Avalanche AVAX: Up 134% as Institutions Embrace Network for Capital Markets 2.0

Avalanche’s Spruce Subnet has been used by Citi to successfully explore the tokenization of private equity funds. In collaboration with Wellington Management and WisdomTree, the experiment sought to determine the network’s potential to re-architect capital markets and improve financial services.

Avalanche has received increasing interest at the institutional and individual level, resulting in its currency gaining over 134% in value during the past year. The network has recently deployed the pre-release code for its Durango upgrade on the Fuji Testnet, while also gaining traction in the NFT sector.

TLDR

• Citi successfully tested tokenizing a private equity fund on Avalanche’s Spruce testnet, finding it could unlock automation and data improvements in capital markets
• Avalanche’s Durango upgrade brings cross-chain messaging, staking enhancements, and better error handling to improve the developer experience
• Avalanche’s AVAX token has gained over 134% in the last year as institutions explore using the network to reimagine financial services
• The Empire State Building launched an NFT loyalty program on Avalanche, issuing digital collectibles that unlock rewards like tickets and events
• Avalanche was chosen for the loyalty program due to its enterprise scalability, speed, and support for managing hundreds of thousands of users

Bringing FInancial Markets to a New Age

Citi’s experiment was conducted on Avalanche’s Spruce testnet, which is specifically designed to cater to the needs of financial enterprises due to its permissioned nature. This makes the testnet uniquely suited to explore solutions for the lack of transparency, automation, and standardization in the $10 trillion AUM markets.

As part of the test, Citi explored tokenizing a Wellington private equity fund on a distributed ledger. After encoding multiple compliance and identity rules into Avalanche smart contracts, this token was issued to a WisdomTree wallet. Secondary transfers between WisdomTree wallets and collateralized lending were also tested.

After the successful completion of all of the tests, Citi concluded that Avalanche’s tokenization capabilities “unlocks the value in traditional markets to new use-cases and digital distribution channels”. Some of the benefits found by Citi include “greater automation, data, and operating models”.

Avalanche’s Durango Upgrade

Avalanche’s Durango upgrade, which implements several key Avalanche Community Proposals (ACPs), went live on the Fuji testnet on February 13th. The upgrade brings native transfers to the Platform Chain (P-chain), allowing users to manage assets more efficiently and securely. Subnet ownership transfers are also supported now, giving operators the ability to transition control as needed.

A major feature is the integration of Avalanche Warp Messaging (AWM) into the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). AWM establishes native cross-chain communication between Avalanche subnets and the Contract Chain (C-Chain) without any third-party intermediaries. This means that messages are now passed directly using the P-Chain as a validator set registry, giving Avalanche cross-chain interoperability.

Durango is also set to improve the developer experience through VM application error signaling and the removal of the staking Start-Time setting. This means that the staking period would now start when a staking transaction is accepted, increasing efficiency and opening the doors to continuous staking in the future.

This streamlines P-Chain operations and paves the way for future scalability enhancements to support 100,000 subnets. Wide adoption of BLS keys accelerates this roadmap, unlocking capabilities like arbitrary subnet rewards and trustless state attestations. Overall, the upgrade delivers greater flexibility and improved tooling for Avalanche developers.

Empire State Launches Avalanche-Powered NFT Loyalty Program

Web3 loyalty platform Uptop has partnered with Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) to launch an innovative NFT ambassador program built on the Avalanche blockchain. This initiative aims to recognize and reward the over 4 million annual visitors to New York’s most famous attraction: the Empire State Building.

The program issues NFTs to visitors that serve as digital keepsakes and unlock rewards for every repeated visit. Uptop chose Avalanche due to its enterprise scalability, as it expects to reach “hundreds of thousands of people in its first year”. With over 4 million people visiting the iconic building, Avalanche’s speed, security, and support were key factors in the decision.

The program’s NFTs will include rewards like complimentary tickets, exclusive event access, entries to annual events like the Run-Up, and additional perks as visitors level up. Uptop believes that digital mementos’ ability to offer added value could replace physical souvenirs, which is why they chose to implement the program.

The NFTs will integrate with partner merchants like Tacombi and STATE Grill and Bar, offering holders redeemable benefits designed to improve their NYC visit. Uptop Cofounder John Timoney celebrated the partnership by calling it a “blend of tradition and digital innovation” that would “immortalize visits”.

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