Avalanche (AVAX) locks in $250M private sale round ahead of Avalanche9000 upgrade

Avalanche (AVAX) completed another step in transforming from a L2 into an independent L1 project. The platform raised $250M in a private sale, backed by some of the top VC funds. 

Avalanche (AVAX) extended its relationship with top VC funds, aiming to transform itself from a L2 chain and run an independent new L1. The most recent funding round for $250M was completed as a private placement with some of the leading investors in decentralized projects. 

The funding was completed after an OTC sale, and was led by DragonFly Capital, Galaxy, and ParaFi Capital. The OTC placement reached up to 40 smaller companies and investors, some seeking to use the services of Avalanche as their native platform.

Since its launch, Avalanche raised more than $577M, including four ICO events, a seed round, and additional undisclosed funding. The recent fundraising effort is the single largest capital injection for Avalanche. 

Avalanche raised the funds as an addition to its track record of successful funding. The goal is to support the Avalanche9000 upgrade, a new chain that has been tested since the end of November. 

Avalanche aims to rebrand from Web3 gaming network

Avalanche forged its success as one of the leading networks for Web3 and gaming. Avalanche C-Chain was the consumer-oriented L2 network, which carried some of the hottest play-to-earn games. 

C-Chain was also compatible with DeFi, DEX trading, and general Web3 activities. As a result, Avalanche still retains $1.64B in locked liquidity, though still far from the 2021 levels of over $10B. 

One of the big obstacles to building on Avalanche was the deposit requirement to build a subnet. Subnets were a technology that proved successful for some of the early Avalanche projects. Games or web projects would launch a subnet when their activity overwhelmed the capacity of C-Chain. 

Avalanche now aims to build a practically free layer, similar to SUI or Aptos. Previously, subnet builders had to stake a minimum of 2,000 AVAX. 

Instead of a gaming network, Avalanche9000 will aim to position itself as a tokenization hub, with a focus on Web3 and DeFi. The new L1 will aim to retain some of the successful apps from C-Chain, including DEX and GameFi projects. 

The funding round arrived just days before the intended launch of Avalanche9000. The chain has already onboarded up to 150K potential users and 40K routers in preparation for its December 16 launch. The chain has already partnered with Uplink, a startup for decentralized connectivity, which will build on the new L1.

Can AVAX recover to a higher range?

AVAX was among the most promising L2 tokens, and the project is one of the best-funded in the Web3 space. However, during the bear market, Avalanche C-Chain lagged behind Arbitrum and Optimism. 

AVAX is also carrying a backlog of locked tokens, with only 57% of the supply in circulation. Almost all ecosystem participants and early VC backers will continue to unlock their allocation over the next few years. 

As a result, AVAX spend years trading under $20. The asset was considered a potential competitor to Solana, though it only expanded above $100 for a brief period. In late 2024, AVAX had another rally to a local high of $55.30. AVAX is close to the top 10 of coins and tokens, gaining additional exposure from its recent market rally. 

AVAX open interest has also recovered above $480M, near the peak of the range for the past three years. The additional exposure from Avalanche9000 and the hype around the main net launch may boost AVAX, as it has shown the ability to outperform. 

Avalanche C-Chain receives $100M of inflows mainly from Ethereum, with around 7% of that bridged amount in stablecoins. Due to its relatively early launch in 2019, Avalanche is also one of the few chains with 1.6B in native Tether (USDT). As a L1 network, Avalanche may offer additional RWA tokenization to some of its partners. 

The Avalanche Project is actively curated by the Avalanche Foundation. In the past, the Avalanche team has also worked as an incubator for Web3 projects and games. After the launch of the L1 network, Avalanche may retain some of its top projects.

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