The Predicament of Aptos: From Star Project to Ecological Stagnation

In the Web3 space, Aptos was once a highly regarded newcomer. As one of the pioneers of the Move language, Aptos was seen as the representative of "next-generation L1" due to its high TPS and strong capital support. However, over time, this once brilliant star is gradually losing its shine.

Ecological Growth in Difficulties

Data shows that the number of daily active addresses on Aptos has dropped to about 1 million, with daily transaction volume around 3 to 4 million. In contrast, the on-chain transaction volume of Sui, which also uses the Move language, has surpassed 10 million, and the DEX transaction volume and application revenue far exceed that of Aptos. This stagnation in growth reveals many issues within the development of the Aptos ecosystem.

The accumulation of resources cannot conceal the false prosperity.

The early-stage ecological expansion of Aptos heavily relied on a "resource-driven" model, rather than genuine market demand. By distributing a large number of tokens to attract well-known DeFi projects and engaging top exchanges in ecological construction, Aptos attempted to quickly build its ecosystem. However, this "quick-fix approach" has not resulted in substantial user growth; instead, it resembles a "resource arbitrage game:"

• After the leading DeFi projects were launched, the growth of real users was limited, and there was a rapid sell-off after the token unlock.
• The TVL shows superficial growth, but most of it may just be "showcase" funds to earn subsidies;
• Ecological resources are overly tilted towards "airdrop" projects, neglecting support for native developers, resulting in the ecosystem's difficulty in forming self-sustaining capabilities.

Ecological support is superficial.

Aptos' recently launched LFM program aims to support ecological projects, but the airdrop of the first members, Amnis Finance, has sparked controversy. Out of 440,000 addresses, only 10,000 received the airdrop, resulting in a large number of real users not being able to benefit. This not only exposes Aptos' shortcomings in project review and community governance, but also highlights that its "ecological support" is more like nominal cooperation than real ecological co-construction.

Internal Governance Anomalies

In the past year, there have been frequent changes in the senior management of Aptos, with multiple key executives, including CEO Mo Shaikh, leaving one after another. Reports suggest that these personnel changes may be related to a low-priced OTC trading incident. It is reported that when APT was priced at $10-13, some investors participated in the OTC at about a 60% discount. This incident has not only raised questions about the internal governance of Aptos but also reflects the overall performance falling short of expectations after the token issuance.

Disappointment Spreads in the Community

Once highly anticipated, Aptos is now mired in community skepticism and disappointment. Many community members criticize it for "hating iron that doesn't turn into money," pointing out issues such as a lack of market sensitivity, unclear strategic direction, and chaotic internal management. Some have bluntly stated that Aptos has deviated from the development path of Web3 in multiple aspects, increasingly resembling a rigid Web2 traditional enterprise.

A community member recalled: "A year ago, the Move duo was still at the same starting line, and Aptos even had a higher profile. However, a year has passed, and SUI has been advancing rapidly, while Aptos has fallen into the quagmire of internal corruption and interests exchange, ultimately leaving behind a mess."

Where to go in the future?

The halo of capital may bring temporary prosperity, but the long-term development of public chains ultimately depends on user base and ecological sustainability. In today's fiercely competitive L1 track, whether Aptos can break through the difficulties and reshape its ecology still needs time to provide an answer. In any case, this case once again proves that the true value of a public chain lies not in capital support, but in continuous technological innovation and healthy ecological development.