Ben Strack

Ava Labs hired Justin Kim and Roi Hirata to lead its businesses in South Korea and Japan, respectively, in new roles created as part of the Avalanche blockchain developer’s push into the Asia Pacific region.&nbsp;



Kim was previously an investment banker at Korea Development Bank for more than 13 years.&nbsp;



“As Korea is home to multinational conglomerates, leading gaming companies and highly crypto-native demographics, we have so many opportunities on the horizon,” Kim said in a statement.&nbsp;



Hirata previously founded two startups and was working in an advocate role with Chainlink Labs in the Japan and Singapore regions until January.



He joins as Japan’s number of on-chain transactions doubled year over year from July 2021 to June 2022 relative to the previous year, according to Chainalysis.



Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs for blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, was named vice chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Technology Advisory Committee.



The new committee is tasked with taking on issues at the intersection of technology, law, policy and finance. Redbord will give opening remarks in the decentralized finance section of the committee’s inaugural meeting on March 22.



<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ari-redbord/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Redbord</a> was assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia at the Department of Justice from 2008 to 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile. He went on to become senior advisor to the under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the US Department of the Treasury.&nbsp;



“Contributing to conversations that serve to develop crypto-related regulatory standards and encourage a more open financial system while thwarting bad actors and illicit activity is our primary focus,” he said in a statement.



The announcement came as TRM Labs added <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbrummerlaw/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chris Brummer</a> as a senior adviser.&nbsp;



Brummer, a Georgetown law professor with a focus on how policy makers and industry can build regulatory frameworks for DeFi and blockchain-based technologies, is set to help the company find ways to make finance more inclusive.



TRM Labs’ new senior adviser is an advisory council member for blockchain, crypto and digital currencies at PayPal. He is also a senior adviser at crypto-focused investment firm Paradigm, as well as a board member of K2 Integrity and Fannie Mae.



<h2>Execs formerly at Crypto.com, Coinbase move to exchange</h2>



Crypto platform Okcoin has appointed new leaders as part of global expansion efforts.&nbsp;



The company hired <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/erald-ghoos-55024a9/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Erald Ghoos</a> as general manager of Okcoin Europe and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drenold/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">David Renold</a> as CEO of OKG Payments, the company’s Ireland-based affiliate.



Ghoos previously was chief operating officer and chief compliance officer at Crypto.com — a dual-role he was in from 2017 to 2020. He started his career at AXA Bank Europe as an engineer and then program manager.



Renold formerly held leadership roles at Coinbase, including operations lead of e-money up until last month. The executive also spent about 20 years at UBS, ending his tenure there in 2018 as head of international payments and cash management.



Blockchain firm Enjinstarter hired <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vasseh/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vasseh Ahmed</a> as a managing director for the Middle East and North Africa region.&nbsp;



Founded in 2021, the Singapore-based company has launched more than 50 Web3 projects. It now seeks to add more, with a focus on complementing the UAE’s focus on impact and sustainability initiatives, the company said.



Up until January, Ahmed worked as head of digitization strategy at Dubai-based digital bank Zand.



<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tsivarev/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Anthony Tsivarev</a> joined the TON Foundation as director of developer relations.&nbsp;



He joins the foundation from <a href="http://fslabs.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">First Stage Labs</a>, a venture builder for TON-based projects. Tsivarev is set to lead the development of the TON ecosystem across DeFi, dApps and social applications.



Blockchain analytics firm Crystal appointed Jordan Alexander as its new associate director of product.



The Amsterdam-based company builds products that look to streamline crypto compliance operations and aid investigations into financial crime. Alexander’s hire signals the firm’s effort to enter the US market, according to the company.



Alexander was previously a product lead at cybersecurity software company Avast, where he designed solutions to identify and combat security threats.



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Crypto Hiring: Avalanche Developer Adds Execs Amid Asia-Pacific Push

A developing and deepening partnership between Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Ava Labs is set to assist developers trying to “redefine the internet,” according to AWS’ global head of Web3. 



Jeff Hasselman, who has led AWS’ Web3’s efforts since 2017, said during a Wednesday webinar that he has had conversations over the past two years with some of the world’s largest banks and entertainment companies looking to develop their own Web3 initiatives.



Some need “101 level” education, he said, while others are further along in their digital assets journey. Either way, according to the executive, everyone is looking for the most straightforward path in doing so. 



“We’re starting to see a shift; we’re at an inflection point right now where more and more people are coming in,” Hasselman said. “How do you grab them? And how do you simplify it?”



The webinar comes a few weeks after Ava Labs <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ava-labs-partnership-with-amazon-cloud-triggers-avax-rally">struck its initial partnership with AWS</a>. That, at the time, was said to be intended as an effort to accelerate blockchain adoption for enterprises, governments and institutions.



Ava Labs created the Avalanche blockchain. AWS offers an infrastructure platform in the cloud that powers hundreds of thousands of businesses in 190 countries.



The joint arrangement differs from the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/amazon-nft-marketplace-web3">brewing NFT push undertaken by Amazon</a> proper, Blockworks previously reported. That effort, sources then said, is not led by AWS. 



While supply-chain companies are seeking to use blockchain tech for better track-and-trace processes, AWS and Ava Labs executives said during the webinar, potential future government use cases of blockchain include digital identity and on-chain documentation.&nbsp;



<h2>Ava Labs shifting focus</h2>



Nick Mussallem, head of product at Ava Labs, said the company’s focus has shifted from a single blockchain on which to launch apps, to having technology to allow for a variety of customized blockchains, which it calls subnets.&nbsp;



“All of the orchestration that needs to go underneath the subnet architecture, and all the supporting services that make them work, require a very strong, flexible partner who has high availability, elastic scaling and high throughput systems,” Mussallem said on Wednesday’s webinar. “By deepening our integrations and a lot of the automation on top of AWS, we’re really abstracting a lot of the complexities associated with getting your application to market.”&nbsp;



AWS supports Avalanche’s infrastructure and decentralized application (dapp) ecosystem — including one-click node deployment — through <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AWS Marketplace</a>, according to a <a href="https://medium.com/avalancheavax/ava-labs-and-aws-bring-scalable-blockchain-solutions-to-enterprises-and-governments-295040a34263" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">January blog post</a>.



Avalanche node operators can run in AWS GovCloud for compliance use cases — deemed a prerequisite for certain enterprises and governments. The partnership also includes Ava Labs joining <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/activate/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AWS Activate</a>, which extends the benefit of AWS credits to builders in the Avalanche ecosystem.



The ultimate goal is allowing individuals and institutions to launch custom subnets “with just a few clicks,” executives said.



Ava Labs President John Wu said a company considering deploying a subnet on Avalanche had many questions — including how to select validators, as well as which wallet to use. &nbsp;



“Between Ava Labs and AWS, we’re going to create this dashboard that allows people to do one click of a subnet and they can choose all their choices based on guidance from previous projects or companies and instantly come up with the answers for them,” Wu said.



An Ava Labs spokesperson declined to comment on potential other future offerings.&nbsp;



This isn’t the first time AWS has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/15/amazon-is-moving-into-blockchain-with-a-new-partnership.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">partnered</a> with a blockchain startup, considering the Amazon division teamed up with Consensys-incubated startup Kaleido in 2018 to offer simplified blockchain platforms.



Amazon Managed Blockchain, the tech giant’s blockchain-focused cloud service, already supports Ethereum and enterprise solution Hyperledger Fabric.



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After AWS Deal With Ava Labs, Web3 at ‘Inflection Point’

Shalini Nagarajan

David Canellis

Avalanche (<a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com/assets/avax" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AVAX</a>), the native token powering the Layer-1 blockchain of the same name, has been given a boost by way of Amazon.



