Connect with us

Crypto World

Grayscale launches GAVA Avalanche Staking ETF on NASDAQ

Published

on

Crypto Breaking News

Editor’s note: Grayscale has launched the Grayscale Avalanche Staking ETF (GAVA), now trading on NASDAQ as a new exchange traded product. The fund seeks to provide exposure to AVAX while also enabling participation in the Avalanche network’s staking process, potentially earning staking rewards. This represents a move to combine price exposure with on‑chain activity within a regulated‑style vehicle, reflecting growing interest in crypto assets accessible through exchange‑traded formats. Investors should review the disclosures and risks before investing.

Key points

  • GAVA trades on NASDAQ as a new exchange traded product (ETP) providing AVAX exposure and staking participation.
  • Staking introduces potential rewards tied to network participation and its associated risks.
  • GAVA is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and carries notable risk and volatility disclosures.
  • Avalanche uses a Proof of Stake model and supports configurable blockchains, appealing to enterprise and institutional users.

“Investors across the market continue to seek simple ways to incorporate digital assets into their portfolios,” said Inkoo Kang, Senior Vice President, ETFs, at Grayscale. “GAVA complements our existing suite of more than 40 digital asset products and provides investors with the ability to gain exposure to one of the market’s leading smart contract platforms, supported by Grayscale’s scale, research, and infrastructure. By integrating staking into the Fund’s strategy, GAVA also enables investors to access the potential economic benefits of participating in Avalanche’s Proof of Stake network through an ETP structure.”

Why this matters

Avalanche’s PoS architecture and Grayscale’s scale and research infrastructure provide a tangible way for investors to gain exposure to a leading smart contract platform while incorporating staking into an ETF-like vehicle. By combining price exposure with potential staking rewards, GAVA broadens access to crypto yields through a regulated channel and reflects ongoing demand for practical crypto investment solutions. The approach underscores how staking economics and on-chain activity can be integrated into traditional investment products.

What to watch next

  • NASDAQ trading activity for GAVA, including liquidity and volumes.
  • Updates on staking rewards and how they are distributed to fund holders.
  • Risk disclosures and investor guidance from Grayscale.

Disclosure: The content below is a press release provided by the company/PR representative. It is published for informational purposes.

Grayscale Avalanche Staking ETF (Ticker: GAVA) Debuts on NASDAQ with AVAX Staking Exposure

Offers exposure to Avalanche, a smart contract platform supporting customizable blockchain infrastructure for the real world

STAMFORD, Conn., March 12, 2026 – Grayscale Investments®, the world’s largest digital asset-focused investment platform*, today announced that Grayscale Avalanche Staking ETF (Ticker: GAVA) has begun trading on NASDAQ as a new exchange-traded product (ETP).

Advertisement

Grayscale Avalanche Staking ETF (Ticker: GAVA) seeks to provide exposure to AVAX, the native token of the Avalanche network, while also enabling participation in the network’s staking process. Through staking, GAVA may earn rewards associated with participation in the network.

Grayscale Avalanche Staking ETF (“GAVA” or the “Fund”), an exchange traded product, is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “40 Act”) and therefore is not subject to the same regulations and protections as 40 Act-registered ETFs and mutual funds. An investment in the Fund is subject to significant risk and heightened volatility. GAVA is not suitable for an investor that cannot afford the loss of the entire investment. An investment in the Fund is not a direct investment in AVAX.

Avalanche is a multi-chain smart contract platform designed to help address the common blockchain challenge of balancing scalability, security, and decentralization. Its architecture is optimized for core functions like creating and transferring digital assets, executing smart contracts, and enabling custom blockchains, called Avalanche L1s. Together, this design helps support high-throughput applications while providing a high level of configurability and control valued by enterprise and institutional users.

Avalanche utilizes a Proof of Stake consensus model, allowing AVAX token holders to delegate or validate in order to secure the network.** By incorporating staking into its investment strategy, GAVA aims to provide investors with exposure not only to the price performance of AVAX, but also to the economic activity associated with network participation.

