Where & How To Buy Avalanche (AVAX)

The information provided on this page is for educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. We may receive compensation from our partners if you visit their website. Read our disclaimer to learn how we make money.

Over 100 cryptocurrencies are emerging every day, competing with each other. The tokens contending most fiercely among them are smart-contract-enabled cryptocurrencies such as Avalanche (AVAX). It is a smart-contract digital asset that has raised the bar for many tokens due to its scalability, high transaction speeds, and low transaction fees.

This guide will explore how to buy Avalanche, the best crypto exchanges that support AVAX tokens, and a brief overview of the Avalanche project and its benefits.

Where To Buy Avalanche

Avalanche has gained the attention of multiple popular crypto trading platforms owing to its scalability, high transaction speeds, and low transaction fees. Selecting the correct crypto exchange, however, is not easy. There are multiple factors to consider, such as accessibility, support for fiat-payment methods, and transaction fees.

It is, therefore, important that the investors prioritize their research based on the factors best suited for their crypto investment requirements. Below are the four best-rated cryptocurrency exchanges to buy AVAX that cover all the newcomers' features and long-time investors need to get started.

Exchange	Crypto Assets	Trading Fees	Rating	Promotion	Website	Review
Binance	350	0.1% (spot) and 0.02% / 0.04% (Futures)	Rating 4.8/5	Up to $100 welcome bonus	Visit Binance	Binance Review
Kraken	222	0.16% (maker) and 0.26% (taker)	Rating 4.8/5	None available at this time	Visit Kraken	Kraken Review
KuCoin	806	0.1%	Rating 4.6/5	Up to 500 USDT in bonuses	Visit KuCoin	KuCoin Review
eToro	79	1%	Rating 4.6/5	None available at this time	Visit eToro eToro USA LLC; Investments are subject to market risk, including the possible loss of principal. Archived, "Virtual currencies are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk."	eToro Review

Coinbase is the leading cryptocurrency exchange in the United States and globally across 190 countries. It has over 89 million users and supports 250+ cryptocurrencies (it adds new assets nearly every week). One of the best aspects of Coinbase when it comes to buying Avalanche is the user-friendly platform and mobile app.

Avalanche became available on Coinbase on 30th September 2021 for its users to buy, trade, store and sell AXAV tokens. Coinbase also supports the Avalanche ecosystem via the Coinbase cloud. This function allows developers to create decentralized applications on the Avalanche blockchain via Coinbase Cloud.

As for the trading fees, Coinbase has a tiered fee system that starts at 0.5% per transaction. The fees gradually with higher trading volumes make it a cost-effective exchange for beginners and experienced investors alike to invest in AVAX.

Coinbase is also one of the safest altcoin exchanges. 98% of customer funds are stored offline in secure cold storage facilities. It ensures that users' assets such as AVAX tokens are protected from hacks.

Binance has over 100 million users and support for 600+ crypto assets including AVAX which was listed on the exchange on 21st September 2020. It is a great option to buy Avalanche through its fiat gateway, however, is available in certain countries only. In countries where fiat deposits are not available, Binance recommends using Stablecoins to invest in crypto.

Best-known for its advanced trading platform and charting features, there is a simple and sophisticated user interface for investors with varying degrees of crypto experience. Simple users can give into simple trading markets and trade their cryptocurrencies. However, users that seek a more analytical view of the AVAX against BTC or USDT can use the comprehensive features to make more informed decisions about their investment.

Transaction costs to trade AVAX start from a maximum of 0.1% which is very competitive in the market. There are incentives to further reduce the fees by staking the platforms' native token or increasing trade volumes over a 30-day period.

eToro provides an affordable way to invest in crypto via fiat currencies which listed Avalanche on its platform in February 2022. There are no charges for depositing amounts via fiat mode. Furthermore, to start investing in AVAX, investors in the UK and US can deposit as little as $10 to make an Avalanche purchase.

Disclaimer: eToro USA LLC. Investments are subject to market risk.