Thanks to a fresh partnership between Amazon and Avalanche development studio Ava Labs, Amazon Web Services (AWS) will now support the network, per Wednesday <a href="https://medium.com/avalancheavax/ava-labs-and-aws-bring-scalable-blockchain-solutions-to-enterprises-and-governments-295040a34263" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog</a> <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/startups/building-application-specific-blockchains-with-aws-on-avalanche/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">posts</a>. 



The move — geared towards enterprises and institutions eager to work with blockchains — allows developers to launch Avalanche nodes directly within AWS in support of their dapps.



To that end, Ava Labs is now part of AWS’ member network and AWS Activate, exposing the Avalanche platform to more than 100,000 partners in 150 countries.



“It has been a huge boon for both individual and enterprise developers to be able to spin up nodes and test networks on the fly with AWS in whatever legal jurisdiction makes the most sense for them,” Emin Gün Sirer, CEO at Ava Labs, said in a statement.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">It’s official! <a href="https://twitter.com/amazon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Amazon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChoseAvalanche?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ChoseAvalanche</a> to bring scalable blockchain solutions to enterprises and governments 🔺<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AWS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AWS</a> fully supports Avalanche’s infrastructure and dApp ecosystem, including one-click node deployment, offering the best tooling for these high compliance use cases. <a href="https://t.co/syInSrU9XD">pic.twitter.com/syInSrU9XD</a>&mdash; Avalanche 🔺 (@avalancheavax) <a href="https://twitter.com/avalancheavax/status/1613235554711400448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Avalanche is considered an upstart competitor to Ethereum. It similarly <a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com/research/avalanche-subnets" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">supports</a> smart contracts and dapps underpinned by its own take on proof-of-stake-style consensus.&nbsp;



Ava Labs hopes to eventually allow AWS customers to deploy their own Avalanche “subnets” within Amazon’s platform — custom sovereign blockchains operating outside of Avalanche&#8217;s mainnet intended to power individual dapps.



Native token <a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com/assets/avax" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AVAX</a> rose up to 28% after the partnership was announced, according to data from Blockworks Research, although it&#8217;s still down more than 80% over the past year.



Ava Labs&#8217; reputation took a hit last year following a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/law-firm-drops-kyle-roche-following-ava-labs-expose-fallout" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pay-for-play scandal</a> involving crypto-focused lawyer Kyle Roche, who&#8217;d allegedly struck a deal to distract regulators from Avalanche by directing class-action lawsuits at rival crypto startups. 



Ava Labs&#8217; Gün Sirer <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ava-labs-ceo-rejects-report-alleging-conspiracy-with-law-firm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">denied</a> the allegations while Roche was eventually ousted from his law firm over the matter.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-flourish wp-block-embed-flourish"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" title="Interactive or visual content" src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/12421635/embed#?secret=Ra3XBR9AWb" data-secret="Ra3XBR9AWb" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="575" width="700"></iframe>
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">AVAX has more-or-less tracked solana over the past year while underperforming against ether</figcaption></figure>



The Amazon partnership could help shake off those concerns, but this isn’t the first time Amazon has partnered with a blockchain startup to further the technology’s adoption. 



In 2018, AWS <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/15/amazon-is-moving-into-blockchain-with-a-new-partnership.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">teamed up</a> with Consensys-incubated startup Kaleido to offer simplified blockchain platforms. That partnership was also geared towards companies eager to adopt the technology without handling nodes directly.



Amazon Managed Blockchain, the tech giant’s blockchain-focused cloud service, already supports Ethereum and enterprise solution Hyperledger Fabric.



It’s not just Amazon pushing to support blockchain development. Last November, Google said its new analogous service, Blockchain Node Engine, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/google-signals-major-crypto-push-with-ethereum-solana-support" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">would soon incorporate</a> Solana alongside Ethereum, having already launched a validator node on the network (Solana and Avalanche are considered direct rivals).



And in December, Alibaba said it was preparing to launch its own <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252528386/Alibaba-Cloud-to-debut-blockchain-service" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blockchain node service</a>.



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Ava Labs Partnership With Amazon Cloud Triggers AVAX Rally

<div id="highlights-block_635264d6b4b15" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Kyle Roche is now associated with a new law practice based in New York</li>
 <li>Roche will represent KeyFi CEO Jason Stone in an ongoing lawsuit against Celsius</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Kyle Roche, the embattled crypto lawyer at the center of a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ava-labs-ceo-rejects-report-alleging-conspiracy-with-law-firm/">high-profile exposé</a> outing him for a secret pact with Ava Labs, was recently dropped by the law firm he co-founded.



Now, he’s single-handedly started a new firm — and working with an old client.



&#8220;I’ve established a new solo practice called Kyle Roche P.A.,&#8221; he told Blockworks in an email on Friday.



The lawyer is a legal representative for Jason Stone, CEO of staking software and strategies firm KeyFi, in an <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/celsius-accused-of-market-manipulation-by-ex-employee/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ongoing lawsuit</a> against bankrupt crypto lender Celsius for alleged market manipulation.&nbsp;



At the time <a href="https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=RvF30Mz2IZW63s1mjjau2Q==" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">KeyFi’s complaint</a> was filed, Roche was still a partner at law firm Roche Freedman.&nbsp;



A <a href="https://cases.stretto.com/public/x191/11749/PLEADINGS/1174910202280000000069.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">notice of change of firm</a> filed Thursday shows updated contact information for Roche, who is now piloting his own professional association in New York.



“Please take notice that Jason Stone and KeyFi, Inc., hereby notify the court and all parties of record that Kyle W. Roche, who is admitted to practice in this court, is now associated with Kyle Roche P.A,” the attorney said in the filing.



<h3>Roche Freedman rebrands in wake of Ava Labs scandal</h3>



Confirmation of Roche’s new gig comes right after he was ousted <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/law-firm-drops-kyle-roche-following-ava-labs-expose-fallout/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">from his old practice</a>, where he no longer holds equity.



“We are focused on continuing to provide our clients with top quality representation and are proud of the firm’s accomplishments to date. We wish Kyle the best in his future endeavors,” a spokesperson for the firm told Blockworks.



That outfit, formerly called Roche Freedman, has now rebranded to Freedman Normand Friedland.



Roche’s role there came under severe strain following allegations he was involved in a secret pact with Ava Labs, the developer of the Avalanche blockchain.&nbsp;



Roche, working as a lawyer for Roche Freedman, allegedly agreed to pursue class-action lawsuits against Ava Labs’ competitors in order to gain sensitive information and divert scrutiny away from the crypto company.



In secretly recorded videos, Roche <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/kyle-roche-moves-to-withdraw-from-multiple-lawsuits/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">described</a> himself as Ava Labs’ in-house crypto expert and claimed his skills were directly attributable to his pursuit of lawsuits against “half the companies in this space.”



Both Roche and Ava Labs have denied the allegations, claiming they are “categorically false.” Even so, Roche subsequently <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/kyle-roche-moves-to-withdraw-from-multiple-lawsuits/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">withdrew as an attorney</a> from multiple lawsuits and Roche Freedman was booted from a class action against stablecoin issuer Tether.



It isn’t clear yet whether Roche is representing other companies, apart from KeyFi, as legal counsel. The attorney didn’t return Blockworks’ request for comment by press time.



This report was updated on Oct. 21 at 9:41 am ET to include Kyle Roche&#8217;s comment.



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Ousted Crypto Lawyer Opens New Firm After Ava Labs Scandal

<div id="highlights-block_63511e5515c77" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Kyle Roche withdrew from several class action cases in September, but lawyers called for his entire firm to be removed</li>
 <li>A US judge formally ousted Roche Freedman as counsel from a lawsuit against Tether last week</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Embattled lawyer Kyle Roche is facing the consequences of secret video recordings in which he said crypto developer Ava Labs paid him to harm competitors via class-action lawsuits.



“Kyle Roche is no longer with the firm. The firm will be renamed Freedman Normand Friedland LLP,” a spokesperson told Blockworks.



