Avalanche’s C-chain has quietly outperformed most layer 1 markets over the past year. Since April 2025, the number of transactions per day has increased approximately 10 times, and the number of daily active users now exceeds 600,000, ranking third in the US. $AVAX ETFs were also launched in the same window. Chain stores are crowded while the market looks elsewhere.
According to Artemis data, C-chain processed 2.5 million to 3 million transactions daily in early 2026, reaching a peak of 3.6 million on April 6th. This is a sharp increase from the low hundreds of thousands recorded 12 months ago.
How big is the spike in transactions?
According to Artemis data, the three-year growth rate in daily active users is 1,369%. The weekly chart confirms that. The number of weekly transactions increased from approximately 5 million in mid-2025 to more than 20 million by the end of January 2026. During the same period, daily active users rose to more than 600,000 and have remained there ever since.
Current snapshot numbers from DefiLlama confirm the trend.
- Active addresses (24 hours): 634,657
- Chain fee (24 hours): $5,027
- Stablecoin market cap: $1.54 billion, up 10.89% in 7 days
- DEX Volume (24 hours): $155.91 million
- TVL: $739.7 million
- $AVAX Price: ~$9.54
Nansen said the increase was not caused by bot traffic. Over the past four months, non-Sybil addresses have grown from approximately 5,000 to 49,000, suggesting that genuine wallets are emerging and here to stay.
Who actually uses Avalanche?
The busiest applications on C-chain over the past 30 days, as measured by gas fees paid, are a mix of DEXs, stablecoin issuers, and wallet infrastructure. Paraswap topped the list with gas prices of $2,179, followed by Tether at $988 and Trader Joe’s at $699. Circle, LFJ, metamaskUniswap, MapleStory, Odos, Binance Rounding out the top ten.
stable coin Activity is in full swing here. Stablecoin transfer volumes tracked by Artemis (excluding MEV and intra-CEX flows) increased by 614% over three years. Total stablecoin transfers increased by 631% over the same period.
Lesson learned: DeFi rails and stablecoin flows are engines, not engines. meme coin Speculation.
What drives institutional capital?
On-chain spikes are consistent with an aggressive ETF calendar. VanEck starts spot $AVAX The ETF (VAVX), which was listed on Nasdaq in January 2026, provided U.S. investors with direct spot exposure for the first time. Grayscale continues in March; $AVAX Staking ETF (GAVA), convert your existing trust and add staking yield.
bit by bit launched Our newest product, BAVA, was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on April 15th. This is a first in the United States. $AVAX An ETF with built-in staking functionality aimed at allocators seeking regulated yield exposure. CME group is also preparing $AVAX Futures, scheduled for launch on May 4, 2026, pending regulatory review.
Nansen pointed to three catalysts behind the surge in activity: the launch of GAVA, the opening of regulatory lanes for institutional investors, and the SEC and CFTC classifications. $AVAX Broadridge enables on-chain proxy voting.
What happens next?
3 ETFs in 4 months, on-chain metrics still rising@avax. An open question is whether the current trading floor will be maintained after the initial ETF inflows subside.
Despite a spike in activity, a side effect of the Avalanche9000 upgrade that lowered base prices, C-Chain’s annual revenue fell 39.2% year over year. Lowering fees helped the chain gain more users, but it also put pressure on the chain’s profits. This trade-off is worth noting, as more subnets and applications will be launched on the cheaper pricing environment.
avalanche One of the highest performing products layer 1 The market is starting to notice the change in the chain due to raw usage.
source:
- artemis – On-chain data platform, a major source of C-chain transactions, active user growth, and stablecoin transfer volume.
- Defilama – TVL, chain fees, DEX volume, active addresses, stablecoin market cap snapshot.
- Van Eck – Press release on January 26, 2026 regarding VAVX Spot $AVAX ETFs are created on Nasdaq.
- gray scale – March 12, 2026 GAVA launch $AVAX Staking ETFs on Nasdaq.
- bit by bit – April 15, 2026 BAVA Spot Avalanche ETP with in-house staking launches on NYSE.
- CME Group – Scheduled to be released on May 4, 2026 $AVAX and SUI futures pending regulatory review.
