Why Avalanche Is Crushing the Crypto Market

On Sep 25, 2021

What happened

It’s been a rough week of trading for most top cryptocurrencies, but Avalanche‘s (CRYPTO:AVAX) AVAX token is bucking the trends and posting strong gains. As of 3 p.m. Friday, EDT, the token was up roughly 13% since last Friday.

Avalanche Price data by YCharts

Meanwhile, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Cardano were down roughly 10.3%, 14.5%, 13.8%, and 4%, respectively, across the same stretch. Avalanche’s AVAX token still seems to be riding high from news of a major private investment in Avalanche that was announced last week.

Image source: Getty Images.

So what

Concerns that a looming default for real estate giant China Evergrande would have a spillover impact on the cryptocurrency market sent leading tokens tumbling earlier in the week. Investors got another scare on Friday after China announced what effectively amounts to a cryptocurrency trading ban. The country’s government has cracked down on crypto trading, mining, and lending in the past, but this appears to be the most drastic action thus far.

Yet these developments didn’t seem to faze investors much coming on the heels of news last week that Avalanche had secured $230 million in funding through the sale of its AVAX tokens. The private investment was led by Polychain and Three Arrows Capital, and represented a major vote of confidence in the Avalanche blockchain that prompted some crypto analysts to significantly hike their price targets on the token.

Now what

AVAX has proven remarkably resilient despite pressures related to the China Evergrande default situation and comments from Chinese regulators suggesting a ban on crypto trading in the country. That resilience and the sizable private investment are positive signs; they suggest that there’s real excitement building around the Avalanche blockchain and its token.

Avalanche provides a blockchain platform for building and running decentralized apps, and it’s emerging as a competitor to Ethereum and other blockchain platforms that offer similar functionality. For crypto investors, there’s still plenty of risk on the table, but AVAX’s ability to post gains in a week that was otherwise marred by turmoil is noteworthy.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. We’re motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.