Avalanche (AVAX) is gaining traction as Avalanche Treasury Co. (AVAT) is set to go public in the U.S. with plans to purchase over $1 billion worth of AVAX tokens. This move follows a business combination agreement between AVAT and Mountain Lake Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), valued at over $675 million.
SPAC Deal and Nasdaq Listing
Avalanche Treasury Co. announced on Wednesday that it would merge with Mountain Lake Acquisition Corp. The transaction includes approximately $460 million in treasury assets. Subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, the merged company anticipates listing on the Nasdaq in the first quarter of 2026 under the ticker symbol "AVAT".
Strategic Partnership and Token Acquisition
AVAT's strategy involves an exclusive relationship with the Avalanche Foundation, an organization that supports the Avalanche blockchain. As part of this collaboration, AVAT will initially purchase $200 million worth of AVAX tokens at a discounted price and will have an 18-month priority on Avalanche Foundation sales to U.S. digital asset treasury companies. The company's objective is to amass over $1 billion worth of AVAX after becoming a public entity.
Leadership and Backing
Emin Gün Sirer, the founder and CEO of the Avalanche blockchain development firm Ava Labs, will be joining AVAT as an advisor. Bart Smith, formerly the CEO of Susquehanna Crypto, has been appointed as the CEO of Avalanche Treasury Co. Several crypto-focused venture firms and companies are backing the merger, including Dragonfly, VanEck, FalconX, Monarq, Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital, CoinFund, and Kraken.
AVAX Price Movement
The announcement of the SPAC deal and the planned AVAX purchase triggered a price increase for AVAX. The token rose to an intraday high of $31.32 before slightly cooling off. According to CoinGecko, AVAX is still up 2.3% in the past 24 hours.
Broader Strategy and Market Context
The Avalanche Foundation is reportedly pursuing a broader strategy to establish two crypto treasury companies with a total fundraising goal of $1 billion. These companies will hold millions of AVAX tokens acquired from the foundation at discounted prices. One deal involves a $500 million private placement led by Hivemind Capital, targeting an existing Nasdaq-listed company. Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director and crypto investor, is advising on this transaction.
Institutional Adoption and Token Economics
The Avalanche Foundation's initiatives are aimed at enhancing liquidity and promoting long-term institutional adoption of AVAX. Major financial firms like BlackRock, Apollo, and Wellington Asset Management have been piloting tokenized fund projects on the Avalanche blockchain. The foundation's decision to sell AVAX at a discount to treasury firms is intended to incentivize participation and stabilize the token's market dynamics.
Avalanche has a capped supply of 720 million AVAX tokens, with approximately 422.3 million currently in circulation. The $1 billion fundraise could translate to roughly 34.7 million AVAX tokens, representing about 8% of the circulating supply.
Beyond Passive Holding
Unlike traditional crypto investment vehicles, AVAT intends to actively deploy funds into projects within the Avalanche ecosystem. This includes validator infrastructure, enterprise partnerships, and protocol investments to expand real-world asset tokenization and payments. The goal is to tie AVAT's success to the long-term adoption and growth of Avalanche.