Advertisement

“Investors across the market continue to seek simple ways to incorporate digital assets into their portfolios,” said Inkoo Kang, Senior Vice President, ETFs, at Grayscale. “GAVA complements our existing suite of more than 40 digital asset products and provides investors with the ability to gain exposure to one of the market’s leading smart contract platforms, supported by Grayscale’s scale, research, and infrastructure. By integrating staking into the Fund’s strategy, GAVA also enables investors to access the potential economic benefits of participating in Avalanche’s Proof of Stake network through an ETP structure.”

Avalanche was designed from day one to support real-world applications at scale,” said John Wu, President of Ava Labs. “Built for business, Avalanche enables financial services, enterprise platforms, and tokenized real-world assets through a customizable, flexible architecture that gives institutions the performance, security, and control needed for production deployment.”

Since launching in 2020, Avalanche has evolved into a diverse, flexible ecosystem used by developers, enterprises, and institutions building applications across gaming, financial services, and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). With more than 11.4 billion transactions since inception, Avalanche has demonstrated sustained network activity and continued growth and adoption.***

Grayscale Avalanche Staking ETF was first launched as a private placement in August 2024 as one of the first investment vehicles enabling investors to gain exposure, and not a direct investment, to AVAX, the platform token underlying the Avalanche platform.

For additional information about GAVA please visit: https://etfs.grayscale.com/gava

Advertisement

About Grayscale

Grayscale is the world’s largest digital asset-focused investment platform* with a mission to make digital asset investing simpler and open to all investors. Founded in 2013, Grayscale has been at the forefront of bringing digital assets into the mainstream. The firm has a long history of firsts, including launching the first Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange traded products in the United States. Grayscale continues to pioneer the asset class by providing investors, advisors, and institutional allocators with exposure to more than 45 digital assets through a suite of over 40 investment products, spanning ETFs, private funds, and diversified strategies. For more information, please follow @Grayscale or visit grayscale.com.

*Largest digital asset-focused investment platform based on AUM as of December 31, 2025. For other companies in this category, AUM is considered as of most recent public disclosure.

**Avax.network as of February 23, 2026

***Explorer.avax.network as of February 23, 2026

Advertisement

Please read the prospectus carefully before investing in the Fund. Foreside Fund Services, LLC is the Marketing Agent and Grayscale Investments Sponsors, LLC is the Sponsor of GAVA.

As a non-diversified and single industry fund, the value of the shares may fluctuate more than shares invested in a broader range of industries. There is no guarantee that a market for the shares will be available which will adversely impact the liquidity of the Fund. The value of the Fund relates directly to the value of Avalanche, the value of which may be highly volatile and subject to fluctuations due to a number of factors.

Extreme volatility of trading prices that many digital assets have experienced in recent months and may continue to experience, could have a material adverse effect on the value of the Fund and the shares could lose all or substantially all of their AVAX. AVAX may have concentrated ownership and large sales or distributions by holders of AVAX could have an adverse effect on the market price of such digital assets. The value of the Fund relates directly to the value of AVAX, the value of which may be highly volatile and subject to fluctuations due to a number of factors. Because the value of the Fund is correlated with the value of AVAX, it is important to understand the investment attributes of, and the market for, AVAX. Please consult with a financial professional.

When the Fund stakes AVAX, AVAX is subject to the risks attendant to staking generally. Staking requires that the Fund lock up AVAX for the period of time required by the staking protocol, meaning that the Fund cannot sell or transfer the staked AVAX, thereby making it illiquid for the period it is being staked. Staked AVAX is also subject to security breaches, network downtime or attacks, smart contract vulnerabilities, and validator or custodian failure or compromise, which can result in a complete loss of the staked AVAX or a loss of any rewards. Potential staking rewards are earned by the Fund and not issued directly to investors.

