What is the role of the P-Chain?

• A. The P-Chain manages validators, platform-wide metadata, and the creation and governance of subnets.
• B. The P-Chain handles asset transfers between addresses.
• C. The P-Chain runs smart contracts via EVM.
• D. The P-Chain stores historical transaction data.

Answer: (A)

Avalanche’s P-Chain is the governance and coordination layer for the network. Its job is to manage who validates the network, the staking and validator sets, and the creation and governance of subnets. Subnets are groups of validators that run a specific blockchain with their own rules, security assumptions, and governance. The P-Chain also handles platform-wide metadata—essential information about validators, their stake, and how the network is organized at a higher level.

This is why the option described is the best fit: it directly matches the P-Chain’s responsibilities of overseeing validators, platform metadata, and subnet creation and governance. In contrast, asset transfers are the function of the X-Chain, smart contracts run on the C-Chain, and storing historical transaction data isn’t the primary role of the P-Chain.