Aptos Roadmap: Pioneering Blockchain Scalability and Performance

In a recent episode of the Validated podcast, host Austin sat down with Avery Ching, CEO of Aptos Labs, to discuss the latest developments and future vision for the Aptos blockchain. The conversation delved into the architectural framework of Aptos, its innovative approach to scalability, and the evolution of the Move programming language. As we explore the insights shared by Ching, it's important to note how these advancements compare to other leading blockchain platforms, particularly Solana, which has been at the forefront of high-performance blockchain technology.

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Aptos' Technological Goals and Design Decisions

Aptos has set ambitious goals for its blockchain technology, focusing on optimizing scalability, latency, and cost-efficiency. Ching emphasized that Aptos aims to support very efficient trading primitives on-chain, facilitate stable coin movement for cross-border remittances, and enable the proliferation of real-world assets (RWA) on the blockchain. These objectives have informed key design decisions in the Aptos protocol.

One of the most significant design choices is the modular architecture of Aptos. Ching explained:

"We split up the phases of transaction execution into five distinct phases. There's a data dissemination phase, an ordering phase, a parallel execution phase, a commit phase, as well as a storage phase."

This modular approach allows for independent optimization of each component, enabling Aptos to leverage all available resources on a validator, including CPU, memory, network capacity, and storage. While this modular design is different from the concept of modular blockchains that compose different pieces together, it represents a general-purpose software engineering concept aimed at building reusable and reliable components.

Scalability, Latency, and Cost Optimization

Aptos has made significant strides in improving blockchain performance across multiple dimensions. Ching highlighted several key achievements:

1. Scalability: In August 2024, Aptos demonstrated the ability to process 326 million transactions through an ecosystem game, achieving more than 37 transactions per second without any downtime or impact on fees or other applications.

2. Latency: Aptos has developed an open-source latency dashboard that shows the network achieving sub-second latency, typically around 700-800 milliseconds.

3. Cost: For transactions like USDT transfers, Aptos offers fees as low as a hundredth of a cent, making it one of the most cost-effective blockchain platforms.

These performance metrics position Aptos as a highly competitive blockchain platform, rivaling even Solana's renowned speed and efficiency.

Dynamic Parallelism and BlockSTM

One of the most innovative features of Aptos is its implementation of dynamic parallelism through the BlockSTM (Software Transactional Memory) system. Unlike static parallelism approaches used by some other blockchains, Aptos' dynamic parallelism allows for more efficient execution of transactions.

Ching explained the advantage of this approach:

"BlockSTM can support both [static and dynamic parallelism]. And then kind of just say like, so what? And see what happens? Because oftentimes you don't know what you're touching. And so the only way to deal with that is either to add a lot of locks, which is painful and very expensive, or you need to lock like everything."

This flexibility enables Aptos to handle complex transactions more efficiently, potentially outperforming blockchains that rely on static parallelism or extensive locking mechanisms.

Shardines: Pushing the Boundaries of Shared State Scaling

Aptos has introduced a concept called "Shardines," which represents a novel approach to scaling shared state within a blockchain. Unlike traditional sharding that breaks up the state across different chains, Shardines allows for scaling within a single validator cluster.

Ching described the concept:

"Our goal is like, you know, how do we scale up the validators to actually do more work, even if it's not a single machine, because that does limits are going to be hit. And, and so how do you kind of be on that? That's the work of shardines."

This approach leverages graph partitioning algorithms and other techniques to distribute work across multiple CPUs while maintaining a unified state from the user's perspective. The result is the potential for massive throughput increases, with Ching mentioning the possibility of achieving a million or more transactions per second on a single logical validator.

The Evolution of Move Language

The Move programming language, originally developed for the Libra/Diem project, has been a key focus for Aptos. Ching discussed how Aptos has been evolving Move to make it more functional and safer for blockchain development.

Some key improvements in Move include:

1. Dynamic dispatch capabilities that maintain safety
2. Integration with Move Prover for formal verification of code specifications
3. Syntactical sugar and improvements in Move 2.0 that reduce code size by up to 70%

Ching emphasized the philosophy behind Move:

"The philosophy of move was rather than think about traditional programming where you write some code, you test it out. It doesn't work. You have a bug. You fix it. You kind of roll forward and move on. Like, uh, what if you had a way to have less bugs in your system because you're concerned about the fact that every bug here might be the difference between, you know, losing all the money in the protocol."

This focus on safety and correctness sets Move apart from other blockchain programming languages and aligns with the increasing demand for secure smart contract development.

Aptos' Vision for the Future

Looking ahead, Aptos is positioning itself to handle massive scale applications that could serve hundreds of millions of users. Ching mentioned that large internet partners are starting to take notice of Aptos' capabilities:

"We're seeing some of those large internet partners, uh, really taking a look at a web three and saying, look, uh, for the first time we feel like this infrastructure can actually handle our workload. They can handle tens or even hundreds of millions of customers transacting on the blockchain."