“We are focused on continuing to provide our clients with top quality representation and are proud of the firm’s accomplishments to date.  We wish Kyle the best in his future endeavors,” the spokesperson added.



On <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylewroche/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/KyleWRoche" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter</a>, Roche is still listed as a partner at Roche Freedman. He didn’t return Blockworks’ request for comment by press time.



<a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/crypto-law-firm-co-founder-out-after-secret-recordings-leak" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bloomberg Law</a> first reported the development on Wednesday.



Roche had <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/kyle-roche-moves-to-withdraw-from-multiple-lawsuits/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">moved to withdraw</a> as an attorney from multiple class action cases last month. But legal representatives for the targets also sought <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/roche-freedmans-legal-targets-cry-foul-after-video-leak/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">removal of the entire law firm</a> in response to the leaked videos.



The alleged agreement required Roche to sue “half the companies in this space” with the objective of obtaining sensitive internal information, while simultaneously deflecting scrutiny away from Ava Labs, the blockchain studio behind Ethereum and Solana competitor Avalanche.



Roche was to do so in exchange for AVAX tokens and equity. Both Ava Labs’ CEO Emin Gün Sirer and Roche have denied the allegations.



On Oct. 13, a US judge ousted Roche Freedman from representing investors in a <a href="https://www.fnf.law/tether-bitfinex-must-face-crypto-market-manipulation-claims" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">class action</a> accusing Tether of market manipulation. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/crypto-law-firm-roche-freedman-parts-ways-with-founder-after-video-leak-2022-10-19/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reuters</a> noted that the domain name “<a href="http://freedmannormand.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">freedmannormand.com</a>” was registered on the same day as the judge’s order.



Tether said it was pleased with the “well-reasoned decision” to expel the law firm as counsel.



“Roche Freedman’s repeated attempts to trivialize and separate itself from Kyle Roche’s despicable statements describing unethical conduct were not the least bit persuasive,” the company said in a <a href="https://tether.to/en/tether-supports-court-decision-for-removal-of-roche-freedman-llp/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>.



<h3>Kyle Roche not the only lawyer to receive Ava Labs&#8217; tokens</h3>



Roche Freedman has initiated more than a dozen class action lawsuits against major crypto players. Roche was entitled to <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/03092021cyrulnik.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">19% of the law firm’s equity</a> as of Dec. 2019.&nbsp;



Elliott Greenfield, a legal representative for Tether, previously claimed that others at the law firm were involved with Ava Labs and they may still hold substantial amounts of AVAX tokens.



A memorandum of understanding, revealed as part of a dispute between Roche Freedman and former equity partner Jason Cyrulnik, however shows Roche was the sole attorney responsible for business with Ava Labs.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image-1-1024x498.png" alt="" class="wp-image-34905" width="768" height="374" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image-1-1024x498.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image-1-1024x498.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image-1-1024x498.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image-1-1024x498.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image-1-1024x498.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image-1-1024x498.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image-1-1024x498.png?w=80 80w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image-1-1024x498.png?w=50 50w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/image-1-1024x498.png?w=1402 1402w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /><figcaption>AVAX distributions to Roche Freedman lawyers.</figcaption></figure></div>


Still, the document puts the share of an undisclosed amount of AVAX tokens distributed to other lawyers including founding partner Devin &#8220;Velvel&#8221; Freedman and Cyrulnik, who received 32% and 25% of the haul respectively. 



Roche received 28% with the remaining 15% distributed evenly to three other lawyers at the firm, according to the filing.



This report was updated on Oct. 21 at 12:17 am ET to include Freedman Normand Friedland&#8217;s comment.



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<hr class="wp-block-separator">

Law Firm Drops Kyle Roche Following Ava Labs Exposé Fallout

<div id="highlights-block_6310763393b52" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Kyle Roche filed to withdraw as an attorney in cases against Bitfinex, Tether</li>
 <li>Both Kyle and Ava Labs’ CEO have denied allegations they took part in a secret pact</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Kyle Roche, the lawyer recently outed for allegedly <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ava-labs-ceo-rejects-report-alleging-conspiracy-with-law-firm/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">engaging in a secret pact</a> to harm players in the crypto industry, is dropping out of multiple class action lawsuits he set up.



Roche has moved to withdraw as one of the attorneys for proposed cases brought against multiple companies including Bitfinex, Tether, DigFinex and Global Trade Solutions, a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.524076/gov.uscourts.nysd.524076.229.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">court document</a> filed in the Southern District of New York on Wednesday showed. The suits claim that the crypto companies were involved in manipulating the digital asset market.&nbsp;



His motion was filed under a rule that states an attorney for a party may be relieved or displaced solely by order of the court.&nbsp;



He has not filed to withdraw in other cases brought against Solana, Dfinity, Celsius, Binance.US and Block.one. But the document stated he is no longer involved in the law firm’s class action practice.



The withdrawal move follows allegations by new website <a href="https://cryptoleaks.info/case-no-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CryptoLeaks</a> that Kyle and Ava Labs, the core developer of the Avalanche blockchain, secretly struck a deal in September 2019. Under the deal, Kyle was directed to sue Ava Labs’ competitors, distract regulators and pursue CEO Emin Gün Sirer’s personal vendettas against individuals, the site’s authors claimed.



CryptoLeaks published a series of 25 videos, totaling about 12 minutes of footage, that showed Roche describing himself as Ava Labs’ in-house crypto expert and admitting to ensuring the Securities and Exchange Commission remains occupied with other targets to chase.



Roche said his crypto expertise was directly attributable to his pursuit of lawsuits against “half the companies in this space.”



Blockworks confirmed with digital media forensics expert <a href="https://cse.buffalo.edu/~siweilyu/lyu_research.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Siwei Lyu</a> that the videos were real and there were no traces of alteration.



<h3>Roche’s Ava Labs relationship</h3>



Following publication of the leaked videos, Sirer <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/no-secret-pact-to-sue-avax-rivals-lawyer-lied-to-impress-ceo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sought to distance his company</a> from Roche. In a statement, he said Roche’s claims in the videos were made up and designed to impress a potential business partner, and that Roche was “a lawyer at a firm we retained in the early days of our company…one of more than a dozen law firms we employ for matters relating to tax, corporate, regulatory, and human resources.”


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screenshot-2022-09-01-at-09.29.46.png" alt="" class="wp-image-29806" width="300" height="346" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screenshot-2022-09-01-at-09.29.46.png?w=722 722w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screenshot-2022-09-01-at-09.29.46.png?w=261 261w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screenshot-2022-09-01-at-09.29.46.png?w=224 224w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screenshot-2022-09-01-at-09.29.46.png?w=227 227w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screenshot-2022-09-01-at-09.29.46.png?w=191 191w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screenshot-2022-09-01-at-09.29.46.png?w=70 70w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Screenshot-2022-09-01-at-09.29.46.png?w=43 43w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption>Kyle Roche</figcaption></figure></div>


The close relationship between Roche and Ava Labs executives is clearly ongoing and personal, however. In one video, Roche stated that his equity stake in Ava Labs amounted to &#8220;a third&#8221; of that of Kevin Sekniqi, Ava Labs&#8217; COO, and that he was temporarily living with Sekniqi in Miami at the time of the video recording.



“Gün and Kevin I trust like brothers,” Roche said.



Roche published a <a href="https://medium.com/@kyleroche/my-response-b691563c255b" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a> in which he identified the meeting shown in the video as being with Christen Ager-Hanssen, a Norwegian venture capitalist, who intended “to deceive and entrap” him due to a business relationship with Dfinity founder Dominic Williams.



Ager-Hanssen — who confirmed on Twitter he was the hidden individual in the videos — denied that he worked for Williams, whom <a href="https://twitter.com/agerhanssen/status/1564947944406671364" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">he said he has never met</a>, and called on CryptoLeaks to release the full footage with Roche.