One of the biggest standout features of eToro is CopyTrading. Newcomers who are intimated by the complex crypto investment strategies can instead follow the investment blueprint of others investors. With CopyTrading, they can copy the investment strategies of seasoned investors. From every trade made using the CopyTrading feature, eToro rewards the seasoned investors whose investment strategies were copied from.

eToro goes against the grain and takes an unconventional approach to trading fees. Its ask is based on spread-only (+1%) for every successful trade. It means that the trading fee is equal to the difference between the current sale and purchase price of the cryptocurrency.

Is Avalanche A Good Investment?

The current market for Avalanche is bearish. However, the start of 2022 has been in decline for most cryptocurrencies. Experts have said that AVAX holds value as a long-term crypto investment. Although, the fall of TerraUST might have a more profound impact on the token price in the coming months.

Avalanche is currently accumulating near the $30 range and could be a great time to buy the dip considering it was $95 a few months ago. For those willing to buy the dip, patience is important and potential investors must conduct their own research before deciding to buy the altcoin.

Avalanche Price History

Massive and nascent updates allowed Avalanche value to rise by 3000% within three months. The AVAX price continued this trend in January 2022, when it was 2x times more than its first pump a year ago.

The reason behind this coin's popularity is high demand. For instance, C chain had 500k users monthly, and its user base continues to grow. Binance and Coinbase have completed C chain integration – allowing trading platforms to accept withdrawals and deposit directly to and from the contact chain.

Avalanche historical price chart against USD. Source: Coinmarketcap.com

Looking at the graph, we can trace the price pumps with the events such as:

• Raising $230 million investment from 6 crypto Venture capitalists;
• Launching the Phase 4 apricot upgrade the reduced transaction fees, protocol optimizations that weren't compatible with Avalanche Go ver 1.6;
• Listing of the AVAX token on Coinbase in September 2021, which finally made the crypto available to US investors;
• Launching Tether's USDT Stablecoin on Avalanche Blockchain;
• Teaming up with Deloitte to launch a disaster recovery platform;
• Mastercard chose Ava to participate in its Crypto startup program;
• Listing of AVAX on FTX;
• Circle USDC launched in Avalanche blockchain. The Stablecoin has a high adoption rate on the Blockchain, with over 1.5 billion Circle USDC issued;
• Bank of America hails Avalanche as a serious Ethereum competitor;
• Ava labs' partnership with Togg, a Turkish Based EV Manufacturer, to introduce smart contracts in the electric vehicles;
• Avalanche's first ILO (Initial Litigation Offering) reached the target of 300,000 dollars. ILO is a way to crowdfund money needed to sue someone.

However, the current price of the coin is seeing a rapid downtrend. The fall in price came after the collapse of Terra's algorithmic Stablecoin TerraUSD (UST). As a result, on 11th May 2022, AVAX's price fell by 41%. AVAX's price is $30.03 with a 24-hour trading volume of $836 million when writing this guide. Due to the current market conditions, AVAX has fallen off from being one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies and is now ranking at #13.

Avalanche Price Prediction

Investors are afraid the LFG – Luna Foundation Guard, an entity that protects UST's dollar peg, will start dumping its AVAX holding because it has wasted its BTC reserve to re-peg UST. This bearish sentiment is a sharp contrast to previous months when AVAX announced nearly 1 billion in Bitcoin to its UST reserves.

However, the crypto market has been in disarray since the beginning of 2022 due to multiple reasons. Many cryptocurrencies are following the same downward trend. So, it would not be fair to blame Avalanche for the current dips. Also, Avalanche founders have tweeted that Luna Foundation Guard has no plans for selling the 2 million AVAX it is currently holding. Many experts see TerraUST's failure as a lesson for Avalanche. Despite this, they still believe in AVAX's value as a long-term investment and have predicted the price will be near $940 by 2026.

What Is Avalanche?

Avalanche was founded in 2018 by Computer Scientist and Cornell professor Amin Gun Sirer. Ava Labs, a for-profit software company in the United States, collaborated with the professor for its creation, and Avalanche Foundation coordinated the development of the Avalanche blockchain. The foundation is a non-profit organization whose location is still shrouded in mystery.

