Aptos is a coin that has been grabbing a lot of attention since its initial planning stages. It has been backed heavily by Venture Capitalists. Its proposed features look promising and have been the talk amongst Crypto enthusiasts. While coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum certainly have the lion’s share of the Crypto market, this new coin challenges its competition in terms of scalability and security.
This article will detail what Aptos is and dive deep into the workings of the blockchain. In the end, let’s address how it benefits the crypto ecosystem and investors.
What is Aptos (APT)
Aptos is a layer-1 blockchain which aims to be safe, scalable and upgradable. It has been developed by more than 350 programmers and aims to be a foundational block to Web 3.0 developments of the future. The Aptos token is identified with its symbol APT.
Aptos has garnered a lot of attention due to its history. The blockchain is developed by the developers of the Diem blockchain, which was an initiative of Meta( formerly Facebook). While the Diem project was abandoned, Aptos aims to build over the advantages of the Diem blockchain. Aptos team aims to make crypto accessible to the average user through its scalability advantages.
Aptos Labs
Aptos Labs is headed by Mo Shaik and Avery Ching who previously worked on the Diem project at Meta. They have moved to Aptos since the shutting down of the Diem project. Shaik has expertise in areas of Venture capital markets and product scaling while Ching has worked previously as a principal software engineer at Meta. Aptos has managed to raise close to $ 350 million in funding from marquee investors like FTX, Multicoin capital, Coinbase ventures, Tiger global and Haun Ventures. It has also launched its development testnet.
How Does Aptos Work
Several protocols enable the Aptos blockchain to be secure, reliable and scalable. Aptos claims its testnet is already transacting close to 130,000 transactions per second. Below mentioned are some of the features of the blockchain.
- Aptos blockchain uses the Move language for programming. The Move prover, which is the verifier for smart contracts, has several security features. This feature will help the programmers to better protect their code
- One of the key features of the Aptos blockchain is the high transaction throughput. To enable this the blockchain works on a pipelined and modular approach for transaction processing. This method of transaction processing makes it hyper-efficient compared to existing blockchain systems
- The blockchain also supports atomicity. Atomicity is the property of database transactions occurring in a single instant without any delay
- The blockchain’s architecture makes it flexible for further upgrades. Since Web 3.0 is a dynamic space, this feature is key for future developments
- Aptos has a horizontal transaction scalability potential. This means that more infrastructure can be added to the blockchain without increasing the complexity
- Finally, Aptos uses BFT (Byzantine Fault Tolerance) protocol for transaction validation. Unlike other protocols where validation and creation of blocks happen sequentially, Aptos has split the two processes to work parallelly thereby reducing latency
Aptos Tokenomics
The Aptos mainnet was launched on Oct 12th,2022 with a total supply of 1 billion tokens. The APT token price will have 8 digits of precision with its minimum unit called “Octa”.
Token distribution
| Category | % of Initial Token Distribution | Initial Tokens |
| Community | 51.02% | 510,217,359.767 |
| Core Contributors | 19.00% | 190,000,000.000 |
| Foundation | 16.50% | 165,000,000.000 |
| Investors | 13.48% | 134,782,640.233 |
The Edge that Aptos has
Aptos has influential investors backing the project. FTX which is backing the project is one of the most renowned crypto trading platforms. The project has also gained momentum because of the engineers on the team. Both the founders have earlier worked in Meta and have been part of Crypto projects. The online community of Aptos is also strong. The Aptos discord channel already has more than 125,000 members.
The applications of Aptos are similar to that of blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana. At the same time, the blockchain addresses the key issue of scalability. As per media reports, the blockchain testnet has proven to be quicker than most of its competitors.
Pros and Cons of Aptos
| Pros | Cons |
| Competent founding team: The Aptos community is led by a founding team that has previous experience in the crypto space | Security: While the BFT protocol puts speed as its top priority, it should still prove to be secure. Sequential consensus mechanisms like POW and POS are highly secure |
| Strong development team: With over 350 skilled developers the blockchain has a strong tech foundation | Structure: While Aptos is certainly decentralised in theory, a sizable amount of APT is being held by Aptos foundation and Aptos labs |
| Unique consensus mechanism: The BFT protocol provides an edge in blockchain speed | Competition: Ethereum, Solana and Avalanche have a strong user base. The USP of Aptos should be compelling for programmers to shift |
| Transaction throughput: With its testnet proving to be significantly fast, it can enable crypto for everyday use | Still has to prove: The blockchain fundamentals of Aptos look great in theory. But it’s yet to prove its mettle. |
Final thoughts
Aptos has certainly gained a lot of attention from several notable Venture Capitalists and the Crypto community. If it proves to be as good as it is in theory, then we are surely in to see great innovations on the Aptos blockchain. However, time will tell if the blockchain can substitute its competition. Investors who are looking forward to buying Aptos should conduct thorough due diligence and have contingency plans.