He can be heard in most of the videos, speaking with a pronounced Norwegian accent to Roche&#8217;s left. He identified Mauricio Andres Villavicencio de Aguilar, a business consultant, as the third voice, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rosemariemiller/2022/08/31/crypto-lawyer-roche-beset-on-2-fronts-after-leaked-videos/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forbes reported</a>, implying that Villavicencio de Aguilar was responsible for the recording.



Ager-Hanssen published what appears to be an email from Ava Labs’ former director of business development for enterprise and institutional, Sam Wang, dated Dec. 28, 2021, in which Roche is described as “spearheading [Ava Labs’] litigation financing initiatives.”



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Avalabs definitely involved in Kyle Roche/ Avalabs litigation initiative. See attached email from Sam Wang, Director of Business Development for Avalabs. <a href="https://t.co/cx3ecGNGYK">pic.twitter.com/cx3ecGNGYK</a>&mdash; Christen Ager-Hanssen (@agerhanssen) <a href="https://twitter.com/agerhanssen/status/1564369323061194753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Sam Wang, Kyle Roche and Roche Freedman didn’t return Blockworks’ request for comment by press time.



After publication, Roche moved to pull out of additional cases against Nexo, BAM Trading Services (the registered name for Binance.US), Solana and Dfinity.



This story was updated on Sept. 1 at 8:37 am ET and Sept. 2 at 3:30 am ET. 



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Kyle Roche Moves To Withdraw From Multiple Lawsuits

<div id="highlights-block_630dee84a7a1a" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>A controversial report ruffled feathers by claiming lawyer Kyle Roche and Ava Labs formed a secret pact to damage rivals</li>
 <li>“All videos passed our analysis as real videos,” a digital media forensics expert told Blockworks</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer is hitting back at claims of engaging in a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ava-labs-ceo-rejects-report-alleging-conspiracy-with-law-firm/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">secret pact</a> to harm AVAX competitors with lawyer Kyle Roche.



Website CryptoLeaks <a href="https://cryptoleaks.info/case-no-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> a series of videos last week in which Roche revealed he was granted 1% of the supply of avalanche (AVAX) tokens and similar size in equity in exchange for filing lawsuits against crypto companies.



CryptoLeaks claimed that Ava and law firm Roche Freedman wanted to use the American legal system “gangster style” to chase rival crypto firms, which would subsequently turn regulatory attention onto them.



Reacting in a <a href="https://el33th4x0r.medium.com/my-statement-about-the-crypto-leaks-lies-ef2005da752" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog post</a> on Monday, Sirer suggested Roche’s statements in the videos were untruthful and designed to dazzle a potential client.&nbsp;



“These claims evidently came about when Roche, a lawyer at a firm we retained in the early days of our company, tried to impress a potential business partner by making false claims about the nature of his work for Ava Labs,” Sirer wrote.



CoinGecko lists AVAX’s total supply at 409,165,637, which means 1% would equate to nearly 4.1 million AVAX ($83.6 million). Ava Labs’ valuation is unknown at this time.



Apart from Roche’s statements, allegations made by CryptoLeaks are “categorically false,” he added. AVAX fell 26% after publication of the &#8216;secret pact&#8217; report. The token is down 81% so far this year at $20.23, the <a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com/assets/avax" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks Research</a> portal shows.&nbsp;



“Neither I, nor anyone else at Ava Labs ever directed Roche in his selection of cases. We do not receive materials or information from him, and we do not entrust our legal affairs to him,” Sirer wrote, adding that Roche has represented Ava Labs only in a defensive capacity in ordinary disputes.



The alleged pact didn’t specify that Roche would bring lawsuits against other parties on behalf of Ava Labs itself.



<h3>Legitimate videos in AVAX &#8216;secret pact&#8217; report</h3>



Roche Freedman has sued a string of crypto companies including <a href="https://www.rochefreedman.com/roche-freedman-llp-and-schneider-wallace-cottrell-konecky-bring-class-action-lawsuit-against-solana-labs-inc-the-solana-foundation-anatoly-yakovenko-multicoin-capital-management-llc-kyle-samani/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Solana</a>, <a href="https://www.rochefreedman.com/roche-freedman-llp-and-dontzin-nagy-fleissig-llp-bring-class-action-lawsuit-against-binance-u-s-for-engaging-in-unlawful-sales-of-ust-to-investors/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Binance</a>, <a href="https://www.rochefreedman.com/roche-cyrulnik-freedman-and-selendy-gay-file-11-class-actions-against-worlds-largest-crypto-asset-exchanges-and-digital-token-issuers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bibox</a>, BitMEX and KuCoin over allegations of offering crypto assets which were unregistered securities.&nbsp;



The firm also represented Ira Kleiman in his lawsuit against Craig Wright, having recently secured a $100 million judgement for Kleiman.



Earlier this year, Roche Freedman was on the other side of the table after former partner Paul Fattaruso sued the firm for denying compensation and equity interest. 



Fattaruso <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/lawyer-sues-roche-freedman-for-share-of-250-million-crypto-fee" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reportedly</a> claimed Roche Freedman removed him from a partnership and deprived him of a 2% share in a $250 million crypto fee the firm received for legal services provided to an unnamed startup.



Some pundits have questioned the integrity of CryptoLeaks’ allegations and questioned whether it&#8217;s funded by an Avalanche competitor, <a href="https://twitter.com/Blockanalia/status/1564070643162877954" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">alluding</a> to its two previous reports which leaned towards <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/business/dealbook/icp-cryptocurrency-crash.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Internet Computer</a> (ICP).



Dfinity — the company behind Internet Computer blockchain — was slapped with a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/roche-freedman-llp-brings-class-action-lawsuit-against-dfinity-usa-research-llc-for-engaging-in-insider-trading-and-other-securities-violations-resulting-in-billions-of-dollars-in-unlawful-sales-to-retail-investors-301353005.html">class</a><a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/roche-freedman-llp-brings-class-action-lawsuit-against-dfinity-usa-research-llc-for-engaging-in-insider-trading-and-other-securities-violations-resulting-in-billions-of-dollars-in-unlawful-sales-to-retail-investors-301353005.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8211;</a><a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/roche-freedman-llp-brings-class-action-lawsuit-against-dfinity-usa-research-llc-for-engaging-in-insider-trading-and-other-securities-violations-resulting-in-billions-of-dollars-in-unlawful-sales-to-retail-investors-301353005.html">action lawsuit</a> by Roche last year.&nbsp;



In his own <a href="https://medium.com/@kyleroche/my-response-b691563c255b" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">response</a> on Monday, Kyle Roche claimed the CryptoLeaks article contained “numerous unsourced false statements and illegally obtained, highly edited video clips.”&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Things that discredit CryptoLeaks: &#8211; fanfiction-style dramatic writing, worse than tabloids &#8211; clearly bad faith &amp; biased reporting &#8211; paying to promote their own tweets &#8211; their previous defending ICP articles Things that look bad for Ava Labs: &#8211; the video lol&mdash; Cobie (@cobie) <a href="https://twitter.com/cobie/status/1564233630985162753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div><figcaption>The claims have captured the attention of popular crypto investor Cobie.</figcaption></figure>



Roche identified an unknown speaker in the videos as Christen Ager-Hanssen, whom Roche said works for ICP’s creator Dominic Williams.



Separately, digital media forensics expert Siwei Lyu confirmed that the videos included in the report were legitimate and didn’t show traces of deepfake synthesis.&nbsp;



The evidence was corroborated by hand positions and the presence of objects such as glasses. “All videos passed our analysis as real videos,” Lyu told Blockworks.



