As part of its continued commitment to empower the Avalanche community and the developers building it, the Avalanche Foundation is proud to announce the fourth cohort of Retro9000 grantees, selected from a competitive pool of builders innovating across the Avalanche ecosystem.

Retro9000 is a retroactive grant program backed by a $40 million funding pool, designed to reward projects already delivering meaningful impact. The program recognizes developers who have shipped Avalanche L1s and foundational infrastructure on mainnet, helping move the ecosystem forward through real usage and adoption.

You can view full details regarding eligibility, timelines, and evaluation criteria here.

Introducing the Fourth Cohort of Retro9000 Grantees

We are pleased to announce the latest cohort for the Avalanche L1 and Infrastructure Tooling round.

This cohort has collectively been awarded over $160,000 in retroactive funding, recognizing projects that have launched impactful Avalanche L1s and infrastructure tooling live on mainnet:

ChainArq, Orange, Paradise Tycoon, The Grotto, FanHub, and TURF Network. 

Grant distributions are subject to completion of KYB and KYC requirements. Each project has been contacted by the Avalanche Foundation to coordinate next steps.

Retro9000 began by rewarding foundational tooling and new chains. Now, as the ecosystem grows, the question shifts: Not just who built, but what is being used.

That shift introduces the Retro9000 C-Chain Round.

Retro9000: C-Chain Round

Funded by the Avalanche Foundation, the C-Chain Round rewards builders generating genuine on-chain activity on the Avalanche C-Chain, measured through AVAX burned via transaction fees.

How it works

Every transaction on the C-Chain burns AVAX, creating a transparent, data-driven measure of adoption. The more an application is used, the more AVAX is burned — a simple, verifiable signal of real demand.

This round rewards the builders generating that activity - the projects users truly value on-chain.

Projects are ranked on a public leaderboard, with points determined by AVAX burned through their smart contracts. The more transactions your application drives, the higher it ranks. At the end of each round, the top 40 projects become eligible for rewards.

This marks a shift in evaluation methodology:

• Previous rounds: wallet-based voting

• C-Chain Round: usage-based scoring driven by real transactions

Refer Projects

Community members can also participate.

Referrers may earn up to $3,000 in AVAX per project, per round if the referred project receives funding. This expands the ecosystem by rewarding both builders and contributors who help bring quality projects to Avalanche.

How to get a referral link

→ Visit retro9000.avax.network

→ Connect your wallet

→ Submit your details

→ Claim your referral link

→ Share it with builders

Join Retro9000

If you’re a builder, Retro9000 rewards you for shipping real products on the Avalanche C-Chain.

If you’re part of the community, your usage, referrals, and participation directly influence which projects rise to the top.

Visit: https://retro9000.avax.network/

Disclaimer: Retro9000 grants are distributed by the Avalanche Foundation based on verified on-chain activity. Rewards are not investment returns and carry no financial guarantees.