KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Aptos has achieved significant growth in DeFi and infrastructure, establishing itself as a leader in the blockchain industry.
- The platform boasts high performance with block times under 130 milliseconds and aims to reach 1 million TPS through innovations like Raptr and Zaptos.
- Aptos’ DeFi sector is expanding rapidly, with a stablecoin market cap increase of 85.9% and a 310.3% surge in DEX volume.
- Infrastructure advancements, including the Baby Raptr upgrade and new ecosystem launches, enhance Aptos’ global trading capabilities.
According to a recent Messari Aptos H1 2025 report, Aptos has demonstrated significant growth and innovation in the first half of 2025. The blockchain platform has made strides in decentralized finance (DeFi) and infrastructure, positioning itself as a leader in the industry.
Performance and Efficiency
Aptos continues to set high standards for blockchain performance. With block times under 130 milliseconds and user finality at 650 milliseconds, it remains one of the fastest and most efficient Layer-1 networks currently in production. Innovations such as Raptr, Zaptos, and Shardines are expected to unlock 1 million transactions per second (TPS), enhancing Aptos’ capability for global value movement and real-time financial applications.
Despite these advancements, the platform has managed to keep costs low for users. In the second quarter, average transaction fees decreased by 61.1% quarter-over-quarter to just $0.00052, making Aptos up to 100 times cheaper than other Layer-1 networks. This reduction in fees, along with the network surpassing 3 billion lifetime transactions in July, highlights its scalability and efficiency.
DeFi and Governance Developments
Aptos’ DeFi sector is thriving, with the network’s stablecoin market cap growing by 85.9% in the first half of the year to $1.2 billion. This growth is driven by the increasing adoption of native USDT and USDC on the platform. Additionally, decentralized exchange (DEX) volume surged by 310.3% quarter-over-quarter to reach $9.0 billion in the second quarter, with Aptos-native projects like Hyperion and ThalaSwap V2 leading the way.
Governance proposals have also played a crucial role in optimizing the network. AIP-119, for example, helped adjust staking rewards from 7% to 6.54%, ensuring economic sustainability. With 76.4% of eligible APT supply staked, the community has shown strong support for this Aptos Improvement Proposal.
Infrastructure and Ecosystem Expansion
Aptos’ infrastructure stack continues to evolve, pushing the boundaries of blockchain performance. The Baby Raptr consensus upgrade improved validator finality latency by 20%, optimizing transaction finality. Two significant ecosystem launches, Shelby and Decibel, have further reinforced Aptos’ position as a global trading engine. Shelby, developed in partnership with Jump Crypto, offers low-latency storage that bridges on-chain and off-chain performance standards. Decibel provides a fully on-chain engine for unified spot, perpetuals, and smart liquidity, built on Aptos’ central limit order book.
The Aptos Foundation has committed $200 million in the first half of the year to drive ecosystem growth, focusing on DeFi grants, liquidity provisioning, and new protocol deployments. A notable milestone was the governance-approved deployment of Aave V3 on Aptos, marking the first non-EVM expansion for one of the largest DeFi protocols globally.
For more detailed insights, read the full Messari Report: Aptos H1 2025 here.
Why This Matters: Impact, Industry Trends & Expert Insights
Aptos has experienced significant growth in DeFi and infrastructure during the first half of 2025, marked by increased transaction efficiency and reduced costs.
Recent industry reports indicate that Aptos is rapidly maturing as a scalable DeFi infrastructure. This is evident in its innovations such as the launch of Decibel, enhancing trading efficiency and liquidity, which aligns with Aptos’ recent advancements in trading infrastructure and ecosystem growth.
As per insights from Investing Haven, Aptos’ ecosystem expansion and strategic partnerships with major firms like Google Cloud and Microsoft are positioning it as a leading Layer-1 blockchain in DeFi. This supports the impact of Aptos’ infrastructure upgrades and its increasing adoption as a high-performance blockchain alternative.
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