In the fourth quarter of 2025, the Avalanche protocol became the core stage for the transformation of on-chain physical assets and financial services. According to the latest report released by Messari Research, as BlackRock tokenized $500 million in assets on the Avalanche protocol through the BUIDL fund, the total locked value of its physical assets grew by 68.6% compared to the previous quarter and surged by 949.3% year-on-year, reaching $1.33 billion. This is an unprecedented achievement in the cryptocurrency market.
The report points out that with ETF managers like Bitwise and VanEck incorporating network staking into their ETF application documents, they have officially entered the Avalanche ecosystem. Among them, Bitwise plans to stake up to 70% of its assets, thereby providing native yield for ETF investors. This attempt is quite rare in traditional ETF structures and can be interpreted as a precursor to direct access to the regulatory infrastructure of intrinsic yield in crypto networks.
The enterprise adoption of the Avalanche protocol is equally noteworthy. One of Japan's largest payment companies, TIS Inc., has launched a multi-token platform for Japanese banks using AvaCloud; JPYC issued the first legally recognized yen-pegged stablecoin on the Avalanche protocol, aiming for a circulation of $654 billion within three years. The Nonghyup Bank in South Korea has also begun piloting the use of the Avalanche protocol for VAT refunds for foreign tourists.
In response to these institutional activities, the Avalanche protocol has also accelerated improvements to its technological infrastructure. The "Granite" upgrade, activated in November 2025, includes dynamic block times and biometric technology, which can reduce transaction processing times to under 2 seconds and supports signing via FaceID and TouchID. Additionally, this upgrade enhances the stability of inter-block validation, thereby improving cross-chain reliability.
On the other hand, despite the significant drop in AVAX prices, the usage of the C-chain network has actually increased. The average daily transaction volume surged by 63%, reaching 2.1 million transactions; the transaction fees only decreased by 11.7% month-over-month, while the fees measured in AVAX actually grew by 24.9%. This indicates that the actual activity of the user base remains resilient despite the price drop.
The total value locked in DeFi measured in AVAX has also increased. This indicates that users have minimized fund transfers on the Avalanche protocol, forming a base of "sticky liquidity." In terms of trading volume, Blackhole, LFJ, and Pharaoh Exchange are at the forefront. Messari specifically pointed out that Pharaoh is the only DeFi protocol that has achieved growth both month-over-month and year-over-year.
The utility of the Avalanche protocol is also expanding into consumer applications such as gaming, social casinos, music royalties, and streaming. In particular, the binary network linked with telecom operators provides a Web3 entry point for regions in Asia and Africa, and has become a core driver accounting for 98.3% of active addresses. The average daily active addresses reach as high as 24.7 million, with the user base experiencing explosive growth.
Ultimately, the Avalanche protocol is attempting to expand comprehensively into physical assets, stablecoins, ETFs, gaming, and enterprise applications, aiming to become the convergence point of mainstream finance and Web3 by 2026.