Additionally, Aptos is working on further reducing block times, with plans to decrease from the current 200 milliseconds to potentially 50-100 milliseconds in the coming year. This improvement could enable real-time money movements and trading activities that are currently not possible on other blockchain platforms.

Comparison with Solana and Other Blockchains

While the podcast focused primarily on Aptos' innovations, it's worth noting how these developments compare to Solana's offerings. Solana has been known for its high throughput and low latency, but Aptos seems to be pushing the boundaries even further with its dynamic parallelism and Shardines concept.

Both Aptos and Solana are targeting similar use cases, such as high-frequency trading and large-scale decentralized applications. However, Aptos' modular design and evolving Move language may offer developers more flexibility and safety features compared to Solana's Rust-based development environment.

Developer Recruitment and Ecosystem Growth

One of the challenges facing Aptos, similar to what Solana experienced in its early days, is attracting developers and projects to build on the platform. Ching acknowledged this challenge and highlighted some unique selling points for Aptos:

1. The ability to handle micro-financing use cases, such as issuing small loans with minimal fees
2. Support for massive throughput that can handle tens or hundreds of millions of customers
3. Upgradability without downtime, ensuring continuous improvement of the network

These features are designed to appeal to both emerging market applications and large-scale enterprise use cases, potentially giving Aptos an edge in certain sectors of the blockchain market.

The Future of Blockchain Infrastructure

As blockchain technology continues to evolve, platforms like Aptos and Solana are pushing the boundaries of what's possible in terms of scalability, performance, and developer experience. The innovations discussed by Avery Ching suggest that we're entering a new era of blockchain capability, where the infrastructure can support applications at a scale previously thought impossible.

While Solana has made significant strides in blockchain performance, Aptos' approach to dynamic parallelism, shared state scaling through Shardines, and the evolution of the Move language present exciting possibilities for the future of decentralized applications.

As the blockchain space continues to mature, it will be fascinating to see how these technological advancements translate into real-world applications and user adoption. Both Aptos and Solana are well-positioned to play significant roles in shaping the future of blockchain technology, each offering unique strengths and innovations that could drive the next wave of decentralized innovation.

Facts + Figures

• Aptos demonstrated the ability to process 326 million transactions through an ecosystem game, achieving more than 37 transactions per second without downtime or fee impacts.

• Aptos has shown the capability to process more than two billion transactions in a day on a network of about 120 validators, surpassing the combined volume of Visa, Mastercard, and other payment networks.

• The Aptos network achieves sub-second latency, typically around 700-800 milliseconds.

• Transaction fees on Aptos can be as low as a hundredth of a cent for USDT transfers.

• Aptos plans to reduce block times from the current 200 milliseconds to potentially 50-100 milliseconds in the coming year.

• The Move 2.0 programming language update has reduced code size by up to 70% compared to previous versions.

• Aptos' modular design splits transaction execution into five distinct phases: data dissemination, ordering, parallel execution, commit, and storage.

• The Shardines concept aims to achieve throughput of a million or more transactions per second on a single logical validator.

• Large internet partners are considering building applications on Aptos that could serve tens or hundreds of millions of customers.

• Aptos has been used to issue more than a billion dollars worth of micro-loans, with individual loan amounts as small as one dollar.

Questions Answered

What is Aptos' approach to blockchain scalability?

Aptos uses a combination of modular design, dynamic parallelism, and a concept called Shardines to achieve high scalability. The modular design splits transaction execution into five distinct phases, allowing for independent optimization of each component. Dynamic parallelism through BlockSTM enables efficient execution of complex transactions, while Shardines allows for scaling shared state within a single validator cluster, potentially achieving millions of transactions per second.

How does Aptos' performance compare to traditional payment networks?

Aptos has demonstrated the ability to process more than two billion transactions in a day on a network of about 120 validators. This throughput surpasses the combined volume of Visa, Mastercard, and other traditional payment networks. Additionally, Aptos achieves sub-second latency, typically around 700-800 milliseconds, and offers transaction fees as low as a hundredth of a cent for certain operations like USDT transfers.

What innovations has Aptos made to the Move programming language?

Aptos has evolved the Move language to make it more functional and safer for blockchain development. Key improvements include dynamic dispatch capabilities that maintain safety, integration with Move Prover for formal verification of code specifications, and syntactical improvements in Move 2.0 that reduce code size by up to 70%. These enhancements focus on reducing bugs and increasing the security of smart contracts developed on the Aptos platform.

How does Aptos plan to attract developers and projects to its ecosystem?

Aptos is focusing on unique capabilities to attract developers, such as the ability to handle micro-financing use cases with minimal fees, support for massive throughput that can handle hundreds of millions of users, and upgradability without downtime. The platform is also emphasizing its improved developer experience with the evolved Move language and its potential for supporting large-scale enterprise applications.

What are Aptos' plans for future improvements?

Aptos is working on further reducing block times from the current 200 milliseconds to potentially 50-100 milliseconds in the coming year. This improvement aims to enable real-time money movements and trading activities. The platform is also continuing to evolve its Shardines concept to push the boundaries of shared state scaling, potentially achieving even higher transaction throughput in the future.