The AVAX token has risen by 70% in November which made it the month’s best performing layer 1 platform. Avalanche now has a market cap of more than £10 billion.
Layer 1 tokens have sparked increased interest throughout November as several top blockchain protocols pushed incentive programs, while gas fees on Ethereum network have remained near all-time highs.
“Layer 1″ refers to blockchains that run independently from other blockchains. On the other hand, “layer 2″ solutions aim to speed up transactions on existing blockchains like Ethereum.
The layer 1 chain, Avalanche, saw its AVAX token rise 70% in November, making it the top performing layer 1 platform with a market capitalization of over $10 billion. Among the largest cryptocurrencies, AVAX was the second-biggest gainer overall, behind Crypto.com’s CRO token. Cro almost tripled in value over the last month.
In mid-November, AVAX reached an all-time high. The price came just after announcing a partnership deal with Deloitte to build more efficient disaster-relief platforms using the Avalanche blockchain.
The platform has also announced more than $600 million of marketing initiatives and incentives recently to encourage network growth, possibly another factor in the price surge.
Other blockchain tokens rally
Amid the token rally, Terra saw its LUNA token rise 28%. This was followed by Solana’s SOL token, which rose by almost 5%. The price gains came during a month when bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency, slid 4.5%. Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency, ether (ETH), rose 7%.
Research lead at Kaiko, Clara Medalie, said “AVAX, SOL and LUNA are rallying along with other layer 1 protocol tokens, which have made huge gains as fees on the Ethereum network remain near all time highs.”
Research from IntoTheBlock shows that transaction fees on Ethereum have continued to increase and are around $43 as of Nov. 27. Just a year ago, fees were only $1.15.
The sudden peak in interest surrounding alternative blockchains comes as the transaction fees of Ethereum continue to rise. Users have had to explore alternative blockchains with lower costs, according to Matthew Dibb, Stack Funds’ co-founder.
As stated by Anto Paroian, chief operating officer at ARK36, blockchains like Solana are getting a boost because the market is betting on the gaming and play-to-earn sector to keep growing. Play-to-earn refers to video games where users can earn cryptocurrencies as rewards.
