The Avalanche page of Bitcoin Layers is under development.
Bitcoin Layers' focuses its efforts on reviewing protocols that claim to be a bitcoin layer and BTC wrappers that live on alternative chains. Alternative network provide a snapshot into the network architecture, but largely focus on review related to BTC wrappers on the network. If the network is an Ethereum L2, we recommend heading to L2Beat for a deeper dive into the architecture.
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Avalanche
Overview
Status
Mainnet
Type
Alt. Layer 1
Fee Token
AVAX
BTC Supply
₿0
Avalanche is an alternative proof-of-stake blockchain that supports a number of wrapped BTC tokens. It offers an EVM-compatible execution environment which supports more expressive smart contracts. It also supports the interoperable subnet blockchains.
CUSTODY
DATA AVAILABILITY
OPERATORS
FINALITY ASSURANCE
Trust Assumption Review
BTC Custody
High
🚨
Avalanche BTCb
BTC backing this asset is secured by a federation
Ava Labs has disclosed that users trust a network of entities who participate in securing the BTC that backs BTCb. These eight entities are also reported to run special HSM hardware.
The eight entities securing the bridge are: Halborn, Avascan, Bware Labs, Ankr, Chainstack, Protofire, Blockdaemon, and Ava Labs.
The eight entities securing the bridge are: Halborn, Avascan, Bware Labs, Ankr, Chainstack, Protofire, Blockdaemon, and Ava Labs.
Data Availability
Alternative PoS Network
⚠️
Data is stored and made available by Avalanche full nodes
The data for Avalanche's state is made available by its full nodes. Anyone can run an Avalanche node and verify is state.
We are currently reviewing Avalanche's full node implementation
We are currently reviewing Avalanche's full node implementation
Network Operators
Alternative PoS Network
⚠️
Avalanche is operated by a distributed validator set
Blocks are built and proposed by a permissionless consensus network.
We are currently reviewing Avalanche's network operators
We are currently reviewing Avalanche's network operators
Finality Guarantees
Alternative PoS Network
⚠️
Finality on Avalanche is guaranteed by a permissionless consensus mechanism
Blocks are validated and finalized by a permissionless consensus network.
We are currently reviewing Avalanche's finality guarantees
We are currently reviewing Avalanche's finality guarantees
Bitcoin Security
Avalanche does not inherit any security from Bitcoin
In its current state, the network does not inherit security from Bitcoin.
AVAX token used to pay fees
Fees to network operators are paid in an alternative token.
No MEV introduced to Bitcoin
The network does not introduce any MEV on the Bitcoin L1. Users trust the validators of the network to not reorder their transactions to extract MEV.
Avalanche does not contribute to the security budget
The network does not currently contribute to the Bitcoin security budget.
Technology
EVM-Compatible
The network uses an EVM-compatible virtual machine. The Ethereum Virtual Machine is software responsible for smart contract execution for a number of blockchains, namely the Ethereum Network. It uses Solidity/Vyper as its code and is the dominant environment for smart contract execution in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Use Cases
Onchain applications
Onchain applications are supported. Onchain applications including borrowing and lending protocols, onchain exchanges (commonly referred to as decentralized exchanges), and more. These applications are supported with more expressive smart contract environments.