Aptos is a Layer 1 blockchain that operates on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. It introduces an innovative programming language for smart contracts known as Move, which is built on Rust and was independently created by Diem's blockchain developers from Meta, previously recognized as Facebook.
Aptos aims to drive mainstream adoption of web3 technology and to foster a thriving ecosystem of decentralized applications (DApps) that tackle real-life user challenges.
This PoS blockchain boasts a theoretical transaction capacity exceeding 150,000 transactions per second (tps) through the use of parallel execution.
In March 2022, Aptos secured $200 million in a seed funding round led by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from other prominent names in the crypto space like Tiger Global and Multicoin Capital. By July, the company had garnered another $200 million in a Series A round, attracting investors such as Dragonfly, Apollo Global, Franklin Templeton, Animoca, Jump Crypto, among others.
Two months later, Binance Labs made a strategic investment in Aptos, though the amount was not disclosed.
Aptos announced the launch of its mainnet on October 18, 2022, with the genesis event occurring earlier on October 12, 2022.
Who Founded Aptos?
Aptos was established by Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching, both of whom previously worked at Meta. Mo Shaikh, the CEO, has a background rich in experience within multinational financial services and blockchain/crypto sectors. His LinkedIn highlights his proficiency in scaling products and expertise in private equity and venture capital markets.
Avery Ching, serving as the CTO, is a seasoned software engineer and formerly a principal software engineer at Meta.
The two collaborated on Meta's Diem blockchain initiative. After Diem was shut down in January 2022, Shaikh and Ching decided to bring their vision to life by forming Aptos Labs. Consequently, it's no surprise that Aptos leverages some of Diem's technical elements.
The Aptos team also benefits from the expertise of researchers, designers, and engineers who were part of the Diem project.
What Sets Aptos Apart?
Aptos claims its network can handle over 150,000 transactions per second. For context, Ethereum's mainnet typically supports about 12 to 15 tps.
This impressive throughput is achieved through a parallel execution engine known as Block-STM, which operates using a Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) PoS consensus mechanism. Unlike most blockchains that perform transactions sequentially—where a single transaction failure or heightened demand can bottleneck the system—Aptos processes transactions concurrently and validates them afterward. If a transaction fails, it is either re-executed or canceled, thanks to the blockchain's software transactional memory libraries that identify and resolve conflicts.
Aptos is built with Move, a smart contract programming language that offers benefits over Solidity, which is used in the Ethereum Virtual Machine. Some advantages include the ease of blockchain command verification, private key modification, and a modular design.
The blockchain's upgradeability and configurability allow for new use cases, and its horizontal throughput scalability—enhanced by a built-in sharding feature—improves the user's overall experience.
How Much Aptos is Currently Available?
APT is the native token of the Aptos blockchain. Initially, there are 1 billion tokens in total supply, with 130 million APT currently in circulation.
The distribution is as follows: 51.02% to the community, 19.00% to core contributors, 16.50% to the foundation, and 13.48% to investors.
In the community category, about 80% is managed by the Aptos Foundation while the remaining amount is held by Aptos Labs. These funds are intended to foster community development and support initiatives by the Aptos Foundation, with the rest being released monthly over the next decade.
Investors and core contributors are subject to a four-year vesting schedule starting from the mainnet launch. The Aptos team announced an airdrop of 20 million APT tokens to early testnet users on October 19, 2022.
For a comprehensive overview of Aptos tokenomics, check here.
What Is the Aptos Bridge?
LayerZero Labs, an on-chain user application protocol, unveiled the Aptos Bridge on October 19, 2022.
This blockchain bridge enables users to transfer ETH, USDC, and USDT from Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Avalanche, and Optimism to the Aptos network.
How Is the Security of the Aptos Network Ensured?
The Aptos network relies on two consensus mechanisms: Proof-of-Stake and AptosBFT.
AptosBFT is akin to DiemBFT, which was originally crafted for the Diem project. "BFT" stands for Byzantine Fault-Tolerant, referring to a network's ability to continue functioning correctly even if some participants go offline or act maliciously.
AptosBFT is a bespoke consensus algorithm inspired by the HotStuff protocol. Although there are numerous complex technical details regarding network security, the algorithm analyzes the on-chain state and automatically rotates leaders to compensate for validators that are unresponsive, all without human intervention.
Where Can You Buy Aptos?
APT tokens are available for purchase and trading on various exchanges, including Binance, Huobi, KuCoin, and Coinbase, among others.
