanche vs. Ethereum
Avalanche Blockchain is one of the projects considered an “Ethereum killer“ when there are more and more Dapps on Ethereum but transaction speeds slow down and costs increase. This is an opportunity for the Avalanche project.
Avalanche is an open, programmable smart contract platform for decentralized applications to run on. The focus of Avalanche’s attention is the Subnet and this is also the component that the team is most focused on developing at the present time.
Avalanche has faster transaction processing time, up to 4500 transactions per second. For comparison, this is 300 times more than Ethereum with 15 transactions per second. Avalanche with its superior scaling capabilities can provide an advantage over Ethereum.
In addition, Avalanche uses a proof of stake dynamic mechanism while Ethereum is still using a proof of work mechanism. Currently, Ethereum is gradually switching to using proof of stake but quite slowly.
Is The Avalanche Blockchain Safe?
Avalanche Blockchain can be considered one of the most secure platforms today because of the random nature of its consensus mechanism. This mechanism of Avalanche makes their platform less vulnerable to 51% attacks than other blockchains, therefore always ensuring security and safety in transactions.
Is Avalanche a Good Investment?
Avalanche exhibits promising potential for long-term growth, owing to its well-designed architecture and expanding ecosystem. Notably, Valkyrie Investments, a financial services firm, has demonstrated confidence in Avalanche by establishing a fund in May 2022 exclusively dedicated to investing in assets related to the platform. Despite its commendable features, it faces substantial competition in the dynamic cryptocurrency landscape, and like other digital assets, its value is subject to volatility.
Avalanche’s success can be attributed to its efficient network, characterized by multiple blockchains and the effective Avalanche consensus mechanism. This has translated into low transaction fees, and according to Avalanche, it boasts a faster transaction time-to-finality compared to other blockchains.
The platform has experienced remarkable growth, with a total value locked (TVL) surpassing $11 billion by the end of 2021, marking a significant 227% increase from the beginning of the year. As of April 2022, it held the fourth position in TVL rankings.
While Avalanche currently enjoys a favorable position, predicting the ultimate success of smart contract blockchains remains challenging. Investors with a diversified approach, spreading their investments across multiple options, may mitigate risks associated with uncertainties in this evolving landscape.
Prospective investors considering Avalanche should be mindful of the inherent volatility in its price. It is advisable to allocate only a small portion of one’s overall portfolio to cryptocurrencies due to their risk profile. Additionally, committing to holding investments in Avalanche for a period of five years or longer can provide the necessary time for potential growth.
How to buy Avalanche?
Avalanche is conveniently available for purchase on several prominent U.S. and international cryptocurrency exchanges. If you already have an account with any of these exchanges or are open to creating one, acquiring Avalanche is a straightforward process. Here are some notable platforms where you can buy Avalanche:
- Coinbase Global
- Crypto.com
- Binance.US
- Binance (for investors residing outside the United States)
Remarkably, Avalanche has rapidly established itself as one of the leading blockchain networks. The platform’s ongoing success is contingent upon its ability to consistently attract new projects, and if this trend persists, it is likely to further enhance its standing in the industry.
Conclusion
Above is a detailed article about Avalanche Blockchain. Currently, Avalanche is still quite new to exploit its potential, but we have the right to hope for strong development of the ecosystem in the future. Hopefully, the information that Coinminutes has provided above will help you better understand the Avalanche ecosystem, helping you have more options in your investment decisions.
