Title: Move Ecosystem
Author: Not gonna tell u my name
Last Modified: 26-07-22
Read: 8 min
Description:
Move is an executable bytecode language used to implement custom transactions and smart contracts designed by Meta Engineers (who had left to build Aptos & Sui). The Move ecosystem refers to any applications involving the Move Language, including Aptos, Pontem, Hippo Labs, Martian and more.
Move is a bytecode language used by several blockchains such as Diem, Aptos & Sui
Aptos is currently one of the fastest layer one blockchains out there, setting a record of 180k TPS, Solana only claimed 50k TPS and operated at ~5k TPS.
To understand the Move Ecosystem, one should first take a look at the history of the Move Programming Language. Move Programming Language was initially developed within Meta (Facebook) for a blockchain project known as Libra. Libra later got rebranded to Diem on Dec 1st 2020, and sold to Silvergate in Jan 2022 after facing a lot of pressure from regulators. The developers of Diem also took off midway to create their own blockchain, known as Aptos, in order to put their ideas into motion, ditch bureaucratic red tape, and build an entirely new network from the ground up that brings them to fruition. Some developers also went on to create Sui, which is another blockchain that uses a slightly modified Move Programming Language, and another consensus algorithm. As of July 25th, Aptos has managed to raise $350 million (USD) prior to their mainnet launch, which is scheduled to happen at the end of September or later. And it is one of the record breaking chains in terms of technical performance and funds raised, and also the center of Move Ecosystem currently.
Before we dive into the numbers & statistics of Aptos, let's first take a look at the three most popular cryptocurrency (excluding stablecoins & memecoins)
Bitcoin is still the most popular cryptocurrency, but what is interesting is that people are getting more & more interested in Solana during the years of 2021-2022. While it is still hard to say if Solana will overtake Ethereum in the next bull run, Defi is definitely no longer limited to Ethereum and bleeding into other ecosystems.
Now let's take a look at some of the hot coins which Centralized Exchanges have listed this year. Surprisingly, Aptos is not the last and had comparable pre-launch attention.
We can see that Aptos received the most attention when they first announced themselves to the world, and a sudden boost in attention again when they launched their incentivised testnet program.
Let's take a look at various layer ones' (L1) Twitter popularity. Twitter popularity often indicates general public interest in the blockchain. The key indicator over here would be the number of followers. Aptos is currently in the lead for chains that have yet to launch mainnet. And it does have the potential to grow into one of the largest L1s. Using Apefluencer, we can also see that Aptos is really popular within CT.
Discord has always been a good indicator for developer & degen activity on a blockchain. Aptos perform extremely well over here (more activity than Avalanche, Polygon, etc) and it is possible that Terra's crash has freed up a lot of Rust developers (Move is Rust based) into cryptospace.
Telegram best represents the amount of VCs and airdrop hunters which are detrimental to the price action of the cryptocurrency. However, Aptos has not announced any public rounds and seems to be fully funded by institutions. Tokenomics are still not known and it is hard to do an accurate measurement as of now.
The initial interests surrounding Aptos seem to be positive; made by ex-Meta engineers, deep funding by reputable VCs, sufficient interest in CT, superior developer activity on discord. However, it is hard to say if it will last. But it's definitely worth investing in the Move Ecosystem. As mentioned, Move is based on Rust programming language, a widely used programming language for smart contracts. The skills will be portable to existing chains and relevant outside of crypto. There is no doubt Aptos will become the top 100 coins upon launch and supporting the infrastructure will prove valuable to companies such as ChainUp, which offer exchange software services.
Let's take a deep dive into the current Aptos's Eocsystem pre-launch.
We have Pontem Network which is a company building different kinds of applications on Aptos, including bridges, DEX-es, IDEs and more.
Plenty of candidates for wallet software and providing SDKs (image on the left). And lots of the Defi protocols (image on the right). It is rare to see developers building applications on top of a blockchain before launch (apart from EVM chains which are basically fork, rinse & repeat), in a foreign runtime.
However, we do need to take note that despite seeing so many applications building on Aptos, many of these projects will struggle or fail to deliver. Expectations may not be met and unforeseen issues will happen. And ultimately, Aptos Ecosystem is still way smaller than mature ecosystems such as that of Ethereum.
The future of Move ecosystem is definitely bright & exciting. While it is uncertain if Aptos will become a successful L1 blockchain, investing time & resources on Move ecosystem can prove to be rewarding in the long run. It is advisable to participate in the current ecosystem (in Testnet) to familiarize oneself with Move and be equipped for the future of Web3.
Do note that this article is written back in May. Circumstances may have change and no longer applicable today.