- Ava Labs President John Wu says that while Bitcoin will always have its place as the original crypto, others like Avalanche have taken over.
- He says that Avalanche is building for enterprises, with institutions like FIFA launching products for the upcoming World Cup on the network.
Bitcoin is the granddaddy of crypto, but other Layer 1s have expanded beyond its digital gold capabilities and are building products for the masses on-chain, says John Wu, the President of Ava Labs, the company behind the development of the Avalanche network.
In an interview with Coinage, Wu discussed the evolution of blockchain technology and crypto, from speculation to utility. He believes that the sector is now taking a step beyond trading and speculation to “creating things that enterprises want.”
With avalanche-2:native CME futures now launched, we caught up with @AvaLabs President @John1wu about the next wave for @avax:
"Now we are literally crossing the chasm to create things that enterprises want" ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/NgyFVINB9T
— Coinage ♻️ (@coinage_media) May 15, 2026
Wu noted that Bitcoin will always have its place as the grandfather of crypto. BTC controls over half of the $2.6 trillion market, with its millions of users turning to it as digital gold. However, other networks like Avalanche are building products that go beyond speculation and target enterprises, he says.
Wu stated:
“Blockchain has gone from crypto asset speculation to enterprise technology, and Avalanche has always been thinking about building better businesses. We want to be the default infrastructure for all institutional digital assets.”
FIFA, Toyota, Progmat Build on Avalanche
Wu believes that blockchain is “crossing the chasm to create things that enterprises want.” He noted that Avalanche has attracted some of the biggest global names, one being FIFA, which launched a Layer 1 on Avalanche for fan engagement and digital collectibles. FIFA migrated its infrastructure from Polygon and Algorand onto this Avalanche L1.
As we reported recently, Avalanche has been betting big on private L1s. Previously known as subnets, these L1s have their own rules, consensus, validators and fees. They give their builders total autonomy and privacy, while still tapping the wider Avalanche network’s technology and broad ecosystem.
Beyond FIFA, other global giants that have deployed Avalanche L1s include Japanese automaker Toyota, Japan’s $2 billion tokenization platform Progmat and Korean video game developer Nexon, which is migrating its MapleStory game to Avalanche. MapleStory has over 250 million players worldwide and has grossed over $4 billion.
Wu says that this is what Avalanche always wanted to be: background plumbing. He stated:
“Avalanche is the infrastructure, but it’s abstracted away from the user, whether institutional or retail, and it’s just in the background.”
While Ava Labs advances the utility aspects, Wu acknowledged that the speculation and investment aspects are still important. Investing in AVAX has become easier for institutional investors in recent weeks after Bitwise launched BAVA, an Avalanche ETF that stakes over 70% of its tokens.
BAVA Is Live: Avalanche Just Got Another Seat at the Institutional Table
Bitwise’s spot Avalanche ETF brings AVAX to every brokerage account, with in-house staking built in.
Blog below 👇 pic.twitter.com/tLoJWdo945
— Avalanche Team1 (@AvaxTeam1) May 15, 2026
AVAX trades at $9.39, dropping 6% over the past week as traders sold the news after the CLARITY Act was passed in the Senate.
