AVALANCHE MAY 2026 RECAP
CME futures go live, PAYCO hits 2-second settlements, RWAs reach $1.34B, MapleStory clears 150M transactions, Team1 opens applications, and Progmat begins a $2B securities migration.
May proved Avalanche is where institutions move real capital at scale.
It also served as another strong reminder that blockchain is steadily moving beyond infrastructure narratives and into real-world business adoption.
CME launched AVAX futures with 24/7 trading. South Korea’s NHN KCP piloted stablecoin payments through PAYCO across more than 1,000 merchants and employees. Progmat announced plans to migrate over $2 billion in Japanese securities to its dedicated Avalanche L1 by June.
The momentum didn’t stop there. MapleStory Universe surpassed 150 million transactions, tokenized RWA value climbed to $1.34 billion, and AVAX became the 10th-largest stablecoin network. Team1 also officially launched LatAm as a unified chapter spanning 10 countries.
Here’s the full breakdown of everything that went down in May.
CME Launches AVAX Futures with 24/7 Trading:
CME Group made AVAX and SUI futures available for trading on May 2nd, with expanded 24/7 crypto futures and options starting May 29th, opening institutional derivatives access. [Launch announcement]
AVAX Becomes 10th Largest Stablecoin Network:
AVAX stablecoin supply jumped 16.35% in one week to $1.66B, becoming the 10th largest stablecoin network with BlackRock’s BUIDL among the largest assets. [Network ranking]
RWA Market Cap Reaches New All-Time High:
Tokenized RWA value reached $1.34B ATH, with distributed RWAs hitting new records as assets use Avalanche as distribution layer. [RWA milestone]
May saw Team1 reach unprecedented scale with LatAm officially launching and regional chapters coordinating at institutional and grassroots levels worldwide.
Team1 LatAm Officially Launches as Unified Chapter:
Team1 LatAm became official after building momentum across 10 countries with 100+ prior events, 11,000+ Luma subscribers, 2,000+ developers and builders engaged, and 20 university collaborations. Team1 LatAm partnered with NVIDIA to connect builders with startup programs, cloud credits, and venture capital opportunities. [LatAm launch]
Team1 Regional Chapters Expand Globally:
In the UK Team1 hosted its inaugural London Connect meetup and was involved with the House of Lords Roundtable (May 21st) discussing stablecoins and blockchain policy with Mike Manning delivering keynote remarks.
Team1 Turkey wrapped UniTour 2 across universities. Team1 Vietnam reached 7,000+ students at HUTECH Job Fair. Team1 Japan hosted Gourmet Night Tokyo bringing the community together with Wrathtank discussing The Grotto. Team1 hosted Women Connect in Manila and Blockfest Side Event Cape Town for regional networking.
These events, alongside many others across the globe, continued to strengthen local communities and expand Avalanche’s presence through meaningful engagement.
Team1 Opens Global Applications for 3 Weeks:
Team1 opened applications for new members, offering builders, creators, developers, and community leaders a path to contribute directly, get support for ideas, and build careers in blockchain. [Join Team1]
Retro9000 C-Chain Rounds Expand with New Mechanics:
Retro9000 C-Chain Round 3 launched offering retroactive rewards for driving onchain activity. Round 2 rewards were announced, while Round 4 introduced major changes to scoring and reward distribution.
Avalanche Foundation Academic Research Grants:
The Avalanche Foundation opened grants up to $50,000 for original academic research on network economics, tokenomics, validator economics, and network security. [Research details]
NBA Playoffs: Fan Rewards on Uptop:
Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons rewarded fans through Uptop powered by Avalanche during NBA playoff Game 4, demonstrating mainstream sports integration. [Fan rewards]
Cave Money DEX Launches $CAVE Token:
Cave Money DEX officially launched the $CAVE token across Avalanche and The Grotto L1 with staking, liquidity, and trading live.
