Welcome back to the Tribe! In this post we dive into news about the new Aptos Blockchain that is being created from the former Libra team at Facebook.

Nothing should be considered investment or financial advice. Enjoy the ride!

Aptos Blockchain

Following Facebook’s decision to sell off the Diem blockchain project, the technical hands behind the project are launching a new protocol tagged Aptos.

According to a blog post published on Thursday (February 24, 2022), developers who worked on the Facebook-backed Diem project have banded together to launch a new blockchain network dubbed Aptos.

The Diem blockchain project was formerly known as Libra, a stablecoin protocol geared towards providing a secure and fast payment method for the world. However, the project failed to live up to the hype following constant pressure from regulatory agencies in Europe and America.

Creators of Libra Team up for New Chain

Aptos will leverage technology from Diem and aims to fulfil the promise of Facebook’s infamous stablecoin protocol with a new direction for utility. The medium article goes on to explain that Libra’s original white paper formed the core thesis for the new Aptos blockchain.

Although the Silvergate Capital Corporation recently bought up the intellectual property and other technological assets from Meta (formerly Facebook) in a hefty $180 million deal, most of the technical development for the project was reportedly published under open-source licenses.

This allows ex-members of Meta’s Diem-affiliated team to continue development and launch a new blockchain without breaking any laws.

Despite admitting that Aptos is built using Libra’s stablecoin system, the announcement emphasizes that the protocol is a new and independent project developed from the ground up. The blog post also adds that Aptos aims to address the reliability, safety and usability concerns commonly associated with decentralized technology. An excerpt from the post reads:

“A new Layer 1 blockchain is needed, one that’s aimed specifically at solving these problems. Aptos was designed with an emphasis on absolute safety, extensible scalability, and credible neutrality — values that we know firsthand and viscerally understand.”

Regarding the Aptos team itself, the announcement reveals that they are the original creators, researchers, designers, and builders of Diem, the blockchain that was first built to serve this purpose.

Former Novi wallet team member Avery Ching is said to co-head the Aptos team along with Mo Shaikh, a former director of strategy at blockchain firm ConsenSys. Other members of the team include Alden Hu, Alin Tomescu, Dahlia Malkhi , David Wolinsky, Greg Nazario, Jake Skinner, Josh Lind, Max Kaplan, Mo Ahmed, Neil Harounian, Rati Gelashivili, Rustie Lin, Sasha Spiegelman, Sherry Xiao and Zekun Li.

Leaving Meta

Shaikh goes on to explain that since leaving Meta, the team has been able to flesh out ideas, take action, ditch bureaucratic red tape, and build a chain that aligns completely with their vision. The team is now ready to receive public commentary regarding their work and ship infrastructure.

Aptos plans to launch a testnet for developers to experience in the coming weeks. Following a successful launch, the team hopes to deploy a mainnet before the end of 2022. Also, the team has supposedly partnered with a few crypto heavyweights already. However, no details about such deals have been released yet.

In addition, Aptos is moving to raise around $200 million from heavyweight investor company Andreessen Horowitz.

Aptos Blockchain News

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