Inside Aptos — the $1.9 billion blockchain born out of the shuttered Libra project

Episode 116 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded live with The Block's Frank Chaparro and Kevin Peng, and Aptos Co-Founders Avery Ching and Mohammad Shaikh.

Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on AppleSpotifyGoogle PodcastsStitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests can be sent to [email protected].


Aptos, a new Layer 1 blockchain originating from the Facebook blockchain initiative Libra (later renamed 'Diem'), recently launched its mainnet.

The architecture behind Aptos was designed to serve millions of people at scale and uses the Move programming language originally intended for Libra.

In this episode of The Scoop, Aptos Co-Founders Mohammad Shaikh and Avery Ching explain why they believe Aptos empowers developers to build faster, more secure applications, and why applications built on Aptos will help onboard millions of users into web3.

According to Ching, experiences built on Aptos will look and feel more like what users are accustomed to on existing Web2 platforms:

“When we think about what's going to onboard people into web3 from web2, one thing that people are used to in web2 is extremely good latency for their products … being able to see those same kinds of experiences in web3 through the Aptos network is something that will be very powerful.”

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In addition to user experience, the Move language offers developers a Rust-based alternative to Solana — something some teams who were developing on Solana are currently exploring.  

While vulnerabilities in smart contracts have cost DeFi projects billions of dollars, the Aptos co-founders claim the Move language allows for fewer vulnerabilities. As Shaikh explains,

“Making sure that engineers or product managers who are excited about a use case aren't thwarted by having to deal with smart contract complexity and worry about auditability — that’s really meaningful to us.”

During this episode, Chaparro, Ching, and Shaikh also discuss:

  • Where Aptos fits into the multichain world
  • How Aptos’ was designed with upgradeability in mind
  • Why protocols need to consider customer acquisition cost 

This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Tron, Ledn

About Tron
Founded in 2013, Huobi Global is one of the largest virtual asset exchanges in the world. Huobi Global serves millions of users across international markets. Since its establishment, Huobi Global has committed to providing first class virtual asset investment services. Huobi Global's robust infrastructure, product innovation and capital strength provides a truly customer-centric and secure trading environment to help our international users to achieve their investment objectives. Please refer to Huobi's official website for more information: huobi.com.

About Ledn
Ledn was founded on the unshakeable conviction that digital assets have the power to democratize access to the global economy. We help you to experience the real life benefits of your Bitcoin without having to sell it. Start a savings account, take out a loan, or double your Bitcoin. For more information visit Ledn.io


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Authors

Davis Quinton is the Director of Podcasts at The Block and runs our flagship podcast called The Scoop, hosted by Frank Chaparro. Since joining The Block as an 'intern' in early 2022, he has worked closely with leaders across departments to translate The Block's written content into engaging multimedia formats. He holds a degree in Social Research & Public Policy from New York University in Abu Dhabi and is based in Sydney, Australia.
Frank Chaparro is Host of The Scoop podcast and Director of Special Projects. He also writes a biweekly newsletter. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. Soon after joining Business Insider out of Fordham University, Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, Cboe Global Markets CEO Ed Tilly, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, and Fundstrat head Tom Lee. For inquiries or tips, email [email protected].