Advertisement

Media Contact
press@grayscale.com

Client Contact
866-775-0313
info@grayscale.com

Risk & affiliate notice: Crypto assets are volatile and capital is at risk. This article may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Crypto World

BNB Chain Overtakes Ethereum, Base by Number of AI Agents

Published

on

the-defiant

BSC recently became the largest network by registered AI agents using the ERC-8004 standard, while on-chain agent activity in the ecosystem is also rising.

BNB Chain has surpassed Ethereum as the blockchain hosting the largest number of AI agents operating under the ERC-8004 standard, according to data from Agentscan and 8004scan.

Out of 89,451 total registered ERC-8004 AI agents, there are currently 34,278 on BNB Smart Chain (BSC), the BNB Chain ecosystem’s EVM-compatible blockchain network, per 8004scan. Base is the second-largest network by number of agents, with 16,549, followed by Ethereum mainnet with just over 14,000.

the-defiant
ERC-8004 agents by chain. Source: 8004scan

Data from Agentscan shows BSC leading with 39,000 agents, and Base and Ethereum nearly tied at between 28K-30K on-chain agents using the ERC-8004 standard.

The on-chain AI agent sector has seen explosive growth in recent months, and BNB Chain agents in particular have surged this month. Per an X post on March 1 citing Agentscan data, at the time, BSC had just 6.6K agents, while Ethereum was in the lead with 29K.

Advertisement

Per data from 8004scan, since the start of the year, the number of agents using ERC-8004 across blockchain networks has grown from 337 to nearly 130,000 — an increase of over 39,000%.

the-defiant
Total number of on-chain agents, January 2026-present. Source: 8004scan

The ERC-8004 standard, launched by the Ethereum Foundation earlier this year, defines how AI agents register on-chain identities, manage wallets, and interact with smart contracts autonomously, working like an immutable ID or profile for agents that can operate across any chain that supports the standard.

More Agents, More On-Chain Activity

Last month, as the number of agents on BNB Chain surged, the number of agent transactions did as well. Looking at daily transaction volume tied to ERC-8004 agents on BSC since early February, daily transaction count just reached a high of almost 523,000 transactions on March 10, per data from Dune Analytics.

the-defiant
Daily transaction count by BSC agents using ERC-8004. Source: Dune

Agent-driven trading volume across decentralized exchanges on BNB Chain since February also reached a daily high yesterday, March 11, of over $18.1 million.

the-defiant
Daily DEX volumes for BSC ERC-8004 agents. Source: Dune

The Defiant was unable to verify on-chain activity data, like DEX volumes, for ERC-8004 agents across other blockchain networks.

Why BNB Chain?

Nina Rong, executive director of growth at BNB Chain, points to infrastructure fundamentals to explain why agents have proliferated in that ecosystem in particular.

“Most blockchains were designed with human users in mind,” she told The Defiant. “It doesn’t work for autonomous agents operating at machine speed, executing thousands of interactions a day.” Rong pointed to low fees and faster settlement on BSC, making micro-transactions economically viable. But, she argued that on-chain identity capabilities enabled by the ecosystem is the deeper driver.

Advertisement

Through ERC-8004, agents get a portable, decentralized identity. However, BNB Chain developed a second layer for the standard, dubbed BAP-578. This layer works like a reputation standard built on the ERC-721 NFT format, giving each agent a verifiable, tradeable on-chain track record — something Rong describes as unique to BNB Chain.

“When you put all of that together – the speed, the economics, the identity layer, the reputation infrastructure – BNB Chain isn’t just compatible with the autonomous agent economy. It’s designed for it,” Rong told The Defiant.

The Bigger Picture: What Agents Are Actually Spending

The agentic economy is still nascent, and even its measurement is contested. As a16z crypto partner Noah Levine noted in an X post just yesterday, Bloomberg cited $24 million in AI agent payments over a 30-day period via the cross-chain x402 payment protocol — but on-chain data from Allium put the figure at $3 million, shrinking to $1.6 million after filtering wash trades, per Artemis.

Per Levine, most agentic economic activity centers on developer tools: web scraping, browser sessions, image generation, billed per query with no account required.

