Aptos is a PoS Layer 1 blockchain that aims to become the safest and most scalable blockchain in the world. The Aptos blockchain leverages the Move programming language and the Move VM for application development, which are created and optimized for blockchain use cases. $APTOS is used to pay for gass fees on the Aptos Blockchain.
*Learn more in our report discussing in details Aptos ($APT) and other emerging new layer blockchain projects - Beyond Aptos, Sui & Canto | An in-Depth Guide to the Emerging Alt-L1s
Aptos is a horizontal scaling solution, aiming to create a high-performance general-purpose monolithic layer 1 blockchain like Solana. Its highlight is achieving parallel processing at the execution layer. The technology is Block-STM (Software Transactional Memory).
Transactions on Aptos are initially ordered and processed in parallel with an optimistic assumption that every transaction is independent. After initial execution, transaction results are validated. During validation, if a transaction is found to be dependent upon a preceding transaction. The transaction will be re-executed and its result updated. This process repeats until all dependent transactions are uncovered and re-executed. Block-STM can continuously estimate the potential dependency of a transaction to minimize the chance of re-execution.
An advantage of Block-STM’s mechanism is that it does not require users to declare a transaction’s dependency upfront, allowing smart contract developers to have an easier time on Aptos.
Aptos’ approach to parallel processing and blockchain scaling is novel but in line with popular blockchain design today. For example, Aptos is still a blockchain and it records transactions on the basis of addresses.
Aptos mainnet ‘Aptos Autumn’ was officially launched on Oct,18th, 2022. Check here for the details.
The initial total supply of Aptos tokens (APT) at mainnet was 1 billion tokens. APT will have 8 digits of precision as part of the fraction where the minimal unit is called an Octa.
- Community 51.02%, 510,217,359.767
- Core Contributors 19%, 190,000,000.000
- Foundation 16.5%, 165,000,000.000
- Investors 13.48%, 134,782,640.233
For the Community and Foundation part,
- 125,000,000 APT available initially to support ecosystem projects, grants, and other community growth initiatives now and in the future for the Community category
- 5,000,000 APT available initially to support the Aptos Foundation initiatives for the Foundation category
- 1/120 of the remaining tokens for the community and the Foundation are anticipated to unlock each month for the next 10 years
For the Core Contributors and Investors part,
- No APT available for the first twelve months
- 3/48ths of such tokens unlock on the 13th month after mainnet launch and each month thereafter up to and including the 18th month
- 1/48th of the tokens unlock each month thereafter beginning on the 19th month after mainnet launch so that all such tokens are unlocked on the four-year anniversary of mainnet launch
- These tokens are all staked, while Staking rewards are split between validator operators and stakers and are not subject to restrictions on distribution
There are many technical innovations behind the Aptos blockchain. Here are some that developers want and are changing the game for web3:
Pipelined and Modular Approach to Transaction Processing
To achieve high throughput, the Aptos blockchain leverages a pipelined and modular approach for the key stages of transaction processing. This fully leverages all available physical resources, improves hardware efficiency, and enables highly parallel execution.
With this modular design, Aptos supports faster and safer release cycles, as changes can be targeted to individual modules. The modular design also provides a structured path to scaling validators beyond a single machine, providing access to additional computation, network, and storage resources. Learn more in the Aptos whitepaper.
The team of Aptos, also known as Aptos Labs, has 67 employees as of Sept. 2022. Mo Shaikh (CEO of Aptos) and Avery Ching (CTO of Aptos) co-founded Aptos together. They both worked on the Novi project (Meta) before.
The members of Aptos Labs mainly consist of a group of engineers. The team has also acquired several former Solana staff, such as Austin Virts, former Head of Marketing at Solana.
