Aptos, a layer one blockchain solution, built by ex-DIEM team member, is built on MOVE language and is intended to be highly modular and upgradeable. This recently launched blockchain network is on news for various reasons!

First, the launch was shaky. It seems like a rush rush event. And then when the tokenomics was shared, it was widely criticised as the tokens were found to be majorly held by the VCs and the team members. Also there were not much explanation on the exact number of tokens given to the market makers. More on Aptos tokenomics can be read here.

But how did it all start?

As the cryptocurrency industry’s prominence grew in 2019, Meta (then Facebook) decided to explore with blockchain technology. Meta created Libra, which was eventually renamed Diem, as part of this endeavour.

Diem, as a blockchain project, did not see the light of day. Its assets were sold to Silvergate back in January 2022.

One of the original team members, then started raising money for his blockchain project, Aptos which raised 350M USD in 3 rounds. Some of the notable APTOS investors are a16z, Tiger Global, Multicoin Capital, 3 Arrows Capital, Katie Haun, Coinbase Ventures, FTX ventures, Binance Labs and more.

Issues with Aptos: Is it really a Solana Killer?

Is it really a Solana Killer?

Aptos is being marketed as a Solana Killer.

When considering one blockchain that may one day outperform another in capabilities or popularity, the phrase “killer” is frequently used in the crypto business.

A Solana killer is just a decentralized cryptocurrency that has the ability to outperform Solana, as you might imagine. Though Aptos is still in its early stages, many are enthused about its potential to produce a blockchain that is extremely well-suited to smart contracts.

As a result, it might challenge Solana as the best place to create DAOs, DeFi frameworks, and other technologies.

But, once again, this is just a wild speculation. The project has been dubbed the “Solana killer” because its brags of processing 130,000 transactions per second. However, its deliverables demonstrated otherwise.

Issues with Aptos?

With Aptos’ growing recognition, the company was under tremendous pressure to achieve ultrafast transaction times. The Aptos blockchain mainnet went live recently, however the long-awaited release did not fulfil expectations of customers.

On the technology front, Shaikh stated that Aptos was founded with 102 validators safeguarding the network. “These validators have undergone extensive testing before to the mainnet deployment,” he said.

Unfortunately, on October 17, 2022, the Twitter user ParadigmEngineer420 raised various concerns about Aptos.

They claimed in a comment on their own blog post that the network could only handle 4 transactions per second. The original post, too, dismissed the platform’s earlier assertions, claiming that “Aptos is broken.”

Even Bitcoin, a blockchain notorious for its sluggish transaction speeds, is capable of exceeding four transactions per second.

This is a major drop from the company’s earlier promises of 130,000, which did not leave users with a good impression.

After all, this was the Aptos feature that had generated the most excitement. Shaikh asserts that the low TPS is not indicative of the network’s capacity and was due to “the network idling prior to the launch of new projects,” adding that the number of transactions per second should improve as network activity increases.

The criticism didn’t stop there, either. Users also expressed frustration about their difficulty in connecting with validators, who are responsible for charge of initially verifying transactions.

According to ParadigmEng420, the majority of these transactions aren’t actually transactions. They merely act as validators that exchange information, establish block checkpoints, and add blockchain metadata.

Aptos plans to release the remaining of its circulating supply over the course of the next decade, making the tokenomics of the platform quite peculiar. In addition, Aptos has announced that private investors as well as core contributors will be subject to a four-year lockup of their APT tokens following the launch of the mainnet. These token economics are not optimal and may discourage potential buyers.

Shaikh then turned his attention to Aptos’ tokenomics, a concept that has sparked numerous questions and concerns since its launch. Shaikh noted that Aptos tokens are “designed with humans in mind” and displayed a table outlining the four categories of token distribution as well as the percentage and quantity of initial tokens allotted to each.

According to Shaikh, many of the tokens were handed to the community, with foundation categories invested at the time of Aptos’ inception. He stated that all subsequent speculators will earn a 7% annual staking bonus, which would be released after every thirty days.

Overall, the controversies surrounding the Aptos mainnet debut has thrown into doubt the project’s overall viability. While the site is still in its early stages, the tsunami of condemnation it has already received may have an impact on its reputation and reliability in the eyes of potential users.

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