Aptos review: the Move language and parallel execution

Aptos is a layer 1 blockchain launched in October 2022 by Aptos Labs, a company founded by engineers who previously worked on Meta's Diem blockchain project. Another former Diem team built Sui, described on the SUI coin page.

The Move language

Smart contracts on Aptos are written in Move, a language originally created for Diem. Move treats digital assets as resources that cannot be copied or accidentally lost, which helps avoid some classes of bugs common in other smart contract languages.

Parallel execution

Aptos uses an engine called Block-STM. Instead of running transactions one by one, it runs them in parallel and re-executes only those that turn out to conflict. This aims at high throughput when many transactions do not touch the same data.

Consensus

The network uses a proof-of-stake, Byzantine-fault-tolerant consensus derived from the work done for Diem.

The APT token

APT pays transaction fees and is staked with validators to secure the network; it also plays a role in governance.

Move compared with Solidity

Most smart contracts today are written in Solidity for Ethereum-compatible networks. Move takes a different approach: assets are typed resources that the language itself prevents from being duplicated or silently dropped, and modules are verified before they run. For users this mostly shows up indirectly — as a different set of wallets and tools — while for developers it means learning a new language and ecosystem.

Risks

Competition among new high-performance layer 1 networks, the maturity of the ecosystem, and token unlock schedules that can affect the market.

The market is on the APT coin page.

This review describes the project's design and is not investment advice. Cryptocurrency prices can be highly volatile.