Advertisement

Google recently unveiled its Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), which used the x402 standard, in collaboration with 60 companies – including EigenCloud, Coinbase, the Ethereum Foundation, and MetaMask.

Security Remains an Open Question

In comments to The Defiant, BNB Chain’s Rong acknowledged it’s still early days and on-chain agent activity comes with risks.

“Agents have a long way to go in security,” she said, comparing the current moment to the early stages of any fast-scaling technology. Rong added that BNB Chain is working with security experts on tooling including scanners for OpenClaw skills and standards for wallet key management.

The challenge is already being tackled at the infrastructure level. As The Defiant reported yesterday, AI agent platform CoinFello released an open-source OpenClaw skill allowing agents to execute on-chain transactions via MetaMask without ever accessing a user’s private keys — addressing what the company describes as a core vulnerability in most current agent wallet designs, where private keys or API credentials are typically stored in plain text.

Advertisement

This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

Binance New Listing Announcement: DeepSnitch AI Looks Like the #1 Candidate as Midnight and Opinion Go Live Already

Published

on

Binance New Listing Announcement: DeepSnitch AI Looks Like the #1 Candidate as Midnight and Opinion Go Live Already

Binance.US just hired a compliance veteran as CEO, and for the first time in years, the exchange is ready to fight Coinbase on its home turf.

A revitalized Binance.US means one thing for early-stage projects: the most coveted listing in crypto is becoming accessible again, and you don’t get a Binance new listing announcement hype. It lists products with real utility, real users, and real traction.

DeepSnitch AI has raised $2M+, locked in 42M+ tokens through staking, and is running a live platform that traders are using today. The TGE hits Uniswap on March 31st, with a Binance new listing announcement widely expected to follow.

Binance.US names compliance-first CEO

Binance.US has appointed Stephen Gregory, a compliance veteran from Gemini and CEX.IO, as its new CEO. The appointment follows the SEC dismissing its case against Binance.US in 2023, clearing the path for re-expansion under the more crypto-friendly Trump administration.

Advertisement

Gregory’s compliance background is the point. After years of legal entanglement that forced Binance.US to operate as a crypto-only exchange, the company is now actively expanding into staking, DeFi, and tokenized assets.

A revitalized Binance.US matters because it reintroduces serious competition into the US exchange landscape, which has been largely dominated by Coinbase. Greater competition typically drives product innovation, tighter fees, and broader asset availability.

Top 3 Binance new listing announcements

DeepSnitch AI

The Binance new listing announcement criteria are straightforward: working product, proven user base, and demonstrated traction. DeepSnitch AI meets all three before its public launch, which is exactly what makes the Binance listing expectation credible rather than speculative.

The platform is live today. Five AI tools are fully accessible through one interface, already used by real traders, independently audited by SOLIDProof and Coinsult. That’s the pre-listing credibility Binance evaluates. Not a roadmap, not a whitepaper, but a product anyone can open and test.

Advertisement

The March 31st Uniswap launch is the first step. The Binance new listing announcement that follows is what the 100x projection is actually built on.

The moment DSNT moves from DEX liquidity to one of the deepest order books in the world, with a US retail audience that Binance.US is actively rebuilding access to.

Getting in at $0.04399 before that listing is the trade. After it, the entry point this article is referencing doesn’t exist anymore.

Advertisement

Midnight

Midnight enters the privacy blockchain space differently. Most privacy projects chase anonymity. NIGHT targets programmable zero-knowledge privacy built for finance and healthcare, where selective data disclosure makes it compatible with regulated institutions.

The Cardano partnership adds inherited security and liquidity, advantages that take years to build independently. If compliance-friendly privacy smart contracts gain traction in regulated sectors, NIGHT’s addressable market grows far beyond typical DeFi territory.

Opinion

Opinion targets a gap neither traditional nor decentralised finance has solved: trading directly on macroeconomic outcomes like Fed rate decisions. OPN converts real-world event probabilities into standardised, tradable shares.

