What Is Avalanche?
Avalanche is a layer-1 blockchain developed by Ava Labs, with a mainnet that launched in September 2020. It runs its own validators, and a confirmed transaction is final, usually within a few seconds. For a longer introduction, read the guide to the Avalanche blockchain.
AVAX is the native token of Avalanche. It pays transaction fees, secures the network through staking, and works as the unit of account between Avalanche L1s, the independent blockchains built on the platform. According to the AVAX token documentation, supply is capped at 720 million AVAX, 360 million of it minted at genesis, and fees are burned, which removes them from circulation for good.
The Avalanche Primary Network runs three chains, and each one has its own job and its own address format:
| Chain | What it does | Address starts with |
|---|---|---|
| C-Chain (Contract Chain) | Runs the Ethereum Virtual Machine: smart contracts, dApps, and tokens | 0x |
| X-Chain (Exchange Chain) | Sends and receives AVAX and Avalanche Native Tokens | X-avax |
| P-Chain (Platform Chain) | Coordinates validators and staking, creates Avalanche L1s | P-avax |
Data source: Avalanche Primary Network docs and Avalanche Support, checked November 5, 2026.
Most people only ever touch the C-Chain, the chain that Avalanche dApps use most.
What Is an Avalanche Wallet?
An Avalanche wallet holds the keys that control your C-Chain address and signs each transaction for you. Your AVAX stays on the blockchain, and the keys are what prove it belongs to you. A self-custodial wallet keeps those keys with you, so no company can move or freeze your funds, and no company can recover them if you lose your keys.
Because the C-Chain runs the Ethereum Virtual Machine, an Avalanche wallet on this chain works like an Ethereum wallet: the same type of 0x address, the same ERC20 token standard, and gas paid in the coin of the network. The guide to EVM wallets explains how one address works across these networks.
Gem Wallet is a self-custodial Avalanche wallet for the C-Chain. Your keys stay on the phone, in Apple Keychain or Google Tink, and one 12-word recovery phrase restores your AVAX address together with your addresses on every other network in the app.
How AVAX Transfers and Fees Work on the C-Chain
Every C-Chain transaction pays gas in AVAX, including transfers of USDT or USDC. The fee is the gas used multiplied by the gas price, and the gas price is made up of a base fee and an optional priority fee. The base fee rises when the network is busy and falls when it is quiet, and on Avalanche both parts of the fee are burned.
Sending AVAX uses 21,000 gas and an ERC20 transfer uses about 55,000 gas. Both cost well under one US cent as of November 2026, and the amounts grow when the base fee rises.
Before you confirm, Gem Wallet shows the fee and offers a choice of transaction speeds. On EVM networks you can also set a custom Base Fee and Priority Fee. A wallet that holds only USDT or USDC cannot send them until it also holds some AVAX, so keep a small AVAX balance for gas.
Avalanche Address Format
A C-Chain address has 42 characters: 0x followed by 40 hexadecimal characters, shortened in many apps to a form like 0x1f9a...c3d2. X-Chain addresses begin with X-avax and P-Chain addresses with P-avax. These formats are not interchangeable.
Gem Wallet gives you a C-Chain address. Two things follow from that:
- Choose the C-Chain when you withdraw. On an exchange, select Avalanche C-Chain as the withdrawal network and paste your 0x address.
- One address, several networks. Gem Wallet uses the same 0x address on Avalanche, Ethereum, Base, and its other EVM networks. The address is shared, but balances are not: AVAX or USDT sent over another network arrives on that network, not on the C-Chain.
Hold AVAX and C-Chain Tokens in One Wallet
Tokens on the C-Chain follow the ERC20 standard and share your one AVAX address. Gem Wallet lists these tokens among others, and you can add any other token by its contract address:
- USDT: The official Tether stablecoin on Avalanche, contract
0x9702230A8Ea53601f5cD2dc00fDBc13d4dF4A8c7. - USDC: The native Circle stablecoin on Avalanche, contract
0xB97EF9Ef8734C71904D8002F8b6Bc66Dd9c48a6E. - QI: The token of BENQI, contract
0x8729438EB15e2C8B576fCc6AeCdA6A148776C0F5.
Buy, Swap, and Use dApps on Avalanche in Gem Wallet
Gem Wallet lets you buy AVAX with a card through its on-ramp partners, and sell it back to fiat through providers in the app. The coins arrive directly at your own address.
Gem Wallet also lets you swap AVAX and C-Chain tokens through a built-in DEX aggregator. Swaps inside the C-Chain can route through Uniswap and OKX DEX, and swaps to other networks through Relay, Across, or THORChain. It connects to C-Chain dApps through WalletConnect.
Get a self-custodial AVAX address on the C-Chain with Gem Wallet for iOS, Android, or APK.