Kyle Roche and ICP creator Dominic Williams didn’t return Blockworks’ request for comment by press time.&nbsp;



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No Secret Pact to Sue AVAX Rivals, Lawyer Lied to Impress: CEO

<div id="highlights-block_630c924230fd1" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The pact reportedly directed Kyle Roche to sue crypto companies “gangster style” and distract regulators</li>
 <li>Roche has sued crypto companies including Solana and Binance</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Ava Labs’ CEO Emin Gün Sirer has denied allegations that the company paid off a law firm to harm competitors via class-action lawsuits and to distract regulators.



CryptoLeaks claimed in a <a href="https://cryptoleaks.info/case-no-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> on Friday that Ava, the core developer of the Avalanche blockchain, struck a secret pact in September 2019 with lawyer Kyle Roche.&nbsp;



Under the alleged deal, Ava granted a 1% of the supply of AVAX tokens and a similar amount of equity to Roche in exchange for bringing lawsuits against parties in crypto.&nbsp;



The outlet also posted a series of surreptitiously recorded videos — without attribution — that shows Kyle discussing his close relationship with Ava Labs’ CEO and COO, whom he said he trusted like brothers.



“We did a deal where I agreed to provide legal services in exchange for a certain percentage of the token supply,” Kyle said, adding that he was the first person to receive Ava Labs’ equity after VC firm Andreesen Horowitz.



CryptoLeaks alleged that the pact was meant to use the American legal system “gangster style” to harm Ava Labs’ or Avalanche’s competitors, steer regulatory attention away from the company’s commercial nature by suing other crypto actors and secretly pursue Emin Gün Sirer’s personal vendettas against individuals.



“I think litigation is an underused tool by everyone,” Roche said in the video.



During the <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/resources/law_related_education_network/how_courts_work/discovery/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">discovery process in litigation</a>, attorneys are able to compel the production of documents and information. The simple fact of a lawsuit itself may cause negative publicity about the defendant.



In the videos, Kyle also describes himself as Ava Labs’ in-house crypto expert.



“I’m one of the top 10 people in the world. I’ve seen the insides of every single crypto company.”



Roche&#8217;s <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylewroche/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LinkedIn profile</a>, however, shows no links to Ava or Avalanche.&nbsp;



He also claims Ava Labs hasn’t been sued, as he’s ensured the SEC has “other magnets to go after.”



<h3>Roche responds</h3>



Roche <a href="https://medium.com/@kyleroche/my-response-b691563c255b" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">posted a statement</a> on Monday to address the allegations stemming from what he termed, &#8220;illegally obtained, highly edited video clips that are not presented with accurate context.&#8221;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">&#8220;Ava Labs has had no input, control, or insight into any of our firm’s plaintiff-side class action cases,&#8221; he said.</blockquote>



Sirer <a href="https://twitter.com/el33th4xor/status/1564006450531377156" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reacted</a> to the allegations early Monday, calling the information in the report “conspiracy theory nonsense.”



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">How could anyone believe something so ridiculous as the conspiracy theory nonsense on Cryptoleaks? We would never engage in the unlawful, unethical and just plain wrong behavior claimed in these self-serving videos and inflammatory article. Our tech &amp; team speak for themselves.&mdash; Emin Gün Sirer🔺 (@el33th4xor) <a href="https://twitter.com/el33th4xor/status/1564006450531377156?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Ava Labs was founded in 2018 and counts 27 investors including Galaxy Digital, Balaji Srinivasan and Polychain, <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/search/principal.investors/field/organizations/num_investors/ava-labs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Crunchbase data</a> shows. The firm’s Avalanche blockchain <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/avalanche-closes-230m-token-sale-backed-by-three-arrows-capital-polychain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">closed a $230 million token sale</a> led by embattled crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital in September last year.



<h3>Ava Labs CEO publicly cheers lawsuit filed by Roche Freedman</h3>



In October, Roche Freedman <a href="https://twitter.com/KyleWRoche/status/1181192941773230082" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">filed a class-action lawsuit</a> against Tether and Bitfinex for allegedly manipulating the cryptocurrency market “to create the largest bubble in history.”&nbsp;



Ava Labs CEO cheered the move on Twitter, praising the law firm behind the case as “absolutely top notch.”&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">The law firm behind this lawsuit is absolutely top notch. They just recently won the largest default judgment in US legal history, for $5B, against you-know-who. They are crypto-savvy like no other firm, and have a track record of explaining difficult concepts in the court room.&mdash; Emin Gün Sirer🔺 (@el33th4xor) <a href="https://twitter.com/el33th4xor/status/1181208353487360000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2019</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



In July, Roche Freedman <a href="https://www.rochefreedman.com/roche-freedman-llp-and-schneider-wallace-cottrell-konecky-bring-class-action-lawsuit-against-solana-labs-inc-the-solana-foundation-anatoly-yakovenko-multicoin-capital-management-llc-kyle-samani/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sued Solana</a> for the alleged sale and promotion of unregistered securities. Before that, the firm <a href="https://www.rochefreedman.com/roche-freedman-llp-and-dontzin-nagy-fleissig-llp-bring-class-action-lawsuit-against-binance-u-s-for-engaging-in-unlawful-sales-of-ust-to-investors/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sued Binance</a> over claims the exchange illegally sold UST to investors and caused hefty losses for them. CryptoLeaks alleges the firm has currently filed 25 class actions so far.



<h3>Mixed reactions to CryptoLeaks’ claims</h3>



Not everyone in the crypto community appeared to trust the CryptoLeaks report, with some claiming the information does not prove anyone has been wronged.&nbsp;



Andrew Thurman, a content lead at blockchain analytics firm Nansen, claimed that the outlet is funded by Internet Computer. Notably, Roche Freedman last year <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/roche-freedman-llp-brings-class-action-lawsuit-against-dfinity-usa-research-llc-for-engaging-in-insider-trading-and-other-securities-violations-resulting-in-billions-of-dollars-in-unlawful-sales-to-retail-investors-301353005.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">filed a class action lawsuit</a> against Dfinity — the company behind Internet Computer.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Don&#39;t know how much of the ava labs stuff is real, but cryptoleaks pretty nakedly looks to be funded by ICP&mdash; Andrew T (@Blockanalia) <a href="https://twitter.com/Blockanalia/status/1564070643162877954?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Roche identified one of the off-camera respondants in the video as <a href="https://twitter.com/agerhanssen" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Christen Ager-Hanssen</a> an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, whom Roche said intended &#8220;to deceive and entrap me.&#8221;



&#8220;These videos were recorded without my consent during private meetings with [Hanssen], whom I now know works for Dominic Williams, the creator of ICP Token, and the defendant in a high-profile securities fraud litigation my firm brought against him,&#8221; Roche said in the statement.



Others including crypto VC Mike Dudas <a href="https://twitter.com/mdudas/status/1563998691945496576" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a> on Twitter the allegations need to be addressed by Ava Labs’ core team.



Ava Labs and Roche Freedman didn’t return Blockworks’ request for comment by press time.



The AVAX token is down 12% over the past 24 hours according to <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/prices/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data compiled by Blockworks</a>.



This story was updated on Aug. 29 at 10:50 am ET to reflect the statement subsequently published by Kyle Roche.



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Ava Labs CEO Rejects Report Alleging Conspiracy with Law Firm

<div id="highlights-block_6271adcc07ecb" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>New vehicle joins firm’s existing single-asset trusts focused on bitcoin, algorand, polkadot, dash, TRON and Zilliqa</li>
 <li>The trust will soon begin staking AVAX to generate additional returns</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Two weeks after launching its first multi-coin trust, Valkyrie Investments has added its first Avalanche-focused investment vehicle.



The Valkyrie Avalanche Trust (VAVAX), which will invest solely in the blockchain’s native token AVAX, is available to accredited investors. It carries a management fee of 2% and imposes a $25,000 minimum investment.