Avalanche has raised more than 230 million via token sales and continues to do so this year. Although the Avalanche Mainnet went live in September 2020, the Blockchain is continuously evolving and is technically still in development.

Similar to Ethereum, the native crypto asset of Avalanche is responsible for all of its operations. Moreover, Avalanche uses a customized version of EVM – Ethereum Virtual Machine – to develop its Dapps. But there are many EVM-based blockchains in the market, so what makes Avalanche unique? Its architecture, consensus protocols, and scalability.

To provide an overview of how the Avalanche works, the AVAX blockchain network entails three components:

• X chain is The exchange chain where tokens are issued, including AVAX. The X chain uses DAG – Directed Acyclic Graph – to run Avalanche's consensus protocol and AVM (Avalanche Virtual Machine). Considered to be the main chain of Avalanche, the X chain can process 4.5k TPS.
• P Chain is thePlatform chain Avalanche where validators stake AVAX to secure the network. This chain makes creating custom blockchain – subnets – possible using the validators. It is a standard blockchain that runs the snowman consensus protocol. A Snowman consensus protocol is a chain-optimized consensus protocol that is totally ordered and delivers high throughout. The P chain performs 1500 TPS.
• C chain: The Contract Chain deploys smart contracts and dapps on Avalanche. It implements a modified version of Ethereum Virtual Machine. Like the P chain, the C Chain also uses a standard blockchain that runs the snowman protocol and delivers 1500 TPS.

Avalanche Features

• Burning the transaction fees. Avalanche blockchain burns all the transaction fees. Till now, it has burned over 1.7 million AVAX.
• Rewarding the validators. Avalanche validators only earn staking rewards, set to 10% per annum for validators and delegators. To run a validator, users have to stake a minimum of 2000 AVAX, and the staking requirement to run a delegator is 25 AVAX.
• No slashing penalties for misbehaving validators. Avalanche has taken an odd decision when dealing with misbehaving validators. There are no slashing penalties. It has puzzled many crypto HODLers, with many justifying Avalanche's decision, saying that building a big network such as Avalanche requires many validators. Thus, the Blockchain has to show some leniency.
• General Popularity. Due to Avalanche's high speed, low fees, and EVM compatibility, the crypto crowd considers it a better suitable investment than ETH. There are over 4.5 million users across 130 countries, and it has over 500 dapps.

Benefits of Avalanche

Developers created Blockchain to address the scalability issues that plague Ethereum. And even though it is not so different from other chains in this regard, the following are why most in the crypto space are bullish about AVAX.

• Interoperability. Avalanche is highly interoperable and can create several subnets atop its Blockchain. That allows different blockchains to share assets and data and interoperate.
• Scalable. Developers created the Avalanche blockchain to deal with the biggest shortcoming of Ethereum, scalability. While other blockchains have tried to address the same issue, they had to trade off decentralization to a certain degree to achieve it. However, with its three-blockchain system, Avalanche can achieve infinite scalability without compromising decentralization.
• User-friendly. The usability of a blockchain tends to be the main concern for many users, and it is the primary factor behind a blockchain's adoption rate. Avalanche is extremely usable due to its user-friendly interface and support for multiple systems. Both traders and developers have an easy time interacting with Avalanche. Also, Avalanche provides a simple platform to those who want to create their own use-cases, whether they are private or public.
• Low transaction fees. The transaction fee on Avalanche is far lesser than on Ethereum. The average cost for swap operations on Avalanche is $0.23, whereas, on Ethereum, the price is $62.00.

Issues With Avalanche

Before rushing in and investing in Avalanche, users must also take note of the concerns that experts and current investors have raised about Avalanche.

There are three main concerns that experts have about the blockchain:

The biggest concern is the lack of transparency. As previously mentioned, the nature and the location of the Avalanche Foundation are still unknown. It wouldn't have mattered in most cases, but in the case of Avalanche, the foundation holds 10% of the token supply – making it the largest initial recipient of AVAX.

