The price of Avalanche’s native token AVAX surged after a newly formed company revealed plans to go public in the U.S. and acquire more than $1 billion worth of the cryptocurrency. Avalanche Treasury Co. announced on Wednesday that it will merge with Mountain Lake Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in a transaction valued at over $675 million. The combined business intends to list on Nasdaq under the ticker “AVAT” during the first quarter of 2026, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals. Ava Labs founder and CEO Emin Gün Sirer will join as an adviser, marking another step for institutional involvement in the Avalanche ecosystem. This venture is only the second dedicated Avalanche-focused treasury company and reflects a broader trend of firms going public or shifting toward cryptocurrency accumulation this year. Exclusive Relationship With Avalanche Foundation Avalanche Treasury Co. said it has an “exclusive relationship” with the Avalanche Foundation, the nonprofit supporting the blockchain. According to reports, the foundation has considered selling millions of AVAX tokens at discounted prices to treasury companies, providing a pipeline for large-scale acquisitions. The company aims to hold more than $1 billion worth of AVAX following its public debut next year. It expects its initial capital raise to produce approximately $460 million in funded treasury assets. AVAX Price Reacts to News The market responded quickly to the announcement. AVAX climbed to an intraday high of $31.32 shortly after the news and remains up 2.3% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. Backing for the merger has come from an array of crypto-focused venture firms and companies, including Dragonfly, VanEck, FalconX, Monarq, Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital, CoinFund, and Kraken. Former Susquehanna Crypto CEO Bart Smith has been named the CEO of Avalanche Treasury Co., bringing traditional market-making experience to the project. Moving Beyond Passive Holdings Avalanche Treasury Co. emphasized that its strategy goes beyond simple token accumulation. The company plans to generate revenue through “targeted protocol investments” and will establish its own validator infrastructure to support the network. It also intends to help enterprises tokenize real-world assets and stablecoins on Avalanche. “Many institutions have difficulty accessing digital assets or are limited to holding native tokens without yield or ecosystem integration,” Smith said. “We created Avalanche Treasury Co. to offer something we believe will be more valuable than passive exposure.” Competing for Market Share This new company joins a wave of similar ventures. AgriFORCE Growing Systems recently announced plans to rebrand as AVAX One and acquire $700 million worth of AVAX, reflecting rising competition for large-scale positions in Avalanche’s token supply. Avalanche Treasury Co. stated that it will begin with an initial AVAX purchase at a discount to market price. It also secured an 18-month priority on Avalanche Foundation token sales to U.S. digital asset treasury firms. The company said it is targeting a multiple of net asset value (mNAV) of 0.77 — a 23% discount compared with buying AVAX directly. However, some analysts have criticized the mNAV metric, arguing it does not accurately represent a company’s financial health.