The price of Avalanche (AVAX) was about $61 on Wednesday morning, according to data compiled by Blockworks — down about 11% from a week ago. AVAX’s market capitalization of nearly $16 billion is the 14th highest among crypto coins.&nbsp;



AVAX adoption is growing rapidly due in part to its “blazing fast” transaction speeds, Valkyrie Chief Investment Officer Steven McClurg said in a statement. Avalanche is the fastest smart contracts platform as measured by time-to-finality and has the most validators securing transactions of any proof-of-stake protocol, according to the company.



“By launching this trust, we are able to give qualified investors exposure to a protocol that they have been increasingly asking about as [decentralized finance] projects, [non-fungible token] platforms and many other projects have increasingly begun to build on the Avalanche blockchain,” McClurg said.



The trust will soon begin staking AVAX to generate additional returns.



Based in Nashville, Valkyrie reached $1 billion in assets under management in February. The trust launch is Valkyrie’s second this year as the firm seeks to offer exposure to a wider universe of digital assets. Its six other single-asset trusts focus on bitcoin, algorand, polkadot, dash, TRON and Zilliqa.&nbsp;



“With the launch of the Avalanche Valkyrie Trust, institutions will have another reliable avenue to tap into the innovation happening across the community,” Ava Labs President John Wu said in a statement.



Valkyrie <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/valkyrie-launches-its-first-multi-coin-trust/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">launched its first multi-coin trust</a> last month, which represents the firm’s “highest-conviction plays” in the crypto space. Upon launch, 10% of fund capital was allocated to AVAX.



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Crypto Asset Manager Valkyrie Launches Avalanche Trust for Accredited Investors

<div id="highlights-block_62583d7c49a9d" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The reported raise follows an incentive program aiming to develop application-specific blockchains on Avalanche</li>
 <li>Previous investors in the Avalanche ecosystem include Andreessen Horowitz, Three Arrows Capital and Polychain</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The lead developer of the Avalanche blockchain is reportedly in the midst of a funding round that puts its valuation at $5.25 billion. 



The latest Ava Labs raise, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-14/crypto-startup-ava-labs-is-said-to-raise-at-5-billion-valuation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to Bloomberg News</a>, amounts to $350 million. The news organization cited “people familiar with the discussions.” 



A spokesperson for the company did not immediately return a request for comment.&nbsp;



Founded in 2018, Ava Labs had <a href="https://medium.com/avalancheavax/avalanche-ava-monthly-update-may-2019-7a78657217f4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">raised $6 million</a> in February 2019 from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain.



Avalanche <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/avalanche-closes-230m-token-sale-backed-by-three-arrows-capital-polychain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">closed a $230 million token sale</a> led by Three Arrows Capital and Polychain in September. The company said at the time that it would use the proceeds to accelerate the growth of DeFi, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other new asset classes on its blockchain. 



The Avalanche Foundation also <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/avalanche-foundations-multiverse-incentive-program-to-invest-up-to-290m/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">revealed an incentive program</a> last month that would put up to four million AVAX tokens — currently worth about $312 million — toward a program called Avalanche Multiverse. The initiative aims to grow its “subnet” functionality, which helps develop application-specific blockchains on Avalanche.



Currently, Avalanche’s C-chain, which is its Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible smart contract chain, carries the bulk of its transaction volume. 



Along with other layer-1 protocols like Solana, Cardano and Polkadot, Avalanche has sought to solve for scale, speed and cost issues on the Ethereum blockchain. It touts itself as the fastest smart contracts platform, as measured by time-to-finality, and as having the most validators securing its activity of any proof-of-stake protocol.&nbsp;



Avalanche’s native token, AVAX, had a price of about $78 Thursday morning and a market capitalization of roughly $21 billion, according to data compiled by Blockworks.&nbsp;



Ava Labs President John Wu <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/das-2021-ava-labs-wu-says-economies-will-depend-on-next-gen-layer-1s/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said at Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit</a> last September that the new wave of Ethereum competitors would be the home of economies. He noted at the time that “you don’t have an economy unless transactions are easily done and affordably done.” 



Ethereum is working to merge its mainnet with the Beacon chain proof-of-stake system later this year, in part to increase its energy efficiency. At a market cap of $367 billion and a DeFi total value locked of about $117 billion, it remains considerably larger than all other EVM-compatible smart contract platforms combined.



The report of Ava Labs’ funding round comes as crypto companies have reeled in huge valuations in recent months.&nbsp;



FTX’s company valuation <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-valued-at-32-billion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rose to $32 billion</a> after its funding round in January.  



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/gemini-aims-to-raise-400m-to-bring-valuation-over-7b/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gemini</a> and <a href="https://consensys.net/blog/press-release/consensys-raises-450m-series-d-funding/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ConsenSys</a> completed funding rounds in November and March, respectively, valuing the businesses at roughly $7 billion.



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Ava Labs Reportedly Hits $5.25B Valuation With New Raise

Casey Wagner

<div id="highlights-block_62448fe98ea31" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Avalanche conference brought 3,600 developers, investors and industry leaders to Spain for four days of content</li>
 <li>Institutional players made an appearance, many for the first time at a crypto event</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



This year’s Avalanche Summit, hosted by Ava Labs, the team behind the layer-1 blockchain, brought more than 3,600 developers, investors and crypto-curious to Barcelona.&nbsp;



Passes, which went for around $600 each, granted participants four days of conversation, most of which took place over cocktails and tapas, either inside or outside the conference venue. It was a sold out event, with many ticket-less hopefuls lingering around the entrance trying to catch a glimpse of the action or grab the attention of a speaker. 



Talk of price, either of Avalanche’s native token AVAX, which is down about 26% year-to-date, or any other currency, was practically non-existent.



“I was surprised to see as many enterprise folks there, there were probably half a dozen people from Fortune 500 companies, recognizable big banks and other corporate funds, and this was their first crypto conference,” Snickerdoodle Labs’ CEO and co-founder Jonathan Padilla said, who traveled from California to speak on a panel at the event.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“I talked to the head of Bank of America&#8217;s digital asset and blockchain group…seeing them at this event, their first real crypto event, there&#8217;s a strong sentiment about how people are looking at the space.”&nbsp;</blockquote>



Even with a greater institutional presence, the event bore little resemblance to a typical financial conference, a strategic move from the Ava Labs team. The start time was late (noon), the dress code was casual (presumably it would have been even more relaxed if the weather had been nicer) and the alcohol was flowing. The main expo area, dubbed the “eco dome” had DJs performing almost non-stop.



“I’m working on a project that’s going to be huge,” one attendee said, shouting over electronic dance music at an afterparty event hosted by Trader Joe, an Avalanche decentralized exchange, at a club in downtown Barcelona. “It’s going to be bigger than Morgan Stanley.”&nbsp;



The official conference events, hosted at the Poble Espanyol, an open-air architectural museum and exhibition space sprawling 50,000 square meters, included three stages and more than 250 speakers who covered everything from the future of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to building liquidity pools.



The venue was complete with a zen garden, a private area with massage tables, aerial yoga and green juice reserved for VIPs, speakers and hackers participating in the hackathon on the final conference day.&nbsp;



Devon Ferreira, senior vice president, global head of marketing at Ava Labs, was keen to note that almost half of the panel and keynote discussions included women.



“Still not enough, in our view — a great start, nonetheless,” he added.&nbsp;



Talk of Web3 infrastructure improvement seemed to dominate the conversation.&nbsp;



“In many discussions with node operators, liquid staking providers, application developers…it became clear that reliable, resilient and performant infrastructure is the next frontier for Web3,” said Renjie Butalid, vice president of business development at Metrika, a blockchain intelligence company.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“We’re still early. Network degradations and outages occur and will continue to happen until blockchain networks go through the maturity curve.”</blockquote>



Speakers at the event agreed, adding that many of the Web3 experiences users have today might not exist in the future as infrastructure continues to evolve.&nbsp;



“Fundamentally, one of the mistakes that I see a lot of projects and designers making is projecting Web3 technology on Web2 experiences,” said Calvin Chan, founder and CEO of Legitimate, an ecosystem that links physical products to digital identities, during a panel discussion.



