Avalanche launches a new funding round based on network usage

Avalanche Foundation is entering a new phase of the Retro9000 initiative, valued at $40 million, with the "C-Chain Round" starting from March 2026. Unlike the previous voting mechanism based on wallets, this round scores projects based on the actual usage of the Avalanche C-Chain network.

The project's success is measured by the amount of AVAX burned through transaction fees — a transparent indicator of market demand. The more an application is used, the more AVAX is burned, and the higher its ranking. The top 40 projects on the public leaderboard will be eligible for rewards.

The first round allocates a total of 11,000 AVAX, with subsequent rounds subject to change. To ensure fairness, no project can receive funding exceeding 90% of the total AVAX burned in that month.