The involvement of an $11.5 trillion asset manager in the Avalanche ecosystem brings huge attention to the network.
Avalanche (AVAX) is gaining bullish momentum again, but with major catalysts from BlackRock and MapleStory this time.
According to Wu Blockchain, the total number of active addresses on Avalanche surpassed 1.95 million so far in May. The previous strong spike in user activity on the layer-1 network was recorded in January, when the crypto market enjoyed strong bullish momentum.
According to @hashed_official's data dashboard, the number of active addresses on the Avalanche network reached an all-time high in May, with 1.95 million active addresses. This surge is likely driven by the launch of the blockchain game MapleStory Universe. Meanwhile,…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 18, 2025
The total number of Avalanche addresses reached 13.5 million. Wu Blockchain says the launch of the blockchain game MapleStory Universe, a classic 2D side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), on Avalanche is likely the main driver behind the spike in the active wallets. MapleStory, developed by the leading South Korean game publisher Nexon, will allow users to earn real assets with its in-game non-fungible token and decentralized application capabilities. The first game from the universe, called MapleStory N, launched on Avalanche on May 15.
Hashed data shows that NFT transactions on Avalanche almost reached the 2 million mark for the first time since May 2023. Nexon has brought over 250 million users to the MapleStory ecosystem since its launch in 2003. This shows great potential for the platform’s blockchain-based network of games and applications.
Beyond Gaming, NFTs
The launch of the legendary MapleStory game wasn’t the only driver behind the attention to Avalanche. Users can now use BlackRock’s sBUIDL, a digital version of a real-world short-term U.S. Treasury fund, as collateral on the Avalanche-based decentralized finance protocol Euler. This means that users can lock up sBUIDL tokens on Euler to borrow or trade supported digital assets. Bringing BlackRock’s financial products to Avalanche can boost the network’s legitimacy and increase its on-chain liquidity. This not only expands the tokenized real-world assets ecosystem but also encourages more institutional investors to use the L1.
AVAX is currently trading at $22.95 with a market cap of $9.65 billion. On Dec. 9, the asset reached a local high of $55.70, boosting a market cap of over $22 billion, thanks to the post-US election hype. Analysts currently expect a strong rebound to the $30 zone for AVAX.
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