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Jump Joins with DoubleZero and Other Blockbuster Projects, APT Soars by 30% Author: Alex Liu, Foresight News
On the evening of June 24, Aptos announced a collaboration with crypto giant Jump Crypto to launch a brand-new storage protocol called Shelby. This is the first major move by Jump Crypto since its announcement of returning to the crypto space on June 19. The news sent shockwaves through the market—APT surged by 30%, rising from 4.2 USDT to a peak of 5.13 USDT, marking its best performance in recent times.
Aptos Joins Hands with Jump to Launch Hot Data Protocol Shelby: Can It Make a Comeback Against the Odds?
Jump Crypto had previously participated in Aptos Labs' $150 million Series A funding round in 2022 and is renowned for its deal-making and engineering capabilities. For instance, Jump was the main contributor to Solana's highly anticipated validator client, Firedancer. As the first high-profile project since Jump's return, Shelby has brought renewed attention to Aptos and reignited the imagination of a prosperous ecosystem.
However, there are also doubts. Sui had already launched the storage protocol Walrus. Is Aptos' move a copycat strategy of its competitor? Let's delve deeper into Shelby.
Shelby: The "Hot Storage Protocol"
From Cold to Hot: A Paradigm Shift in Web3 Storage
In the narrative of Web3 infrastructure, decentralized storage has always been a hot topic. However, for a long time, the field has been dominated by "cold storage," which is suitable for data that is infrequently accessed and meant for long-term preservation, such as NFT metadata and backups. Typical examples include Filecoin and Arweave, which emphasize durability and cost optimization but may not be suitable for high-frequency, high-real-time scenarios.
Shelby is proposed as a "hot storage" solution to address this pain point.
According to the official definition, Shelby is the first "cloud-grade infrastructure" in the Web3 world, featuring sub-second read speeds, a native incentive mechanism, and chain-agnostic compatibility. It not only allows data to be stored but also makes it flowable, usable, and pricable. It serves a wide range of Web3 applications that require high real-time performance, such as video streaming, AI outputs, dynamic NFTs, and game assets.
Avery Ching, CEO of Aptos Labs, pointed out in his personal article: "The exchange of Web3 assets can already be done in seconds, but data is still in a static and difficult-to-use state. Shelby aims to solve this critical bottleneck."
Backed by Jump, Shelby Is More Than Just "Fast"
If Aptos is known for its high concurrency and throughput, then Jump Crypto is a seasoned veteran in high-frequency trading and real-time systems. The reason Shelby dares to call itself "hot storage" lies in the characteristics of its underlying architecture:
A dedicated fiber-optic backbone network supports high-speed synchronization of global nodes;
An edge caching system ensures content localization and read speeds as fast as sub-second;
The Clay code redundancy mechanism reduces replication costs while ensuring repair efficiency;
An encryption + paid read mechanism natively supports a monetization logic based on usage;
Support for smart contracts to define access control and DRM, handling everything from data distribution to copyright protection in one go.
This design is not just about creating a faster IPFS (the most famous decentralized storage network) but attempting to integrate the performance standards of Web2 with the decentralized principles of Web3 to create a programmable, monetizable, and scalable data circulation network.
Blockbuster Projects Join In, Community Discussion Heats Up
The rapid increase of about 30% in APT prices is not only due to the endorsement of Jump Crypto but also because of the impressive lineup of ecosystem projects that Shelby has attracted—Metaplex, Story Protocol, DoubleZero, and others. These are not only the most active data-intensive applications in the industry but also representatives of various chains exploring the value of Web3 data usage.
Metaplex is rooted in Solana, and DoubleZero was founded by Austin Federa, the former head of strategy at Solana. The participation of Solana ecosystem projects deeply involved with Jump in the construction of the Aptos ecosystem—does this mean that there is really "something" behind Shelby and it has gained everyone's recognition?
Community Interpretation of Shelby Is Also Very Positive
Some people compare it with the Walrus Protocol, pointing out that the purposes of the two are quite different: Walrus is inclined to cold storage and archiving, while Shelby is aimed at real-time use and revenue distribution. The former relies on low-frequency access and audit incentive mechanisms, while the latter turns each data read into a payment action, fundamentally incentivizing the improvement of data readability.
Some even argue that Shelby's encryption + paid read mechanism provides a paradigm breakthrough for the long-standing "read incentive" problem in the field of data availability. Compared with projects like Celestia and Walrus, which still need to rely on external funding subsidies to maintain services, Shelby directly incorporates user behavior into the economic closed loop, encouraging nodes to actively maintain data availability.
A Bigger Vision: More Than Just a Comeback for Aptos
The launch of Shelby is undoubtedly an important move for Aptos to seek ecological breakthroughs, but its broader significance may lie in the fact that it is the first to try to deeply integrate the content economy, creator economy, and on-chain infrastructure with the concept of "data as a native asset." This not only serves Aptos itself but also radiates to the entire multi-chain world through its "chain-agnostic" characteristics.
Aptos Joins Hands with Jump to Launch Hot Data Protocol Shelby: Can It Make a Comeback Against the Odds?
Aptos Labs emphasized Shelby's composability and cross-chain capabilities multiple times in the announcement: no matter whether you are deploying dynamic NFTs on Solana or building a RAG model on the Ethereum layer 2, Shelby can achieve quick access and revenue linkage through standardized interfaces. In the future, it will also expand to chain environments such as Cosmos and Modular Stack.
Combined with Aptos' existing Global Trading Engine value transfer engine, Shelby makes up for the ability on the value generation side: the former allows assets to flow freely, while the latter makes content an asset with measurable value itself. The two complement each other, and Aptos is trying to create an on-chain economic closed loop.
In Conclusion: Possibilities and Challenges for a Comeback
From technical design to the lineup of partners, from ecological implementation to market sentiment, Shelby is undoubtedly a high-scoring answer from Aptos at the infrastructure level. When Walrus' large airdrop ignited the wealth effect of the Sui ecosystem, Aptos was once seen as a "bystander." Now, with Jump's support, Shelby may just be the breakthrough for it to return to the center of the narrative.
Of course, challenges remain: the difficulty of performance delivery, the cost of developer migration, and the cold start of the early ecosystem... all these will be the real problems that Shelby has to face next. But at least from the perspectives of the market and technology, Aptos is no longer content with being a "faster and cheaper public chain." Instead, it is seeking innovation and change, betting on a new paradigm of data-driven on-chain economy.
When hot data truly starts to flow, the next wave of Web3 may also set sail from here.
