Aptos (APT) Exchange

About Aptos

APT is the native token of Aptos, a Layer 1 blockchain launched in October 2022 by former engineers from Meta's Diem project, built on the Move programming language and a parallel execution engine called Block-STM. Validators and delegators stake APT to secure the network under AptosBFT consensus; APT holders vote on Aptos Improvement Proposals (AIPs) that directly set economic parameters — not as an advisory mechanism, but as binding protocol governance. The network achieved sub-50-millisecond mainnet block times in December 2025, credited to the Baby Raptr and Velociraptr consensus upgrades, according to Aptos.

APT tokenomics

In March 2026, Aptos governance passed Proposal 183 as part of a performance-driven tokenomics update that moves away from its bootstrap-era emission model. Proposal 183 set a 2.1 billion APT hard cap. The tokenomics update also proposes cutting staking rewards from 5.19% to about 2.6% a year and raising base gas fees tenfold, while transaction fees are burned. As of October 29, 2026, CoinGecko lists about 884 million APT in circulation and a total supply of about 1.21 billion APT, against the 2.1 billion hard cap; the Aptos Foundation cited about 1.196 billion in February 2026, so figures vary with how locked tokens are counted.
Hard cap — 2,100,000,000 APT; introduced in 2026 via Proposal 183; no additional tokens can be minted beyond this ceiling
Circulating supply — approximately 884 million APT as of October 29, 2026, according to CoinGecko (total supply about 1.21 billion); vesting schedule extends into 2050 for residual allocations
100% fee burn — all transaction fees are permanently destroyed; higher network throughput directly accelerates supply contraction
Staking rewards — proposed to fall from 5.19% to approximately 2.6% annually under the tokenomics update, cutting the rate of new APT entering validator/delegator hands
Foundation lock — the Aptos Foundation said it would permanently lock and stake 210 million APT (about 18% of circulating supply at the time); these tokens cannot be sold or distributed
Investor/contributor unlock cliff — the four-year vesting cycle for initial investors and core contributors concludes in October 2026, reducing annualized supply unlocks by approximately 60% from that point forward, according to Aptos Network
Protocol buyback — in February 2026 the Aptos Foundation said it was exploring a programmatic buyback to further reduce liquid supply; no launch had been announced as of October 2026

What determines APT's value

APT's primary demand driver is transaction fee accumulation on the burn side: every smart contract call, DeFi interaction, or payment on Aptos destroys APT permanently, creating a direct link between network usage and supply reduction. In October 2025 BlackRock's BUIDL deployed an additional $500 million in tokenised assets on Aptos, bringing the network's total tokenised real-world asset value above $1.2 billion, as reported at the time. At that activity level, the fee burn rate represents a sustained daily withdrawal of APT from circulation.

The October 2026 supply event is the medium-term structural variable: the four-year investor and core contributor unlock cycle ends, eliminating approximately 60% of annual vesting-related supply pressure from that date. Combined with the 100% fee burn and reduced staking emissions, the Aptos Foundation projects a path to a “crossover point” — a level of on-chain throughput at which APT removed from circulation exceeds APT entering it.