Over 150 Projects Building on Retro9000 Testnet: Time for Avalanche (AVAX) to Shine?

More than 150 projects are now building on Avalanche under the Retro9000 program ahead of a key snapshot event scheduled for April 2025. Some of them include The Arena, which is building a next-gen SocialFi app; Animalia–a free-to-play online NFT trading card game; and L1Beat–which will provide Avalanche L1 analytics.

This development is a massive boost for AVAX and the entire Avalanche ecosystem, arriving as crypto prices across the board gain traction after steady losses through much of Q1 2025.

The update shows developers are eager to build on the DeFi-centric chain, a trend that could drive demand for AVAX and encourage buyers to align with the primary uptrend set in motion in late 2024.

It comes at a critical time for Avalanche.

Since launching in 2020, it has struggled for adoption amid the tough competition from other scalable Ethereum layer-2s like Arbitrum and modern chains like Solana and Algorand–which posted explosive gains in 2024 and likely to extend them in 2025. 

In the face of falling interest in DeFi, intense competition, and the rise of competitors, Avalanche developers released Retro9000 program as part of Avalanche9000 to reclaim their edge as a scalable and low-latency alternative to Ethereum and other alternatives.

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Retro9000: A $40 Million Grant

Under Retro9000, Avalanche offers $40 million in total funding to encourage developers to create Layer-1 blockchains using its technology. This grant is part of the Avalanche9000 upgrade, which went live in December 2024.

The Retro9000 testnet phase is ongoing, and developers must submit their best creations before the first snapshot on April 15, 2025, at 12:00 UTC.

Retro9000: Up to $40m in retroactive grants for Avalanche L1s

This new grant program aims to reward developers who contribute to the testnet and launch their project on mainnet, empowering developers to do what they do best–innovate and build.

More on Retro9000 pic.twitter.com/qNXzosMV14

— Avalanche (@avax) September 26, 2024

This snapshot will determine eligibility for funding, though developers must deploy their projects on the mainnet to claim the funds.

Retro9000 aims to stimulate early adoption of Avalanche9000, one of the most significant updates since Avalanche’s launch.

The reasons are clear.

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Impact of Avalanche9000

Avalanche9000 introduced features to foster ecosystem growth, enhance scalability, and improve efficiency, particularly in cost and performance.

For example, the cost of launching Layer-1 chains—formerly subnets—has been reduced by 99%. Projects no longer need to stake 2,000 AVAX; instead, they pay a monthly fee of 1.33 AVAX per validator. Additionally, C-Chain fees dropped by 96%.

Avalanche9000 just went live on the Fuji Testnet, and it’s a game-changer for builders.

Here’s what you need to know:
• Launching your own Avalanche L1 is now 99.9% cheaper
• C-Chain fees are down by 96%
• Interchain messaging (ICM) makes L1s actually work together

And the… pic.twitter.com/UVweRyAFwJ

— LORD (@CreatorLord_) November 26, 2024

On X, Nansen, a blockchain analytics platform, said the release of Avalanche9000 is a”fundamental shift” and is an upgrade that “changed everything.”

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗽𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴

Imagine launching a blockchain at a fraction of the cost, with seamless cross-chain communication. That’s what Avalanche9000 delivered.

Base fees on the C-Chain? Slashed from 25 nAVAX to 1 nAVAX. Over 500 new…

— Nansen (@nansen_ai) February 18, 2025

Developers now have greater flexibility when configuring their Layer-1s, able to launch unique gas tokens, define staking parameters, and set governance structures.

The introduction of ACP-77 with the upgrade enables permissionless validation, allowing Layer-1s to operate independently of Avalanche’s core chains, thus reducing hardware and computational costs.

Unlike the focus by Solana on enhancing only their mainnet, Avalanche9000’s multi-L1 approach offers modularity that could outshine in a fragmented Web3 future.

Time for Avalanche to Shine?

The Retro9000 program and the Avalanche9000 upgrade are likely to drive mainnet demand, potentially lifting AVAX prices.

By the end of the year, developers at Ava Labs, the team behind Avalanche, expect hundreds of layer-1s to launch.

Wait… did he just say hundreds of L1s launching on Avalanche next year?@MattSchmenk shared how Avalanche9000, ICTT, and Avalanche Interchain Messaging are setting the stage for a surge of new L1s in 2025 at a recent @Token_Relations webinar.

Full stream pic.twitter.com/MhD96BtSPB

— Avalanche (@avax) March 15, 2025

The growing number of developers leveraging Avalanche9000 features comes at a critical moment.

Recently, VanEck registered for an Avalanche ETF in Delaware, setting the ground for a possible submission with the United States SEC.

BREAKING: VanEck registers for an Avalanche ETF in Delaware, meaning a spot $AVAX ETF might be on the horizon. pic.twitter.com/NkLCneiEqH

— Token Metrics (@tokenmetricsinc) March 11, 2025

If it happens and the filing is approved, this ETF would allow institutions to gain direct exposure to AVAX without managing private keys or navigating crypto exchanges.

VanEck will also use a regulated custodian like Coinbase Prime—already utilized by spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF issuers such as BlackRock—for private key management and security.

Confidence is high for this reason. If AVAX finds support at $15, prices could recover, potentially breaking above $30 in the coming sessions, making it undoubtedly one of the best cryptos investors can choose to buy in 2025.

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