Avalanche (AVAX) Price: VanEck Beats Grayscale and Bitwise to Launch First Spot ETF

TLDR

• VanEck launched the first spot Avalanche ETF in the United States, trading under ticker VAVX on Nasdaq
• The fund waives sponsor fees on the first $500 million in assets through February 28, then charges 0.20% on assets above that threshold
• AVAX trades at $11.76 with a market cap of $5.1 billion, down 92% from its November 2021 all-time high of $144.96
• Avalanche active addresses jumped 1,733% in one week, rising from 30,000 to over 600,000 users
• Grayscale and Bitwise have pending applications to launch their own spot Avalanche ETFs awaiting regulatory approval

VanEck has launched the first spot Avalanche ETF available to US investors. The product trades on Nasdaq under the ticker VAVX and provides direct exposure to AVAX, the native token of the Avalanche blockchain.

The fund started trading on January 27, 2026. It tracks the MarketVector Avalanche Benchmark Rate price index. VanEck is waiving all sponsor fees on the first $500 million in assets until February 28. After that date, the fund will charge a 0.20% annual fee on all assets.

Kyle DaCruz serves as director of digital assets product at VanEck. He said the ETF wrapper gives registered investment advisors and wealth management firms easier access to AVAX exposure. The product also allows institutions to earn staking rewards without managing blockchain infrastructure themselves.

The ETF will stake a portion of its AVAX holdings. Staking rewards will go to investors after fees are deducted. Coinbase Crypto Services will receive 4% of staking rewards under the staking provider agreement. There is currently no custodian staking facilitation fee.

Benqi Finance, Hypha, and Yield Yak will provide liquid staking solutions for the fund. These protocols allow the ETF to deposit AVAX tokens with their smart contracts while maintaining liquidity.

Avalanche launched in September 2020 as an open-source blockchain network. Ava Labs developed the platform. Emin Gün Sirer, a computer scientist from Cornell University, founded the company.

AVAX Market Performance

AVAX currently trades at $11.76 with a market capitalization of $5.1 billion. The token has fallen 92% from its all-time high of $144.96 reached in November 2021. Over the past year, AVAX has declined 69%.

The price is testing support near the $12 level. Analysts say AVAX is at a structural turning point. If the token holds above $11 to $12 and breaks above $14.80, targets of $18 to $20 could come into view. A failure to hold current levels could push prices toward $9 to $10.

On-chain activity has increased sharply. Active addresses on the Avalanche network rose 1,733% in one week. The number jumped from 30,000 to over 600,000 addresses. Grayscale reported that Avalanche’s C-Chain averaged 2.5 million transactions over a seven-day period in late 2025.

Regulatory Pipeline and Adoption

VanEck first filed an S-1 registration statement for an Avalanche ETF in March 2025. Nasdaq submitted a rule-change filing in April 2025 requesting approval to list and trade the product. This was a required step before the ETF could launch.

Two other firms have pending applications for spot Avalanche ETFs. Grayscale Investments operates an Avalanche trust and filed to convert it into a spot ETF in August 2025. Bitwise Asset Management submitted an S-1 registration for an AVAX spot ETF in September 2025.

Avalanche blockchain adoption is expanding across multiple sectors. Gaming platforms Off the Grid and MapleStory now run on Avalanche Layer 1 blockchains. Asset managers KKR and SkyBridge Capital are tokenizing funds through the Avalanche platform.

Government agencies are also using Avalanche technology. New Jersey has tokenized $240 billion worth of property records on the network. The California Department of Motor Vehicles is tokenizing car titles using Avalanche.

VanEck’s VAVX marks the first spot Avalanche ETF trading in the United States, with Grayscale and Bitwise applications still pending SEC approval.

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