Avalanche is a Layer-1 known for its novel Avalanche consensus, which delivers sub-second transaction finality. Its primary network is split into three chains — the EVM-compatible C-Chain (where DeFi lives), the X-Chain (assets) and the P-Chain (coordination/staking).
Avalanche's standout feature is subnets (now "Avalanche L1s"): application-specific blockchains with custom rules, validators and even compliance settings. This has made Avalanche attractive for gaming, institutional pilots and tokenized real-world assets that need their own dedicated chain.
AVAX is used for gas, staking and securing the network. With fast finality, EVM compatibility and a flexible subnet model, Avalanche targets both retail DeFi and enterprise use cases.