Avalanche surges 55% as Bitwise’s AVAX ETF draws early inflows

AVAX posted a 55% weekly gain as attention around the Bitwise Avalanche ETF fueled renewed interest in the Layer 1 network. The ETF, trading under the ticker BAVA on NYSE Arca, represents the first regulated vehicle offering direct exposure to Avalanche tokens, and it comes with a twist: most of the fund’s holdings are actively staked to generate yield. The early inflows have been modest by ETF standards, with the fund pulling in around $231K in one recorded period and seeing single-day peaks closer to $5 million. Assets under management for BAVA sat in the range of $18 million to $22 million shortly after launch. For context, AVAX was trading around $9.50 with a market cap of roughly $4.1 billion at the time the fund went live. How the staking model works BAVA isn’t just a passive wrapper around AVAX tokens. Bitwise designed the fund to stake approximately 70% of its holdings through its Onchain Solutions division, targeting average staking rewards of about 5.4%. The sponsor fee comes in at 0.34%, which Bitwise is waiving for the first month on the initial $500 million in assets. What’s driving the AVAX rally Avalanche has been building its case as an enterprise-grade blockchain f...