The cryptocurrency market intelligence firm Messari released a detailed report on the performance of Avalanche (AVAX) during the fourth quarter of 2025, revealing a significant disparity between weak price performance and standard on-chain activity.
### The rise of metrics despite the sharp decline of AVAX in the fourth quarter
According to Messari, the native token AVAX experienced a significant decline during the last quarter of the year. The token dropped by 59.0% quarter-over-quarter and by 65.5% year-over-year, from around $30.00 at the end of the third quarter (September) to about $12.30 by the end of the fourth quarter.
This was reflected in the circulating capital of Avalanche, which decreased by 58.3% quarter-over-quarter and 63.9% year-over-year, from $12.7 billion to $5.3 billion. As a result, AVAX's rank fell from 14 to 21 among digital assets in terms of circulating capital.
However, Messari confirmed that network usage continued to expand strongly, breaking the traditional correlation between token price and network fees. While total dollar fees decreased by 11.7% quarter-over-quarter, this decline was moderate compared to the drop in AVAX price. Conversely, fees denominated in AVAX increased by 24.9% quarter-over-quarter, from 105,719 AVAX to 132,016 AVAX.
The Layer C saw an increase in average daily transactions by 63% to 2.1 million transactions, with a wave of liquidations on October 10, 2025, generating daily fees of $520,715, the highest daily level since February 2024.
### Record numbers in transactions and active users
On a broader scale, the Avalanche network recorded its highest levels of activity in the fourth quarter of 2025. The average daily total transactions across Layer C and all Layer 1 networks increased by 4.5% quarter-over-quarter and by 1,162.1% year-over-year to 38.2 million transactions.
The average daily active addresses also increased by 25.1% quarter-over-quarter and by an astonishing 16,360.3% year-over-year, reaching 24.7 million active addresses.
The Layer C alone achieved historic figures, with the average daily transactions increasing by 69.0% quarter-over-quarter and by 799.3% year-over-year, making the fourth quarter the busiest ever.
In contrast, the total dollar value of staked AVAX decreased by 59.9% quarter-over-quarter and by 69.1% year-over-year to $2.3 billion, affected by the drop in token price.
### Strong growth in DeFi and real-world assets (RWAs)
The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector on Avalanche continued to evolve despite challenging market conditions. The DeFi diversity index (which measures the number of protocols that account for 90% of total locked value) increased by 5.9% quarter-over-quarter and by 63.6% year-over-year, from 17.0 to 18.0.
The total locked value in DeFi (in dollars) decreased by 41.9% quarter-over-quarter and by 3.8% year-over-year to $1.3 billion, but when measured in AVAX, it increased by 34.5% quarter-over-quarter to 97.5 million AVAX, reflecting a drop in AVAX price faster than the decline in the underlying value in the protocols.
The most notable area of growth was in real-world assets (RWAs), where the locked value jumped by 68.6% quarter-over-quarter and by 949.3% year-over-year, from $789.8 million to $1.33 billion by the end of the fourth quarter.
The total market value of stablecoins on the network also increased by 1.7% quarter-over-quarter and by 24.3% year-over-year to $1.8 billion.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, and personal research is recommended before making any financial decisions. Investing in cryptocurrencies involves high risks.