There was a strong sense of community, which can be rare at events with a focus on a single blockchain, like Bitcoin Miami or Eth Denver. Many attendees attributed the jovial mood to a mix between joy of being back in person after two years of mostly virtual events and a growing optimism about the future of crypto and Web3.



“If the strength of a network is measured by the strength of its community, the Summit was a tour de force that suggests we are well-poised to lead the industry in 2022 and beyond, with a vibe that speaks to collaboration and inclusion,” Ferreira said. “[It’s] a welcome change from the tribalism typical of crypto.”&nbsp;



Attendees included Ethereum team lead Péter Szilágyi and well-known Bitcoin advocate, Udi Wertheimer, Ferreira pointed out, both of whom took to <a href="https://twitter.com/peter_szilagyi/status/1507033234152042513?s=21&amp;t=hJYY6tRcfjxuRrlE_bSwVg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter</a> to share positive experiences from the event. Udi added the <a href="https://twitter.com/udiwertheimer/status/1507775183691685899?s=21&amp;t=qBq_tqwbX4vqgrzBOVn-Sw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">red triangle</a> to his Twitter profile name — a marker for Avalanche community members — after the event.



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3,600 Flock to Barcelona for Flashy Parties and No Price Talk

Aaron Ahmadi

<div class="toc">


Table of contents


<ol>


<li><a href="#anchor-1">What is AVAX?</a></li>


<li><a href="#anchor-2">The case for AVAX</a></li>


<li><a href="#anchor-3">How to invest in AVAX</a></li>


<li><a href="#anchor-4">Final considerations</a></li>

<li><a href="#anchor-5">Resources and further reading</a></li>

</ol>


</div>



<h2>What is AVAX?</h2>



Avalanche (<a href="https://www.avax.network/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AVAX</a>) is a layer-1 smart contract platform built by <a href="https://www.avalabs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ava Labs</a>, which is headquartered in Singapore. It is a proprietary proof-of-stake blockchain that is Ethereum-compatible. Developers can build and deploy decentralized applications (dApps) on the platform.



The Avalanche network is regulated by its primary network, which validates its three subnets:



<ol><li>The Exchange Chain (X-Chain), used to create and exchange tokens, which is an instance of the Avalanche Virtual Machine (AVM)</li><li>The Platform Chain (P-Chain), a metadata blockchain that coordinates validators to create/track subnets</li><li>The Contract Chain (C-Chain), an instance of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) which creates and deploys smart contracts</li></ol>



These subnets enable the Avalanche network to offer a wide range of features without sacrificing speed, as each subchain only needs to perform a single set of operations specific to its purpose. This speed and variety make it an attractive platform for developers looking to deploy custom blockchains, which they can do on the P-Chain.


[stock_market_widget type=&#8221;table-quotes&#8221; template=&#8221;basic2&#8243; color=&#8221;#5D25E5&#8243; assets=&#8221;AVAX-USD&#8221; fields=&#8221;logo_name_symbol,price,change_abs,change_pct,market_cap&#8221; links=&#8221;{&#8216;AVAX-USD&#8217;:{}}&#8221; display_header=&#8221;true&#8221; display_chart=&#8221;true&#8221; display_currency_symbol=&#8221;true&#8221; pagination=&#8221;true&#8221; search=&#8221;false&#8221; rows_per_page=&#8221;5&#8243; sort_field=&#8221;logo_name_symbol&#8221; sort_direction=&#8221;asc&#8221; alignment=&#8221;left&#8221; api=&#8221;yf&#8221;]



<h2 id="anchor-2">The case for AVAX</h2>



<h3>Tokenomics</h3>



AVAX is the primary token of the Avalanche network, though developers can issue their own tokens on its custom blockchains. The max supply of AVAX is 720 million tokens, half of which were created with the genesis block.



However, similar to the Ethereum network, fees in Avalanche are burned, progressively deflating the token supply.&nbsp;



As a proof-of-stake platform, Avalanche relies on validators that stake AVAX to earn block rewards. Validators can earn up to 11% APY on staked AVAX, with the average yearly return currently around 9.75%.



<h3>Core projects</h3>



<a href="https://www.avalabs.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ava Labs</a> and the Avalanche Foundation are the primary organizations associated with the Avalanche network. Ava Labs is responsible for internal research and development, especially the development of the Avalanche network.&nbsp;



The Avalanche Foundation handles economic prospects, such as the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/avalanche-launches-200m-fund-to-support-ecosystem-growth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blizzard Fund</a>, which supports third-party innovation on the Avalanche network.



The foundation also has a startup accelerator, Avalanche-X, which offers blockchain developers funding for decentralized finance (DeFi) and community projects.



The core aim of the Avalanche network is to be faster and cheaper than other layer-1 smart contract protocols. Some hope meeting this goal would give it an edge in the battle for dominance against the slower Ethereum network, which is known to suffer from gas fees upwards of $100 per transaction in some cases.



<h3>Core team</h3>



Headquartered in Singapore, Avalanche’s Ava Labs has offices in New York City and Miami, and an international core team comprising developers, economists and legal experts. Members of the Avalanche <a href="https://www.avalabs.org/team" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">team</a> have experience from companies and organizations like Microsoft, Google, NASA and other noteworthy institutions.&nbsp;



In September 2021, Avalanche held a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/avalanche-closes-230m-token-sale-backed-by-three-arrows-capital-polychain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">token sale</a> to raise funds for development, which yielded $230 million and garnered support from Polychain and Three Arrows Capital.



<h3>Layer-2</h3>



As an Ethereum-compatible layer-1 smart contract platform, Avalanche is capable of hosting just about any Web3 protocol. Numerous popular layer-2 projects built on Avalanche across a wide range of use cases:



<ol><li>Decentralized exchanges — <a href="https://www.traderjoexyz.com/#/home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Trader Joe</a>, <a href="https://sushi.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SushiSwap</a>, <a href="https://paraswap.io/#/?network=avalanche" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ParaSwap</a></li><li>NFT marketplaces — <a href="https://toppsnfts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Topps NFTs</a>, <a href="https://curate.style/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Curate</a>, <a href="https://niftyx.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Niftyx Protocol&nbsp;</a></li><li>Borrowing/lending — <a href="https://aave.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Aave</a>, <a href="https://avax.curve.fi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Curve</a>, <a href="https://nexo.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nexo</a></li><li>Optimized yield —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.yield.app/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yield</a>, <a href="https://snowball.network/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Snowball</a>, <a href="https://yieldyak.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yield Yak</a></li><li>Portfolio management —&nbsp;<a href="https://debank.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DeBank</a>, <a href="https://apeboard.finance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ape Board</a>, <a href="https://markr.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Markr</a></li></ol>



For a full list of layer-2 platforms built on or integrated with Avalanche, explore their <a href="https://ecosystem.avax.network/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ecosystem page</a>.



<h2 id="anchor-3">How to invest in AVAX</h2>



<h3>Step 1 &#8211; Buy AVAX</h3>



As with all layer-1s, the most current opportunities to invest in Avalanche start with buying AVAX tokens. That is unless you find a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/galaxy-digital-launches-new-institutional-defi-fund/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DeFi index fund</a> with exposure to Avalanche or its layer-2s, which is effectively asking someone else to hold AVAX for you.



If you want to buy AVAX, you can do so on centralized exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini, as well as decentralized exchanges like Trader Joe, Pangolin and Rubic Exchange.



<h3>Step 2 &#8211; Choose your use case</h3>



Once you’ve bought AVAX, you can hold it in hopes that the token value appreciates. Alternatively, you can choose to put your AVAX to work earning yield. The drawback is that most, if not all, yield farming options have some degree of wait time before your tokens are returned to you, meaning you could miss an opportunity to sell if you can’t pull your tokens out in time.



