Why Aptos?

How Does the Aptos Blockchain Work?

Though it's not fully operational yet, the Aptos blockchain is already hitting impressive targets. Currently, it can process 130,000 transactions per second (TPS) while maintaining security and reliability. A few revolutionary concepts are at work behind Aptos' impressive performance.

Block-STM Technology

Block-STM technology creates an engine that efficiently handles smart contracts. The Aptos blockchain engine relies on parallel execution to handle multiple transactions at once. This makes things a lot quicker, because a single failed transaction won't halt the whole chain. Instead, transactions can be processed concurrently, and all of them are validated post-execution. To further improve efficiency, a collaborative scheduler works to prioritize certain transactions on the Aptos blockchain and handle essential validations efficiently. Ultimately, up to 160,000 transactions may be processed simultaneously.

Move Programming Language

One of the things that makes Aptos crypto so appealing is Move, a custom programming language that was first designed for the Diem blockchain. Move is a type of executable bytecode language. It’s flexible enough to handle the unique needs of Aptos developers, and its global storage is more secure than the average programming language. Move lets users define custom resources that can’t be copied or discarded, making it much more difficult for malicious entities to control the Aptos blockchain.

BFT Consensus Protocol

Instead of using a consensus protocol that has to follow the order of transactions, Aptos decouples the two processes and lets them run parallel to each other. This reduces latency (the time it takes to confirm network transactions) while increasing speed. To ensure accuracy, Aptos has created a Byzantine fault tolerant (BFT) engine that analyzes individual states on-chain and then automatically updates validators as needed.

What Makes Aptos Different?

If you’ve spent a lot of time checking out crypto news, Aptos crypto might sound somewhat familiar. It’s definitely true that a lot of new blockchains claim to be exciting Layer 1s that will solve all scalability problems. While it's understandable to approach Aptos with some caution, it actually does justify some hype. A very active community, plenty of investors, and access to unique engines and programming languages all help the Aptos blockchain stand out. If it delivers on its promises, it will be very different indeed from existing Layer 1 chains.

Aptos vs. Solana

One of the Aptos blockchain's main competitors will be Solana, which is currently the hottest high-performance Layer 1 available. So far, both Aptos and Solana have similar levels of speed because they both rely on engines that can run computations in parallel. However, when comparing the Solana and Aptos blockchains, Aptos seems to be more reliable. Solana has been fairly prone to failure, having had notable outages and downgrades.

The Aptos blockchain adds redundancy to its network, rendering it less prone to failure. Each block in Aptos is synced with leader nodes and nearby nodes. In case the leader node fails, one of the other nodes can take over. This results in slightly more computational requirements, so Aptos' hardware needs are a little larger than Solana's. Ultimately, Aptos managesmore reliability than Solana in exchange for slightly higher hardware requirements.

Aptos vs. Avalanche

Early reports indicate that the Aptos blockchain outperforms Avalanche under optimal testing conditions. Avalanche can finalize a transaction about 0.7 seconds faster than Aptos. However, in real-world conditions, Avalanche's time to finality is usually about 0.3 seconds slower than Aptos. When it comes to TPS, Aptos blows Avalanche out of the water. Avalanche manages around 4,500 per subnet while the Aptos blockchain achieves between 130,000–160,000.

Both Avalanche and Aptos have very impressive performances, but the Aptos blockchain excels in usability. Avalanche tends to have very high gas fees, especially when NFT games are causing spikes in transaction amounts. Meanwhile, Aptos prioritizes low fees for users. Its unique Move-based storage methodology lets users group items together to minimize fees.

Aptos vs. Ethereum

The Aptos blockchain has already managed to outperform Ethereum in terms of speed. While Ethereum's time to finality is over a minute, Aptos can finalize transactions in less than a second, due to both hardware and design differences. Ethereum only has one CPU core, while Aptos operates on 16.

However, Ethereum’s reliability is undeniably superior. While Aptos doesn't have many problems with outages, it can't compare to Ethereum's stability: Its performance is almost impossible to disrupt. As long as users are fine with paying more fees and waiting longer times, Ethereum still remains the more popular choice.

For more information, please visit the official Aptos Labs Website.