Aptos is a first-level blockchain with relatively high throughput and low fees. He inherited this advantage from the Diem project, which was supposed to be the new worldwide payment system. In their whitepaper, the developers claim that the project is designed with scalability, security, reliability, and the ability to make regular updates - these points can be found in the whitepaper of almost any cryptocurrency. The Aptos cryptocurrency is based on the Proof-of-Stake algorithm.
The creators themselves emphasize the following technical advantages:
- Own Move language — it allows you to quickly and safely conduct transactions, and the additional Move Prover tool protects smart contracts from fraudsters and technical errors, nullifying possible shortcomings in the work. The Solidity language used in Ethereum is less dynamic as assets are based in hash maps that are locked into smart contracts.
- Additionally, a Byzantine low-latency consensus mechanism has been introduced. Even attacked nodes will not be able to influence the achievement of consensus by other network participants (dynamic adjustment). The time to reach consensus was reduced to 300 milliseconds.
- The main innovation is the parallel execution of transactions. The consensus algorithm is separated from the execution of transactions, which allows you to achieve a theoretical speed of 130-160 thousand TPS (transactions per second). For the test network, this figure was 40 thousand, which is also pretty good.
- Private keys can be modified to increase the security of network users' funds.
- Convenient network moderation - all updates will be implemented without downtime, which will ensure the continuous operation of the blockchain in the future.
The purpose of the blockchain is that Aptos can attract an unlimited number of participants, which will allow mass implementation of web3 and solve the problems of real users by improving the capabilities of the decentralized application ecosystem. The network must be able to update quickly, which is why the Aptos architecture is flexible, as new technology solutions and use cases appear daily. The developers paid special attention to technology, fast updates and user interface, this approach makes Aptos token optimal for launching applications of various plans:
- social networks and platforms;
- games and metaverses;
- non-fungible tokens (NFT);
- e-commerce and decentralized finance;
- entertainment and media.
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a collection of applications and tools that allow the user to solve their problems and make life more convenient. Consider the largest elements from the Aptos ecosystem:
- Launchpads and DEX. AptosLaunch is a DAO launchpad that allows you to launch new projects on a secure blockchain. This is far from the only service for placing initial offers on Aptos decentralized platforms; Aptos Launcher and Orion are also in demand. Pontem is the first decentralized exchange (DEX) to emerge on Aptos. Well-known companies invested in the project, its launch cost $4.5 million. It is expected that other sites in this sector will be created in the future.
- Aptos NFT - the sector is represented by Topaz, BlueMore and souffl3 projects. The market is expanding strongly and NFT applications on Aptos are attracting millions of investments, sales are also in the tens of millions of dollars. Aptos is "advertised", so major NFT artists move here, providing a buzz and high profits.
- Lending and loans. On the Aptos blockchain, decentralized finance is represented by Vial, Njord Finance and Ultima projects. Users can already join and test financial products.
- Other - this includes wallets, oracles, browser. Also, Thala Labs is already listing its stablecoin on Aptos, a profitable exchange aggregator is under development, and the following projects are being prepared: Sorlise for fund management, Paymagic payment solution for purchases, domain name service, farming application and dozens of other useful options.
The main directions for development have already been formed, but the lion's share of projects is under development. Aptos does not interact with the Ethereum Virtual Machine in any way, which will cause a lot of difficulties for developers who are used to the Solidity programming language. The new Move language toolset is also capable of scaring off programmers, as it is not common.
Acquisition, storage and exchanges
Now you can buy Aptos on the cryptocurrency exchange, you can also receive coins as a gift or conduct any transaction with their help. It is not recommended to use decentralized exchangers for purchase, as not everyone is able to check the reliability of the platform. You can find a coin on the following trusted crypto exchanges:
- Binance;
- Digifinex;
- OKX;
- Huobi;
- Bitfinex;
- Coinbase.
Storage can be a little tricky, so it's worth answering the most common questions right away. Aptos cannot be stored using the Metamask wallet because the blockchain does not support EVM. Storage on a hardware wallet is also questioned, the official Ledger website notes that integration is foreseen in the near future, but its timing was not disclosed.
At the same time, software wallets have already been created in sufficient quantities, so choosing an Aptos wallet is not difficult:
- Martian Aptos Wallet;
- Pontem;
- Petra;
- rise;
- fewcha;
- Spika.
Aptos scandal
The Aptos blockchain faced criticism immediately after the launch of the main network. The first drawback is speed. The developers stated that the blockchain is capable of operating at a speed of 160,000 transactions per second (TPS). But on launch day, it ran at 4 TPS, which is way less than expected. Even bitcoin, which is quite slow, is capable of 10 transactions per second.
This flaw was first discovered by Twitter user ParadigmEng420. On his blog, he wrote the following: “Aptos is out of order, network launched today - October 17, 2022. Currently, its TPS is lower than on the Bitcoin network. Almost all tokens are blocked, the rest will be quickly thrown off by retail investors.” Another Twitter user pointed out that the site did not work on launch day due to the extreme rush of the creators.
The second main problem is the distribution of tokens. Most of the coins belong to the creators and investors, which means that a massive sale can collapse the price of the coin. ParadigmEng420, already known to us, noted that about 80% of APT are under the control of the creators, ordinary owners received only 20% of the coins.
Due to the fact that almost the entire issue is held by a small number of people, there was a sharp decline after the launch of the blockchain. Crypto expert WuBlockchain posted a note on Twitter that someone sold 189567 APT on the Binance exchange. For this reason, the price of Aptos dropped from $15 to $13. “With such a concentration of coins in one hand, this should have happened,” the expert noted.
Perspectives and Conclusions
What cryptocurrency can give an APT investor - the forecast is as follows. The current price is in the zone of buyers' interest. The price of APT is $5, for some time it may roll back to the support of $3,5. Then a rebound will begin and investors will see an increase to $12 dollars - traders of the TradingView portal are inclined to such a medium-term forecast.
There are also factors that negatively affect the cost. Many traders realize that large investment funds entered Aptos at $0.7, while other significant figures bought APT from $1 to $3. Therefore, there are assumptions that speculators will try to create the maximum “pump” and exit quickly, after which APT will go into a bearish trend for a long time. Also, after 4 years, investors’ coins will begin to be unlocked, the “drain” of APT will lead to a rapid decline.
If you are sure that bitcoin will start to grow soon, then you can diversify your portfolio and buy a small amount of Aptos tokens. It remains to wait until the funds begin to swing the price, after which you can sell the assets, receiving a 100-200% return on the initial investment. You need to act as carefully as possible.
Another type of income is staking. A rate of 7% does not seem very attractive, so you should choose other coins for staking. Almost any collection of NFTs available on Aptos now provide the highest returns. The NFT reselling trend will continue for some time. If we consider the project as a whole, then we can say that this is a global blockchain with excellent functionality, in which huge amounts have been invested. It will grow and expand, but you should not expect quick profits.
The creators hurried with the launch, so the functionality of the blockchain remains “raw”. The confidence of users was undermined by greed, because the bulk of the coins are in the hands of developers, which refutes the fundamental ideas of decentralization and allows you to manipulate the price. Mo Sheikh is now a defendant in a fraud case, although his guilt has not yet been proven, but this is another reason to be wary. All of the above should be taken into account when creating your own trading strategy for the APT instrument.