The Grotto Introduces Agentic Skills for Game Developers:
The Grotto announced agentic skills enabling gamedev agents to build cloud-ready HTML5 and WebGL games with saves, leaderboards, trusted identity, events, and multiplayer hooks. [Agentic skills launch]
MapleStory Universe Surpasses 150M Transactions:
MapleStory Universe reached 150M+ onchain transactions with 3.82M+ registered accounts, celebrating an incredible first year building on Avalanche. [Milestone celebration]
Kite AI Mainnet & Passport Enable Agent Finance:
Kite AI mainnet and Kite Passport went live in May, with interviews explaining why blockchain complements agentic AI perfectly, enabling autonomous agents to transact and interact independently. [Kite launch]
AltLLM Launches for Avalanche Data Queries:
AltLLM arrived on Avalanche enabling natural language queries of network data, from top dApps by TVL to optimal USDC to AVAX routes. [AltLLM launch]
YOM Cloud Gaming Network Builds on Avalanche:
YOM, a decentralized cloud gaming network, announced it chose Avalanche with a sovereign L1 on the roadmap and Foundation grant backing the vision. [YOM announcement]
Japan’s Government Bond Repo Market: The Next Frontier
Japan’s ~$1.6T government bond repo market represents the next frontier for onchain finance, with Progmat studying tokenized JGBs, stablecoin settlement, and onchain repo infrastructure for commercial use. [Repo study]
Bridgetower Brings $11B+ RWA Platform:
Bridgetower’s institutional tokenization infrastructure platform launched on Avalanche bringing compliance controls, reserve verification, daily NAV data, and cross-chain connectivity to institutional capital markets with $11B+ in assets. [Platform launch]
NHN KCP PAYCO Pilots 2-Second Stablecoin Payments:
South Korea’s NHN KCP completed a commercial-feasibility pilot for stablecoin payments through PAYCO app with 2-second settlement, covering online gift certificates and offline merchant payments with ~700 employees participating at Seoul headquarters. The full rollout runs 1,000+ merchants and employees. [Payment pilot]
Kraken Launches AVAX Staking with 10% APY:
Kraken activated AVAX staking with yields up to 10% APY offering bonded, flexible, and auto-compounding reward options for Avalanche holders without managing validator infrastructure. [Staking launch]
PantherTrade Lists AVAX Among Only 4 Assets:
PantherTrade, the SFC-licensed Hong Kong crypto platform built by Futu (HK’s largest online brokerage), listed AVAX as one of only 4 supported assets on the exchange. [PantherTrade listing]
Rezy.Fi Advances Tokenized Mortgage Issuance:
Rezy.Fi by ECG Holdings launched on Avalanche with Nomyx powering issuance infrastructure, enabling qualified investors to complete onboarding, KYC/AML verification, and institutional wallet provisioning as the platform advances toward tokenized mortgage offerings. [Mortgage platform]
WasabiCard Integrates Avalanche:
WasabiCard integrated Avalanche enabling users to fund accounts via AVAX network with greater efficiency and lower transaction costs. [Card integration]
Broadridge Builds Permissioned Proxy Voting L1:
Broadridge built permissioned proxy voting and governance infrastructure on a dedicated Avalanche L1, enabling tokenized equities with verified execution and compliance-controlled infrastructure. [Proxy voting L1]
Tassat Group Moves from Private to Public Rails:
Tassat Group announced its shift from private to public blockchain rails powered by Avalanche. [Tassat shift]
Hyperliquid Spot AVAX Trading Goes Live:
Spot Avalanche deposits, withdrawals, and trading became officially live on Hyperliquid. [Trading live]
Tomato Chain Joins Avalanche L1 Ecosystem:
Tomato Chain officially launched on Avalanche, bringing a full media, payments, and commerce ecosystem onchain through its new L1 in Korea. [Tomato Chain launch]
Ammo Markets Targets $30B Ammunition Tokenization:
Ammo Markets announced plans to bring the $30B global ammunition market onchain through Avalanche, targeting real-world commodity tokenization.
Tippikl Delivers Major UX Update:
Tippikl Labs rolled out a major UX update shaped by community feedback on Avalanche.
Pangolin Records 69K+ Daily Transactions:
Pangolin recorded 69,000+ transactions in 24 hours alongside active liquidity incentive programs across trading pools.
Primit Beta Coming to Avalanche:
Primit announced its beta will launch on Avalanche, bringing a new trading system built for professional traders. [Primit launch]
Aave Labs Publishes V4 Deployment Temp Check:
Aave Labs published a Temp Check to deploy Aave V4 on Avalanche including a dedicated RWA Liquidity Hub, with Aave V3 already among the top protocols on the network. [V4 deployment]
Progmat Begins $2B Japanese Securities Migration:
Progmat will complete its migration of $2B+ in Japanese real estate and corporate bonds from Corda to its dedicated Avalanche L1 by the end of June, with Progmat accounting for ~63% of Japan’s cumulative security token issuance, live regulated assets moving onchain. [Migration details]
Avalanche Summit NYC September 16-17:
Avalanche Summit will take place September 16-17 at Chelsea Industrial in New York City with speakers including Hadick M (General Partner at Dragonfly Capital) and other industry leaders.
Limited early bird tickets available: [Summit tickets]
John Nahas & Matt Hougan on Blockchain Infrastructure:
Avalanche Foundation CBO John Nahas discussed with Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan how businesses need blockchains tailored to their specific requirements. [Full Stream]
Emin Gün Sirer on the Long-Term Blockchain Shift:
Avalanche Founder and CEO Emin Gün Sirer shared his thoughts on the transformation underway as blockchain technology increasingly reshapes how businesses operate and deliver value.
Morgan Krupetsky on Blockchain’s Real-World Role:
Morgan Krupetsky explained why blockchain must solve real business problems to achieve meaningful adoption. [Read Full Interview]
May reinforced a trend that has been building across the Avalanche ecosystem: blockchain is no longer being tested for real-world use cases, it is increasingly becoming the infrastructure powering them.
From CME’s AVAX futures launch and NHN KCP’s stablecoin payment pilot to Progmat’s planned migration of over $2 billion in Japanese securities, institutions continued to choose Avalanche for real-world deployment.
At the same time, Team1’s expansion across LatAm and the opening of global applications highlighted a growing community ready to drive the next phase of adoption.
Institutions are building. Communities are growing. The builder pipeline is expanding.
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