How to Buy Avalanche (AVAX): Top 4 Exchanges for December 2024

With the growth in the popularity of cryptocurrencies, blockchain platforms are trying to introduce their own coins to facilitate transactions and, in some cases, lower fees for their customers. 

Ava Lab’s Avalanche, along with the native AVAX token, is a good example of this in action. It’s a “blockchain of blockchains,” offering users unprecedented interoperability among platforms and an alternative to Ethereum and its ever-growing transaction fees. 

Over recent years, AVAX has grown in value significantly. In this article, we’ve discussed why and how to buy Avalanche (AVAX), covering the steps you need to take to get hold of it in 2024.

Where To Buy AVAX - Top AVAX Exchanges

There are many great exchanges that allow you to buy AVAX. We covered each of them in turn and why you might consider using them:

What Is Avalanche (AVAX)?

AVAX is Avalanche’s native coin, which emerged from the underlying Avalanche architecture. As a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, the platform seeks to replace conventional banking functions with smart contract alternatives on the blockchain. These contracts allow users to hold crypto assets in escrow without any centralized custodian, such as a bank or financial institution. 

While other platforms offer such services, Avalanche is unique in that it allows users to finalize transactions in under a second. It also operates across multiple platforms, including Ethereum, serving as a central hub for all of them. 

Unlike most altcoins, Avalanche is not built on the Ethereum framework. It works via the Avalanche ecosystem created out of three blockchains: Contract Chain (C-Chain), Platform Chan (P-Chain) and Exchange Chain (X-Chain).

AVAX is a capped-supply cryptocurrency that operates under a proof-of-stake, not proof-of-work, architecture. This is important. Proof of work is the main driver of Bitcoin and Ethereum which requires a network of power-guzzling computer nodes to “mine” new coins using computationally challenging processes. 

Proof of stake, by contrast, works on a validator model. Nodes have a financial stake in the cryptocurrency to secure transactions on the blockchain. The result is secure transactions alongside reduced power consumption – a holy grail of the crypto space. 

This system means that Avalanche’s AVAX users can conduct transactions in a fraction of a second, dramatically increasing the speed that smart contracts go into effect compared to traditional proof-of-work schemes.

Why Buy AVAX?

AVAX saw a price gain of more than 3,000% in 2021. It started the year in 64th place by market cap but quickly rose to 10th. While Solana somewhat overshadowed its success, AVAX may have long-term strategic advantages over its rival. 

Here are some of the benefits of purchasing Avalanche (AVAX):

Low Time-To-Finality

Today, there is a wide range of programmable cryptocurrencies on the market. However, AVAX stands out on account of its time-to-finality.

The experience with AVAX is different both from regular credit card payments and crypto transactions. For instance, under the traditional system, a customer makes a deposit and payment with their card and then the vendor waits for the payment processing company and acquiring and issuing banks to authorize it. Because of this, it can take time for a conventional bank account to transition from “pending” payments to approved. 

Despite their decentralization, the same is true of proof-of-work platforms, such as Ethereum. After a user verifies a transaction, it takes time for nodes to consign it to a block in the blockchain. 

Avalanche gets around this problem using its proof-of-stake architecture. The platform offers the fastest smart contracts in the blockchain space thanks to the fact that Avalanche uses three interconnected blockchains instead of just one. Each chain performs a different task, allowing the network to operate quickly without compromising either scalability or security. 

Proof-of-Stake Methodology

Currently, Ethereum is Avalanche’s largest competitor and the platform most used for DeFi contracts. It’s also considerably bigger than Avalanche in terms of daily volume.

However, as discussed above, Ethereum employs proof of work, meaning slower transaction times and higher fees. As mining becomes more challenging and the price of adding new blocks to the blockchain goes up, users are liable to pay more. 

Being a proof-of-stake-based cryptocurrency, AVAX sidesteps this issue. This means that Avax DeFi projects, on the Avalanche blockchain, can offer lower fees and become more profitable over time without any decrease in security. (Ethereum, too, is preparing to switch to proof of stake, but this has yet to happen.)

