Aptos Labs, based in California, is the latest team to deploy a new network called Aptos. The mainnet, which started in mid-October 2022, is adopting many similar characteristics from Solana and Meta to devise a new blockchain which can help promote web3 protocols in a robust and efficient manner.  

Aptos Network

According to their whitepaper, the Aptos mainnet is similar to Solana in a few key ways because it is built off of the Move programming language which stems out of the Rust language used by Solana. 

Move was first developed by Meta to help design the Libra cryptocurrency which uses the Diem blockchain. However, progress on that was halted for a variety of reasons. 

Now that Aptos Labs is using that same language for their network, it evokes the possibility that Aptos may be developing itself to work in accordance with the metaverse being developed by the team at Meta. 

APT Token

The network uses the APT Token to power the network and has a circulating supply of 130 million coins. It was first airdropped to early supporters of the network before being sold to the public. 

Similar to most coins at their Initial Coin Offering (ICO), the price of APT dropped significantly within its first day of trading. This is normal for most cryptocurrency when they start and not something to be worried about. 

The market cap for APT is around $900 million, so there is a strong amount of liquidity keeping the tokens stable and allowing for the network to prosper over time. 

Aptos Criticism

The aptos mainnet has not been without its fair share of criticisms though. Before and during its launch, there have been a number of growing concerns around the network, causing some minor FUD to appear. 

1. Slow TPS
   One of the most immediate criticisms about the Aptos network has been its extremely slow transactions per second (TPS) which has clocked in under the TPS of the bitcoin network. Compared to more efficient blockchains, such as Ethereum and Solana, a TPS under bitcoin’s TPS is extremely bad. Bitcoin has largely been considered a dinosaur in the world of crypto for its slow transaction speeds, so anything slower than it will quickly become unusable. 
   However, the team at Aptos Labs has said that this TPS is a misconception because the TPS being observed is only coming from the exchange of metadata on the blockchain, and does not accurately represent the transaction of cryptocurrency. 
   

2. Token Crash after Airdrop
   Another issue that stemmed from the deployment of their tokens is how quickly the price for the token dropped following sales on crypto exchanges. This price movement has left investors immediately unhappy with the APT token because they are already down on their investment within the first 24 hours. 
   Although this type of price action is normal for most cryptocurrencies at the time of ICO, it is still an uncomfortable moment for investors who were expecting stronger stability. However, this is cryptocurrency and stability is almost never guaranteed, nor should it ever be expected. Volatility is the norm in the world of web3. 
   

3. Lack of Transparency
   A huge concern involving the network is the lack of transparency thus far. The Aptos Labs team has not made it clear just how many APT tokens will be in total supply which is creating a massive amount of concern with the network because total supply and public transparency are two aspects of web3 that cannot be ignored. 
   This is different from the circulating supply which is the number of APT tokens currently in existence. The issue lies with the total supply that will ever be in existence, which is not being given to the public. 
   The purpose of a public ledger is to provide full transparency and without knowing how much supply of the APT token exists means that investors do not know what the true value of the Aptos network is.

Is another network necessary?

At the end of the day however, the real question is how necessary is another network in web3? Tons of blockchains and networks already exist, and the addition of one more doesn’t really solve any immediate problems in web3. 

The current demand in web3 is for more decentralized protocols that offer individuals work. Without these protocols, there really isn’t much else to do with the growing abundance of blockchain networks; and Ethereum is already cornering the market on user adoption. 

If Aptos wants to grow, it will need to offer something more unique than just another network that features on-chain governance and various custodial options for users. Web3 businesses are set to grow, but Aptos might be a little late to the party; they will need to offer a higher level of value to its users who might be more attracted to networks like Ethereum and Solana that are already in operation.