Emin Gün Sirer’s $42 million blockchain for DeFi scaling has launched

Avalanche, a blockchain offering scalability to the world of decentralized finance took its mainnet live on Sept. 21. 

"From Snowflake to Avalanche, the decentralized platform has come a long way, and its journey has only just begun," Ava Labs said in a Sept. 21 statement on the mainnet launch.

Ava Labs is the entity responsible for building the Avalanche blockchain and project. Emin Gün Sirer, ranked 52nd on Cointelegraph's list of the top 100 people in crypto and blockchain, serves as Ava Labs' CEO. 

Avalanche runs its own consensus protocol, paving the way for the blockchain to facilitate 4,500 transactions per second, or TPS, the statement explained. Current blockchain networks often host far fewer TPS capabilities, resulting in slowed transaction times and higher fees. In recent months, DeFi has put a significant strain on Ethereum's blockchain, sending fees through the roof. 

Avalanche positions itself as a beneficial solution for all, from big companies to individuals and developers. The statement listed specific use case examples for enterprises, institutions, decentralized organizations, developers, and token participants.  

Notably, Avalanche tallied $42 million in funding from its July 15 public asset offering, selling out in 4.5 hours. Possibly giving the project some level of credibility, Sirer has been quite public on his comments against deception and noise in the crypto and blockchain space.