What Is Aptos (APT)?

In this article, we discover how Aptos is designed to tackle blockchain’s challenges and make it scalable, safe, and cost-efficient.

Key Takeaways:

• Aptos, founded by Avery Ching and Mo Shaikh in October 2022, is a Layer-1 blockchain designed for scalability, safety, and reliability.
• Unlike traditional blockchains with serial transaction execution, Aptos adopts the parallel execution engine.
• Move, a programming language, allows parallel execution using Block-STM, increasing the network’s transaction throughput to 160,000 transactions per second (tps).
• The APT token serves as the native cryptocurrency of the Aptos blockchain and is used for transaction fees, validators, and governance.

What Is Aptos?

Founded by Avery Ching and Mo Shaikh in October 2022, Aptos is a Layer-1 blockchain designed to be scalable, safe, and reliable. Aptos uses the AptosBFT consensus mechanism built on the smart contract programming language Move.

How Does Aptos Work?

Unlike other blockchains that use serial transaction execution, Aptos leverages the Move smart contract programming language. Developed by Meta’s Diem team, it allows for the use of a parallel execution engine, known as Block-STM, for enhanced transaction throughput within the network, claiming to increase capability to 160,000 transactions per second (tps).

Aptos adopted a modular approach for transaction processing, which achieves high throughput and low latency. The modular blockchain includes key components like smart contract execution, a consensus mechanism, parallel transaction processing, client interfaces, and validator management.

Its consensus mechanism employs a Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) and Proof of Stake (PoS) approach, where a set of validators collectively processes transactions; clients, responsible for submitting transactions or querying blockchain data, can download and verify validator-signed proofs.

The network also includes full nodes, replicating the transaction and blockchain state, as well as light clients, which maintain the current set of validators and securely query a partial blockchain state. Aptos’s modular design and consensus algorithm ensure flexibility, security, and reliability in processing transactions, meeting the evolving needs of users.

Consensus Mechanism of Aptos

When Facebook began creating its own blockchain, Libra, it modified a consensus model called HotStuff to develop a faster, more scalable, and more robust consensus algorithm, which was initially called the LibraBFT. It is recognised as the AptosBFT. 

Aptos requires a minimum of 1 million tokens in order to participate in the consensus. The Aptos consensus mechanism integrates PoS and BFT, and users can participate by staking Aptos without running a validator and choosing specific validators to stake with. Staking adds voting power to the selected validator, which indicates trust. Token holders who stake Aptos can vote on-chain for proposed network upgrades.

Aptos Metrics and Milestones

Aptos claims to have extremely low fees, especially compared to Ethereum. These fees are determined by the type of interaction with the network. Below are metrics and milestones that Aptos has achieved:

• Aptos achieves 160,000 tps, with a block finality less than one second.

• Aptos has produced over 100 million blocks, with block time transaction speed of five seconds, which means that new transactions are added to the blockchain every five seconds.

• A coin transfer on Aptos can cost around .00055 APT, Aptos’s native token, and decentralised finance (DeFi) operations can cost up to 0.005 APT, significantly reducing the cost per transaction to less than US$0.01.

• Aptos achieves decentralisation by having 117 validators across 26 countries and 51 cities, as of December 2023.

What Is the APT Token?

APT is the native token of the Aptos blockchain and is used to pay for transaction and network fees on the Aptos network.

Features and Utility of the APT Token

1. Pay for transaction and network fees on the Aptos network.
   
2. Incentivise validator nodes and reward users who participate in Aptos projects. To become a validator, a minimum amount of 1 million APT tokens is required.

3. APT holders can participate in on-chain governance.

Tokenomics of the APT Token

• Initial Supply: The APT token was launched on October 12, 2022, with an initial total supply of 1 billion tokens. Current circulating supply is 276.1 million tokens.
• Distribution: The APT token was distributed as follows: 

1. Community: 51.02%
2. Core Contributors: 19%
3. Foundation: 16.50%
4. Investors: 13.48%

How to Trade APT

Aptos’s token (APT) is listed in the Crypto.com App, joining the growing list of 250-plus supported cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Polkadot (DOT), USD Coin (USDC), and Cronos (CRO).

Crypto.com App users can now purchase APT at true cost with USD, EUR, GBP, and 20-plus other fiat currencies and spend it at over 80 million merchants globally using the Crypto.com Visa Card.

Alternatively, users can also trade APT on the Crypto.com Exchange.

Conclusion

Launched in 2022, Aptos is a Layer-1 blockchain with a strong focus on scalability, security, and reliability. Its unique features, such as the AptosBFT (PoS) consensus mechanism and the Move smart contract programming language, enable parallel execution and deliver a transaction throughput of up to 160,000 tps.

Aptos represents a promising addition to the blockchain landscape, offering innovative solutions to the industry’s longstanding challenges.

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