Built-In Deflation 

The AVAX system is also inherently deflationary, meaning that holders of coins are likely to see their value rise as time passes. The Avalanche blockchain destroys AVAX tokens used to pay transaction fees, reducing the number of coins in circulation. 

Decentralization With No Scalability Sacrifice

Thanks to its basic design, the Avalanche system and the AVAX coin that runs on it have almost limitless interoperability functions with no impact on decentralization. Its blockchains change consensus algorithms by use case, with more validators keeping track of developments than any other network. 

Avalanche’s blockchain comprises thousands of subnets. This allows it to keep the rate of throughput high and maintain its decentralized architecture at all times. 

How To Buy AVAX and Begin The ‘Crypto Avalanche’

Today, there are several exchanges that allow you to buy AVAX. Most require you to go through a process that looks approximately like this: 

Step 1: Open Your New Account

The first step in the process is to open an account on an exchange that supports AVAX crypto trading. Currently, some large platforms don’t support AVAX trading, so you’ll need to an open account on a platform that does, such as Binance and others (which we’ve discussed below). 

When you sign up to these platforms, you’ll need to provide what regulators call “know your customer” (KYC) information, similar to when you set up a conventional brokerage account. This information satisfies authorities that exchanges are performing due diligence on who is using their platforms.

The data you provide depends on your location. If you’re connecting from the US, you’ll need to provide your full name, Social Security number address, date of birth, and proof of identity. Usually, uploading any commonly-recognized government ID, including a passport or driver’s license, will suffice. In some cases, you may also be allowed to submit a utility bill less than three months old. 

Step 2: Open a Wallet

Opening a wallet for AVAX is an optional step, but it’s something many users like to do to keep their crypto assets secure. While it might be tempting to keep your money in an exchange account, this is not advisable. If the exchange gets hacked or goes out of business, you risk losing all your money. 

Today, there are many software-based crypto wallets that support AVAX, including the Avalanche Wallet, a noncustodial option from the currency’s creator. Most wallets are free, and some even let you earn interest on the money you store in them. 

You can also use hardware wallets – a type of crypto wallet that’s a physical device that lets you store your crypto offline. Experts generally consider these to be the most secure way to keep AVAX and other cryptocurrencies because they’re not accessible to online hackers. Theft and loss, however, are still risks.

Step 3: Purchase AVAX

Once you’ve found a crypto exchange to purchase AVAX and have set up a wallet, you’re free to go ahead and buy.

Most exchanges allow you to buy at the spot price or place a limit order. If you buy at the spot price, you’ll pay whatever the going AVAX price is at that moment. If you place a limit order, you can tell the exchange what you’re willing to pay, and your transaction will clear if the price reaches your desired level. Some exchanges allow you to set how long you’re prepared to wait (for instance, a couple of hours, or perhaps, indefinitely).

The History of Avalanche

The Avalanche platform is the product of Ava Labs, a Brooklyn, NY-based firm founded in 2018 following a $60 million funding round from both public and private sources, including venture capital firms such as Polychain Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. 

Starting with a team of just three computer scientist founders (including people who worked on Bitcoin scalability), the platform grew substantially. The founders leveraged the AVAX coin as a tool to raise cash, forming a trading price of AVAX at $4.10. Today, you can sell your AVAX for about $90 per coin, as of the time of writing. 

The Bottom Line

Thanks to the coin’s success, figuring out where to buy AVAX crypto is now significantly easier than before. Many reputable crypto exchanges allow you to trade it, including Changelly, Uphold, and Voyager, as well as bigger platforms, such as Coinbase and Binance.

AVAX is of interest to investors because it relies on proof of stake and because it’s interoperable among multiple blockchain networks. It offers many of the smart features of the ultra successful Ethereum blockchain while, at the same time, reducing transaction times. In-built deflation is another reason you may consider buying AVAX, but remember that the cryptocurrency market is a highly volatile trading environment, so trade with caution. 

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