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Chain Rating · Scorecard v1.0

Avalanche

Blockchain · AVAX · $0.61B DeFi TVL. Avalanche is a proof-of-stake smart-contract network that also hosts application-specific chains. It holds under 1% of all-chain TVL.

Data As Of November 12, 2026 Methodology Chains v1.0 (provisional) Revenue To Coin Burn · Low
SolvencyCREDIT GRADE
BB
57.5 / 100
Can the network keep paying for its own security?
Legitimacy
BBB
62 / 100
Is it what it says it is, and who controls it?
GrowthOUTLOOK
CCC
26 / 100
Is usage growing, measured by value and fees?
How Revenue Reaches The Coin

Does Avalanche's Revenue Help AVAX Holders?

Mechanism
Burn
Pass-through today
Low
  • Burn: all transaction fees are destroyed; none go to validators.
  • In Q3 2026 the network burned about 59,000 AVAX against about 2.62M AVAX of staking rewards, offsetting roughly 2% of issuance (Blockworks Advisory).
  • Staking rewards are entirely new issuance, drawn from a pool that runs toward the 720M cap.

What it means for a holder. The mechanism is the most holder-friendly of any chain rated here, since every fee reduces supply for everyone. At current activity the amounts are too small to matter, and a non-staker is diluted by roughly 3% a year.

Descriptive, not scored separately: the fee-against-issuance input in Solvency already carries the economic weight. Not investment advice.

Axis I · Credit Grade

Solvency — BB

Solvency screens at BB (57.5 / 100). Strongest input: supply pressure, next 12 months. Weakest input: fee revenue against new issuance.

Solvency ScorecardBB
MetricRawNormalizedWeightWeighted
Fee revenue against new issuance0.02x
25%2.5
Chain fees of about $2.7M over the last 12 months against staking rewards of roughly 3.3% of supply a year (about $130M).
Stake concentration7 / 10
25%17.5
A large validator set with about 45% of supply staked. Current concentration figures not verified.
Supply pressure, next 12 months4.9%
15%12.8
Inflation of about 3.3% a year plus quarterly unlocks of about 0.4% of circulating supply each.
DeFi value stability (worst 90-day drawdown)21%
15%12.8
Liveness and incident history6 / 10
20%12
Multi-hour halts in 2023 and February 2024; none found since, though not searched exhaustively.
FINAL DIMENSION SCORE57.5 → BB
Axis II · Legitimacy

Legitimacy — BBB

Legitimacy screens at BBB (62 / 100). Strongest input: team and foundation transparency. Weakest input: client diversity and audits.

Legitimacy ScorecardBBB
MetricRawNormalizedWeightWeighted
Client diversity and audits4 / 10
20%8
One main node implementation.
Team and foundation transparency8 / 10
20%16
Delivery against roadmap7 / 10
20%14
Major network redesign shipped in late 2024; a 2026 upgrade changed the fee floor and reward curve.
Governance of upgrades6 / 10
25%15
Changes go through public proposals that validators signal on; the founding company and foundation lead.
Supply distribution6 / 10
15%9
Team and foundation allocations are still unlocking on a published schedule.
FINAL DIMENSION SCORE62 → BBB
Axis III · Growth Outlook

Growth — CCC

Growth screens at CCC (26 / 100). Strongest input: users and developers. Weakest input: defi tvl, 12-month trend.

Growth ScorecardCCC
MetricRawNormalizedWeightWeighted
DeFi TVL, 12-month trend-56%
25%2.5
Share of all-chain TVL0.79%
20%4
Fee revenue, 12-month trend-75%
20%2
Users and developers5 / 10
35%17.5
Institutional and application-specific chain pilots, against DeFi TVL and fee revenue both down sharply.
FINAL DIMENSION SCORE26 → CCC
Verdict

Where Avalanche Lands

Weakest axis: Growth, CCC. The design passes all fee revenue to holders through the burn, but there is little revenue to pass. Growth is the weak axis: value and fees have both fallen by more than half in a year.

Credit Grade — Solvency
BB
57.5 / 100

The credit grade answers one question: can the network keep funding its security and stay live. Legitimacy and Growth are published beside it and are never averaged into it.

Analyst Note
Every fee is burned, but fees are tiny next to staking rewards, so security is paid for almost entirely by new issuance.
Chains scorecard v1.0, provisional. Base networks are graded on the same three axes and AAA-to-D scale as DeFi protocols, with inputs suited to a chain. Fee, TVL and share figures come from DefiLlama as of November 12, 2026; the 0–10 inputs are analyst estimates from public sources and judgment. Growth leans on DeFi TVL and fee revenue, which understates chains used mainly for payments. Every input should be verified before being relied upon.
Other Rated Chains
ChainSolvencyLegitimacyGrowth
EthereumBBBAABB
SolanaBBBBBB
TRONBBBBBBB
CardanoBBBACCC
SuiBBBCCC
NEAR ProtocolBBBBBBB
HederaBBBCCC
TONBBBBB

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