Aptos Labs CEO: Payment and stablecoin solutions can disrupt DeFi
Aptos Weekly Overview - January 23, 2025
Welcome back to Aptos’ Weekly Overview. The best place for Aptos community members to get up to speed on the chain’s latest updates, metrics, releases, insights, ecosystem developments and more. All in one place.
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By The Numbers
Aptos transactions this week: 34.9M (+1.7%)
Network transactions per second (TPS): 57.8 (+1.76%)
Active users: 5.4M (+28%)
New users this week: 2.4M (+60%)
Total staked APT: 870.18M (-0.7%)
Aptos total value locked (TVL): $1.1B (+3%)
NFT weekly sales: 1.1K (-47%)
The percentages and metrics are based on a 7-day timeframe from Flipside data as of Jan. 20, unless noted otherwise.
Inside the blockchain
🌐What happened: Mass adoption is a huge topic of discussion across the entire crypto sector and Aptos Labs CEO Avery Ching believes payment solutions are a big path blockchains can focus on to reach that adoption.
Emerging payment solutions in regions like Africa and LATAM may be the first to adopt these solutions in 2025, he said during the third Aptos Quarterly Webinar with Token Relations.
🌐Why does it matter: Aptos’ integration of stablecoins natively on its Move-based network can be seen as an important milestone for its role in payment solutions and DeFi adoption.
“ So I think one of the key things for us to move the needle in payments is getting stablecoins on Aptos,” Ching said. “Stablecoins are pivotal for creating seamless payment systems, especially in regions where traditional financial systems fall short. This functionality is particularly critical for markets in Africa, LATAM and other emerging regions where financial inclusion remains a key challenge.”
As it stands, the stablecoin market cap on Aptos is up 10.4% on the week at $726 million, according to DeFiLlama data.
In the DeFi sector, these stablecoins open up avenues for different uses like yield generation and more complex trading. For Aptos’ case, it is currently the only Move network that natively supports two of the largest stablecoins: USDT and USDC, respectively. In turn, this positions Aptos as a key contributor to expand financial opportunities globally and set the foundation for increased adoption in emerging markets.
“The long-term goal of what Aptos is trying to build is a decentralized internet for everybody to play with,” Ching said. “With how the blockchain works, users can interact on an application and that transaction is immutable. No one can dispute that everyone can agree that it's a reputable source of truth.”
🌐The big picture: As the network grows, so should the integration of different technologies, Ching said. ”Our belief is that different internet websites and products should all have some web3 elements integrated with them,” he added. “Assets that can be owned by users and transacted within other applications should be determined by users who have much more control over them.”
This vision directly puts Aptos’ technology up against the current, centralized internet landscape that is dominated by a few large entities. Despite it being a large undertaking, Ching hopes that by empowering Aptos’ users to have greater control over their assets, they could achieve a future where digital ownership becomes the norm, onchain.
Ecosystem wins
Metamove teased its Move AI agent kit is coming soon - read about it here
Kana Labs hit $629.58M incoming volume for its Aptos-build trading platform, according to DappRadar data
Echo Protocol created Echo Strategy, a way for users to engage with DeFi protocols on Aptos via less steps
Plume Network collaborated with Push to integrate asset trading across Aptos, Solana and Cosmos using the same wallet
Emojicoin, a memecoin trading platform built on Aptos, hit $5M in total volume (shown below)
Source: DefiLlama
The community is makin’ Moves
Aptos Labs’ Avery Ching also spoke on an X space with Avara Founder and CEO Stani Kulechov about Aave’s’ recent integration with the Aptos network - here’s the skinny if you missed it:
Aptos’ high TPS with low costs makes it a strong competitor to other networks and traditional financial systems
Aave decided to integrate Aptos to simplify onchain interactions by eliminating token approval steps (beneficial in a fast-changing environment)
Aptos and Aave will work together to implement any user feedback—a key component for building a great app
Aptos Labs’ team members Alix and Haley started a podcast series to highlight different projects in its ecosystem - check out the first episode here
HAIR token announced it received a grant from the Aptos Foundation for scaling and onboarding purposes
Spooks hosted an X space with Aptos Labs Head of Growth and Go-To-Market Ash Pampati about his journey from working at Spotify and YouTube to Aptos
Aptos Labs’ Product Manager Alyssa Ponzo teased account abstraction is coming to Aptos
By the headlines
You might have seen these Aptos-related headlines recently…
The origin of Kana Labs and its ongoing journey of building on Aptos (Kana Labs Podcast on X)
Data Analyst Guide to Aptos pt. 1 (Aptos Labs on Medium)
Zaptos: Reducing Blockchain Latency to the Absolute Minimum (Aptos Labs on Medium)
Join in the fun
Want to dive into the ecosystem full-time? Find the latest job postings on Aptos Foundation here.
Superposition Finance hosted an X space with Portal and PlaysOut about player reward systems
Everstake is hosting an Aptos community event in Kyiv, Ukraine on Feb. 13 - see details here
Learn how to use and build AI agents on Aptos via a tutorial on Aptos Learn
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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.