<h3>Staking</h3>



The most common way to earn yield on AVAX is to become a validator for the Avalanche network. To do this, <a href="https://www.avax.network/validators" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stake your AVAX</a> on the platform. Your share of block rewards as a validator depends on how many tokens are currently staked but currently averages about 9.75% annually.



<h3>Liquidity provision</h3>



Another popular yield farming method is to supply your AVAX as liquidity for a cryptocurrency exchange. One such layer-2 method built on Avalanche is the <a href="https://pangolin.exchange/tutorials/manage-liquidity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pangolin Exchange</a>. Liquidity providers on Pangolin earn at least 0.25% of all trades on the deposited token pair proportional to the share of the pool.



Be aware, however, that when you provide liquidity for an exchange, you may experience impermanent loss. Impermanent loss is a phenomenon that occurs when you supply two-sided liquidity and withdraw it later, but you don&#8217;t receive an equal ratio back and suffer a loss of value.



For example, if you provide $1,000 worth of ETH and 1,000 USDT as liquidity in a decentralized exchange (DEX), and other users sell their ETH to buy your USDT, when you withdraw your liquidity you will get back more ETH than USDT, even though you originally supplied equal parts. This is to keep liquidity pools balanced against trades. However, if the value of ETH has decreased since you originally supplied liquidity, then the value of what you’ve withdrawn is now less than the original $2000 you provided.&nbsp;



This is considered an impermanent loss because the user can leave their provision within the DEX until the ratio evens out again.



<h3>Invest more than just money</h3>



If you’re feeling entrepreneurial, you may want to take the far less common investing route with Avalanche. Alone or with a team of developers, you can <a href="https://www.avax.network/build" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">build</a> a dApp, create a token protocol or integrate an exchange on the Avalanche platform.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h2 id="anchor-4">Final considerations</h2>



As always, consider your desired level of involvement and your appetite for risk.



There is no such thing as a good investment because every person has different interests, resources and skillsets. However, there are bad investments. A bad investment is easy to spot — it’s the person that asks you if they should invest in (insert asset here) because they heard about it on the news. When a project speaks to your experience, interests or beliefs, it’s much easier to dive deeper and comprehend it intimately. Therefore, it becomes a much safer investment. Emotional investing often leads to ruin, but passionate investing can change lives and, often, portfolios for the better.



<h2 id="anchor-5">Resources and further reading</h2>



<h3>Avalanche documentation</h3>



<a href="https://assets.website-files.com/5d80307810123f5ffbb34d6e/6008d7bbf8b10d1eb01e7e16_Avalanche%20Platform%20Whitepaper.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Avalanche Platform Whitepaper</a>



<a href="https://assets.website-files.com/5d80307810123f5ffbb34d6e/6009805681b416f34dcae012_Avalanche%20Consensus%20Whitepaper.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Avalanche Consensus Protocol Whitepaper</a>



<a href="https://assets.website-files.com/5d80307810123f5ffbb34d6e/6008d7bc56430d6b8792b8d1_Avalanche%20Native%20Token%20Dynamics.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Avalanche Native Token Dynamics</a>



<a href="https://assets.website-files.com/5d80307810123f5ffbb34d6e/5e6176a18436bc4204f4db36_stablecoin.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A Classification Framework for Stablecoin Designs</a>



<h3>Recent news</h3>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/voyager-expands-avax-nft-defi-offerings-with-avalanche-integration/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Voyager Expands AVAX, NFT, DeFi Offerings with Avalanche Integration</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/avalanche-launches-200m-fund-to-support-ecosystem-growth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Avalanche Launches $200M Fund to Support Ecosystem Growth</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/roll-raises-10m-merkle-science-closed-5-75m-and-avalanche-touts-token-sale/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Roll Raises $10M, Merkle Science Closed $5.75M and Avalanche Touts Token Sale</a>



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/avalanche-closes-230m-token-sale-backed-by-three-arrows-capital-polychain/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Avalanche Closes $230M Token Sale Backed by Three Arrows Capital, Polychain</a>



​



<h3>Get educated. Check out&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-bitcoin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Investor’s Guide to Bitcoin</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Investor’s Guide to NFTs</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-defi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Investor’s Guide to DeFi</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-the-metaverse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Investor’s Guide to the Metaverse</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-investors-guide-to-music-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Investor’s Guide to Music NFTs.</a></h3>



Note: This Investor’s Guide was not sponsored. The writer is not invested in Avalanche, Ava Labs, their subsidiaries or any projects mentioned in this guide at the time of writing and publishing. This is not an endorsement of any project, and should not be interpreted as investment advice. This Guide is for educational purposes only.



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The Investor’s Guide to Avalanche (AVAX)

Sam Reynolds

<div id="highlights-block_6143580ac52c3" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Round was led by Three Arrows Capital and Polychain with participation from R/Crypto Fund, Dragonfly, CMS Holdings, Collab+Currency and Lvna Capital</li>
 <li>Avalanche said the proceeds will go to fueling the growth of its on-chain DeFi ecosystem, NFTs, as well as some new asset types</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Layer-1 protocol Avalanche announced today that it had closed a $230 million token sale in June with participation from some of the best known investors in the token space.&nbsp;



According to a release put out by the Avalanche Foundation, the round was led by Singapore’s Three Arrows Capital, Polychain, and included participation from R/Crypto Fund, Dragonfly, CMS Holdings, Collab+Currency, Lvna Capital as well as an unnamed group of angel investors.



The Avalanche Foundation says that it will use the proceeds to accelerate the rapid growth of DeFi, NFTs, and other new asset classes on the Avalanche blockchain.&nbsp;



Speaking at Blockworks’ recent Digital Asset Summit in New York, Ava Labs, the development house behind Avalanche, president John Wu, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/das-2021-ava-labs-wu-says-economies-will-depend-on-next-gen-layer-1s/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said that</a> layer-1 protocols like Avalanche will be where the crypto economy will be.



“You can have internet of value, you can have ecosystems, but you don’t have an economy unless transactions are easily done and affordably done,” Wu said at DAS.



Wu believes that the layer-1 ecosystem will be a ‘winner-take-most’ network, where the market rewards the platform that can quickly and efficiently solve Ethereum’s pain points.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“In the crypto, DeFi world, stickiness for users is an issue…so the competitive advantage for a protocol is going to be how fast can they innovate and how fast their business development team can get the best developers and best projects and decentralized apps onto their chain,” Wu said.</blockquote>



In order to help generate this competitive advantage, Avalanche recently unveiled a $180 million liquidity mining incentive — a form of yield farming where DeFi traders earn an additional token on top of the expected yield — to bring projects over to its protocol.



“Avalanche has quickly turned promise and potential into real-world impact and value creation for DeFi users and developers,” said Emin Gün Sirer, director at the Avalanche Foundation, in a press release. “The community of builders rallying around the network is a testament to its competitive edge, and there is still so much potential yet to be tapped at the intersection of institutional and decentralized finance on Avalanche.”



AVAX, the eponymous token behind the Avalanche protocol, is up 21% today to $64 on the news, according to <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/avalanche" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CoinGecko</a>. It’s currently the twelfth largest digital asset with a market cap of $14 billion. In comparison, Solana, one of Avalanche’s competitors, has a market cap of just over $46 billion and trades at $154, but is down 18% on-week given the protocol’s<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/sol-stumbles-as-solana-struggles-with-technical-issues/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> technical troubles</a>. 



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Are you a UK or EU reader that can’t get enough investor-focused content on digital assets?<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/das-london/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us</a>&nbsp;in London on November 15th and 16th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London. Use code ARTICLE for £75 off your ticket.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/das-london/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Buy it now</a>.



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