The lack of transparency isn't limited to the foundation's identity as it permeates through Avalanche's tokenomics. The whitepaper doesn't mention any details about initial distribution or vesting, and it is also not familiar with the wallet addresses of the foundation's members.

That doesn't mean that the community hasn't asked about it. However, the avalanche support page is barren when it comes to answering any vesting-related queries.

Avalanche is not the only EVM-leveraging and smart contract-enabled cryptocurrency. It faces fierce competition from the likes of Polkadot, Cronos, EOS and other tokens that use Ethereum Virtual Machines. When asked about it, Avalanche has admitted that it's not able to hire many developers over the last year. The lack of professionals will likely impact the promises that Avalanche is meant to deliver in 2022.

Avalanche states that the Blockchain's mission is asset tokenization. It is a novel concept that leverages digital assets such as tokens to fractionalize the ownership of physical assets such as fine arts, property or jewelry. However, considering that AVAX is showing more interest in NFTs and trending facets than its mission, investors are still uncertain about the end goal of Avalanche.

Buying Avalanche – Step by Step Guide

Potential investors must first choose a crypto trading platform as per their requirements. Following are the points to consider to make the exchange selection process easier:

• Fees: Different crypto exchanges follow different fee models. Exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance, and FTX, follow a standard fee structure, while eToro has a spread-only ask. Whether a crypto exchange provides fiat options for the first-time models is also important.
• User interface: Novice investors would have no user to engage with robust systems of crypto exchanges. However, those looking for additional analytical tools will find certain crypto exchanges' Pro or Premium features suitable.
• Supported cryptocurrencies: Thankfully, AVAX is available in most crypto exchanges. However, the users must check the trading fee before investing. It is because the cost can vary depending on the cryptocurrency.

Most crypto exchanges follow traditional-yet-effective strategies such as two-factor authentication and cold storage to store crypto assets regarding security measures.

After the user has chosen the platform to invest in Avalanche, they must create an account. The account creation process is conventional. However, uploading documents is crucial for account verification and must be done to invest in cryptocurrencies.

This information is collected by the exchange to comply with the international Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements. Certain platforms with crypto-to-crypto trading only do not require ID verification, however, there may be limits on the amount that can be withdrawn per day.

Investors are required to deposit the funds before starting their investment journey. The steps are typical for most trading platforms. The users must first click on the deposit funds button – an option common on all platforms.

Coinbase users can use many deposit options, including debit/credit card, bank transfer, ACH transfer, and crypto. There are usually minimum limits and payment fees for each supported payment method which can vary on the investor's place of origin. A common method available is buying Avalanche with a credit card, however, the fees are a lot higher and are not recommended.

Once the user has deposited the funds, they must search for Avalanche. They can use the exchange's search badly to do so. After selecting Avalanche, they have to choose the amount to invest in AVAX and click on the "Buy Now" or "Open Trade" button, depending on the platform.

Can You Sell Avalanche?

The procedure for selling a cryptocurrency is not so different from buying one. Investors only need to navigate to their dashboard, select their cryptocurrency and click on the option that allows them to sell it.

In eToro, "Open Trade" facilitates the sale of a crypto asset. Others follow a more streamlined approach with options such as "Sell". Alternatively, users can also engage in spot trading of Avalanche. They need to select a trading pair, such as AVAX-USD and start trading.

Conclusion

Avalanche is the next generation of blockchain that addresses the issues of Ethereum and provides a more efficient and scalable platform. To buy AVAX, investors have a vast array of crypto exchanges to choose from. However, they must first ensure that the platform fits their fees and other specific requirements. For first-time investors, we recommend reading our introductory guide on how to buy crypto next.

You might also be interested in

Updated May 25th, 2023

Where & How To Buy Bitcoin (BTC)

Updated May 25th, 2023

Where & How To Buy XRP

Updated May 25th, 2023

Where & How To Buy Ethereum (ETH)

Updated May 29th, 2023

10 Best Meme Coins To Watch

Updated May 25th, 2023

Where To Buy Cardano (ADA)