BLOG POSTS ROUND UP TAGS JOIN NOW NOV 22 2021, 14:14 EST / CHARLOTTE SILLER Inside Avalanche: The Fastest Smart Contracts Platform Due to regulatory and geographical differences, financial markets worldwide are fragmented. Avalanche, an open-source smart contracts platform for decentralized applications, seeks to solve this problem by creating a fast, scalable platform for deploying digital assets in one unified ecosystem. As of November 2021 according to Markr.io, Avalanche has roughly $18B in total value locked (TVL). How it works Positioning themselves as, “blazingly fast, low cost, and eco-friendly,” Avalanche also has the claim to fame of being the fastest smart contracts platform in the blockchain industry, as measured by time to finality. This highlights a key difference between Avalanche and other decentralized networks as its consensus protocol enables Avalanche to permanently confirm transactions in under 1 second. By employing a novel approach to consensus to achieve its strong safety guarantees, quick finality, and high-throughput without compromising decentralization, Avalanche offers developers an interoperable and highly scalable ecosystem to build upon. Not only that, it supports the entirety of the Ethereum development toolkit, enabling millions of independent validators to participate. There are currently over 1,100 full, block-producing nodes. Subnets are another feature of Avalanche that is planned to launch in 2022 and will enable customizable blockchains to be deployed; enterprises and institutions will be able to create permissioned blockchains with on-chain KYC/AML capabilities. Additionally, blockchains, via virtual machines (VMs), can be scaled using subnets. For example, the Ethereum VM (EVM) on Avalanche is effectively an instance of Ethereum, powered by Avalanche consensus. With subnets, this can be replicated across any blockchain. Empowering users Unlike other networks that force terms and conditions of network participation uniformly across the system, Avalanche empowers individuals and enterprises alike to develop applications and custom blockchain networks or build on existing networks. For example, if a regulated financial institution wants to issue digital assets, it’s simply not possible for them to do so compliantly in a system where they cannot control which nodes validate their network activity. On Avalanche, the same institution can maintain complete control over the network. This is all possible via subnets. Avalanche Consensus One big difference between Avalanche and other decentralized networks is the consensus protocol, or how the network validates transactions. Avalanche takes on the well-known blockchain “trilemma,” challenging the stale concept that networks can’t provide security and scalability without sacrificing decentralization. The network’s protocol uses a novel approach to consensus to achieve its strong safety guarantees with fast results and high throughput—all without compromising decentralization. Avalanche combines both Classic consensus (speed, scale, quick finality, and energy efficiency) and Nakamoto consensus (robustness, decentralization) to create a new protocol that attacks scaling, security, and speed at the absolute foundation of decentralized networks. The trailblazing Avalanche consensus shows that you can have the best of both worlds without having to make sacrifices. Avalanche also implements the Snowman Consensus Protocol, which is a chain-optimized consensus protocol—high-throughput, totally-ordered, and great for smart contracts. Snowman Consensus underpins Avalanche's Contract Chain (C-Chain), which is a scalable, fast implementation of Ethereum’s smart contract engine (EVM). Key features Speed Uses a novel consensus protocol, developed by a team of Cornell computer scientists, and can permanently confirm transactions in under 1 second. Scalability Capable of 4,500 transactions per second–an order of magnitude greater than existing blockchains. Security Ensures stronger security guarantees well above the 51% standard of other networks. Sustainability Uses energy-efficient proof-of-stake consensus algorithm rather than proof-of-work. How to buy Avalanche (AVAX) 1. Download the Voyager app: Available in the App Store and Google Play Store, visit and search Voyager or click here to download now. 2. Open a Voyager trading account: Fill in your personal information to create a trading account. As a licensed financial institution, your personal information is always safe with us. 3. Link your bank: Link your bank account by navigating to the User Icon on the bottom navigation of your app. On your account page, tap Bank Accounts and add your bank. 4. Fund your Voyager account: To deposit USD, go to your account page and tap Transfer Cash or Crypto, tap Deposit to Voyager Account and select USD. Then enter the amount of USD you'd like to transfer and slide the Slide to Deposit USD banner. Now you can trade instantly. 5. Buy AVAX: Navigate to the Market Screen scroll until you reach AVAX and tap to access the Avalanche page, then tap Buy AVAX. Insert the amount of USD you'd like to spend and slide the Slide to Buy AVAX purple banner to complete your purchase. Trading on the Voyager app is currently available to all U.S. residents excluding New York state. We are actively working with regulators to expand to New York and internationally in the future. Voyager Cryptocurrency Risk Disclosure: All digital asset transactions involve risk, and the past performance of a digital asset or other financial product does not guarantee future results or returns. Cryptocurrencies are highly speculative in nature, involve a high degree of risk, and can rapidly and significantly decrease in value. It is reasonably possible for the value of Cryptocurrencies to decrease to zero or near zero. While diversification may help spread risk, it does not assure a profit or protect against loss. Traders should consider their objectives and risks carefully before trading. Previous gains may not be representative of the experience of other customers and are not guarantees of future performance or success. Investment Advice Disclosure: This content is not investment advice and should not be relied on for such advice or as a substitute for consultation with professional accounting, tax, legal or financial advisors. The observations of industry trends should not be read as recommendations for digital assets, sectors, or future price movement predictions. Filed under: BLOG POSTS, INSIDE CRYPTO, AVALANCHE Charlotte Siller Read more posts by this author. Read more RELATED POSTS Blog Posts Your guide to fielding crypto skeptics at the holiday table this year Spend like cash. Earn like crypto. Crypto assets supported on the Voyager app See all 189 posts → ROUND UP Projects race to get in the NFT game and claim space in the metaverse 4 MIN READ BLOG POSTS Your guide to fielding crypto skeptics at the holiday table this year 4 MIN READ NODE: THE BLOG FROM VOYAGER NODE HOME ABOUT THE APP INVESTVOYAGER.COM SIGN UP GET VOYAGER NEWS IN YOUR INBOX ©2021 Voyager Digital, LLC. VOYAGER is a trademark of Voyager IP, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Voyager Digital Ltd. All services provided by Voyager Digital, LLC, a FinCEN registered company. Investments are subject to market risk. NMLS ID: 1730854. All rights reserved. Node is operated by Voyager Digital, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Voyager Digital Holdings, Inc and Voyager Digital Ltd. Opinions belong to contributing authors, not to Voyager Digital LLC or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. Please consult your financial adviser or investment adviser regarding your individual financial and investment decisions. Articles on Node are intended for educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment or tax recommendations.