The architecture holds up. The four-layer Opinion Stack combines a live prediction exchange, a decentralised AI oracle, unified liquidity pools, and cross-chain interoperability via LayerZero across BNB Chain and Ethereum.

Advertisement

The OPN token ties directly into platform mechanics: premium data access, governance rights, and fee discounts. Value follows usage, not sentiment.

Closing thoughts

Binance.US returning to full strength means the most valuable listing in crypto is back in play for US retail investors, and the projects that get the first Binance new listing announcements are the ones already meeting the criteria today.

DeepSnitch AI goes live March 31st on Uniswap with five AI agents, $2M+ raised, and 193% presale gains behind it. Midnight and Opinion are building toward something real. DSNT is already there.

Visit the official website for more information, and join X and Telegram for community updates.

Advertisement

FAQs

What is the latest Binance new listing investors should know about in 2026?

No official Binance listing announcement has been made for DSNT yet, but DeepSnitch AI’s working platform, independent audits, $2M+ raised, and confirmed March 31st Uniswap launch make it the strongest candidate.

What criteria does a Binance listing typically require from new projects?

Real products, proven user bases, and demonstrated community traction, all of which DeepSnitch AI has established before its public launch, including independent audits from SOLIDProof and Coinsult and 193% presale gains.

Which upcoming listings are generating the most anticipation among retail investors right now?

DeepSnitch AI leads with a confirmed Uniswap debut on March 31st, Binance listing widely expected to follow, and a live platform already accessible today. Midnight’s compliance-privacy angle and Opinion’s prediction market architecture are credible projects, but neither has the pre-launch traction DSNT brings to a listing conversation.


Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Crypto World

Hester Peirce Calls For Simpler Disclosure Rules, Tokenization Experiments

Published

on

Hester Peirce Calls For Simpler Disclosure Rules, Tokenization Experiments

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce said regulators should avoid micromanaging markets and consider simplifying disclosure requirements as discussions around tokenized securities continue.

Peirce, often referred to as “Crypto Mom” for her generally supportive stance toward the digital asset industry, made the remarks Thursday during a speech to the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee, warning that overly prescriptive rules can distort how capital flows through financial markets.

Citing Adam Smith, the 18th-century economist widely regarded as the father of modern economics, Peirce argued that regulators should exercise restraint when shaping market outcomes.

Source: Hester Peirce

She said public companies often spend excessive time preparing mandated disclosures that may obscure rather than clarify information for investors, suggesting the SEC should consider streamlining disclosure rules.

Although the speech addressed broader regulatory issues, Peirce also pointed to the growing debate around tokenized securities and blockchain-based financial infrastructure.

Advertisement

She noted that SEC staff continue to work on a potential “innovation exemption” that could allow limited experimentation with tokenized securities while regulators assess how existing securities laws apply to blockchain-based markets.

Peirce also questioned whether additional disclosure and intermediary requirements would be necessary for tokenized securities, noting that blockchain systems could enable faster settlement and, in some cases, transactions without traditional intermediaries.

Related: Can US lawmakers pass crypto market structure before the midterms?

Tokenization gains traction at SEC

Tokenized securities have become an increasingly prominent topic for the SEC. Chair Paul Atkins said last year that he views tokenization as a major financial “innovation” that regulators should encourage rather than constrain.

Advertisement

The agency took a step in that direction in December, when it issued a no-action letter to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) allowing the market infrastructure provider to explore a blockchain-based tokenization service for securities.

The letter effectively signaled that the regulator would not recommend enforcement action if DTCC proceeded with certain tokenization-related activities, opening the door for the company to develop infrastructure to support blockchain-based settlement of traditional securities.

Source: Cointelegraph

The regulatory discussions around tokenization are also unfolding alongside broader policy debates in Washington over crypto market-structure legislation, which could eventually shape how digital assets are overseen in the United States.

Related: SEC chair calls for ‘coordinated oversight‘ between US regulators