Altcoins NEAR, IMMUTABLE, AVAX rallies amid market downturn

• NEAR saw slight gains following the launch of Nightshade 2.0 on its mainnet.
• IMX has risen 10% in the past 24 hours, stretching its weekly gains to 17%.
• AVAX rallied 5% following fund launches from Franklin Templeton and Grayscale.

Avalanche (AVAX), ImmutableX (IMX) and Near Protocol (NEAR) tokens rallied on Thursday as all three networks appeared to have experienced positive investor sentiments. AVAX and IMX are currently up 4.2% and 10%, while NEAR slightly declined after rallying 4%.

Key updates in altcoins lead to rallies despite overarching pressure

Near Protocol (NEAR) saw slight gains today, rising over 4% before experiencing a correction. The rise may be attributed to the protocol's recent announcement of Nightshade, an upgrade to its sharding design. The upgrade aims to provide better scalability to the network through the introduction of stateless validation. 

Stateless validation is a key component of Near protocol's Nightshade 2.0, allowing validators to verify transactions without storing all the data on the blockchain locally.

Meanwhile, ImmutableX's IMX has been on the rise in the past 24 hours, shooting over 10%. The token's rise has been steady over the past week, stretching its weekly gains to 17% and bringing its price back above $1.32.

Trillion dollar asset manager Franklin Templeton OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX) also launched on the Avalanche network on Thursday.

"Bringing the Benji platform to the Avalanche network further expands access to our first-of-its-kind tokenized money market fund," said Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton.

Simultaneously, Grayscale Investments also announced the launch of an Avalanche Trust fund that grants clients price exposure to the AVAX token.

"The launch of Grayscale® Avalanche Trust highlights Grayscale's ongoing commitment to providing investors with innovative opportunities to access exciting developments in the crypto ecosystem," said Grayscale's Head of Product & Research, Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary.

The price of AVAX quickly reacted to the announcements, rising more than 5% in the past 24 hours. The rise comes off the back of a heavy token unlock event that saw $196 million worth of AVAX entering into circulation this week.

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