Aptos Head of Ecosystem: DeFi is bringing in untapped potential for consumer apps
Aptos Weekly Overview - March 6, 2025
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By The Numbers
Aptos transactions this week: 26.8M (-3.2%)
Network transactions per second (TPS): 44.3
Active users: 5.5M (+18.6%)
New users this week: 3M
Total staked APT: 879.34M (-0.2%)
Aptos total value locked (TVL): $1B (+7.6%)
NFT weekly sales: 1.3K (+62.5%)
The percentages and metrics are based on a 7-day timeframe from Flipside data as of March 3, unless noted otherwise.
Inside the blockchain
🌐What happened: Networks need to perform as well as a centralized exchange in order to create better crypto awareness and education, Aptos Head of Ecosystem Ash Pampati said during the Aptos Quarterly Webinar with Token Relations.
Web3 is competing with the entire world and some companies that have been optimizing their applications for decades. Pampati asked, “ from a user experience perspective, if something can happen easier in web2, why would they use web3?” Aptos looks to provide that answer.
🌐Why does it matter: Since its inception in 2021, Aptos has been expanding in the DeFi sector in an effort to grow payment solutions that can be integrated into our everyday lives, Pampati said. But he believes that in general, DeFi has gotten to a point where it’s found product market fit, for multiple cycles now. Yet the sector isn’t going anywhere.
From an infrastructure and technological front, all the capabilities are there, he noted. Blockchain technology has reached the point where it can be used for simple knowledge concepts like borrowing and lending all the way up to complex operations like multi-module smart contract transactions.
However, Aptos wants it to get to a point further than that and make it easy enough for non-crypto natives to use, Pampati said. “[We are] abstracting away some complexities and frictions web3 causes, while maintaining core tenets around self custody and decentralization.”
Protocols like Thala, Cellana Finance and Hyperfluid have seen an increase in TVL to point toward the notion of growth for DeFi on Aptos. Despite numerous protocols in a similar niche, they have been able to find product market fit - showcasing Aptos’ ability to facilitate onchain needs.
At Aptos, Pampati wants to help make DeFi more approachable by onboarding more projects to the network. “We have a lot of room with our ecosystem to co-build and grow,” he said. “ I think we are going to see a lot of great projects come on board in very specific areas where competition is necessary like automated market makers (AMM) and DEXs.”
🌐The big picture: All in all, Aptos wants to create a network that’s fast, secure, as well as an ecosystem that has all the tools needed for a project to grow.
With the talk of institutional adoption being a topic of discussion for some - Aptos wants to stay true to its core and focus on everyday web3 users and hopefully onboard web2 users that are “going to stand at the end of the line,” Pampati said.
Pampati believes if Aptos can capture a web3 user’s loyalty, it can act as a healthy distribution channel because that user could tell everyone about the blockchain on social media and even to their family at Thanksgiving. “I think this is a highly, highly valuable thing to think about but it's also a very, very competitive space to win those users.”
Ecosystem wins
Bitwise filed an S-1 with the SEC to register an Aptos ETF
DApp metrics are up on the week, according to DappRadar:
Unique active wallets: 6M (+11.23%)
Incoming txns: 19.72M (+3.38%)
Dapp volume: $765.3M (+2.11%)
Aptos reached 6.01M active addresses, the 4th most across all blockchain Nansen data shows
Coinbase added Aptos to its COIN50 Index
BitGo deployed self-custody support to its platform for the APT token
Echelon Market hit $154M TVL on March 5, an all-time high for the borrow and lending protocol (shown below)
Source: DefiLlama
The community is makin’ Moves
Aptos Labs’ Haley and Aptos Foundation’s Alix released their third YAPT episode diving into their experience at Aptos Xponential, ecosystem project updates and more
ICYMI: Spooks hosted an X space with PACT President Joshua March and Kana Labs Co-Founder Karthik Subramanian to talk about DeFi on the network
Thala released Metastable Pools, an AMM designed for tokens correlated to an asset to be traded even if it de-pegs
MEXC spoke with Aptos Co-Founder and CEO Avery Ching and Pampati about how the blockchain can stand out against others
KGeN shared it hit 1M mints for its Proof-of-Gamers identity asset
Join in the fun
Want to dive into the ecosystem full-time? Find the latest job postings on Aptos Foundation here.
Kofi launched its liquid staking protocol to testnet and is holding a bug bounty program ending March 17
Sign up for the Move AI Hackathon to participate in one of its four tracks (DeFAI, social app, agentic infra or GameFi), and have a chance at a $250K prize pool
Building a project on Aptos? Amnis Finance hosted an X space with Aptos Software Engineer David Wolinsky about its various developer tools
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This product was built by Token Relations.
This information is for entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research.