Exclusive Interview with Aptos Founder Avery Ching: Not Building a General-Purpose L1, Focused on Global Transaction Engine
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Exclusive Interview with Aptos Founder Avery Ching: Not Building a General-Purpose L1, Focused on Global Transaction Engine
Aptos is not positioned as a general-purpose L1, but as a home for global traders, focusing on a global trading engine.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsGuest: Avery Ching, Co-Founder and CEO of Aptos
Interview & Writing: Anderson Sima, Executive Editor, Foresight News
By 2025, stablecoins have emerged as a global strategic frontier. Whether in political hubs like Washington, financial centers like Wall Street, or international gateways such as Dubai and Hong Kong, all are fiercely competing in this new arena.
Yet the groundwork for this transformation was laid six years ago. Zuckerberg from Silicon Valley first proposed reshaping the payment system with stablecoins. His vision involved Facebook’s coverage of over 190 countries and more than 3 billion users adopting Libra, a stablecoin that would bring over one-third of the world's population directly into the crypto ecosystem.
However, Zuckerberg’s idea was too far ahead of its time. Regulatory crackdowns killed Libra before it could launch, but Libra’s legacy gave birth to two major players in the Web3 space—Aptos and Sui.
During Singapore’s Token2049 event, Foresight News interviewed Aptos founder and CEO Avery Ching. Born in Hawaii and holding a PhD in Computer Science from Northwestern University, Avery spent over a decade at Meta, where he led technical efforts for projects including Libra and Novi.
After the Libra project stalled, Avery Ching joined forces with fellow engineers and colleagues from Meta around 2022 to found the Aptos blockchain, and by the end of 2024 had taken on the role of CEO, continuing to lead Aptos forward.
Avery is warm and courteous, reflecting the "Aloha" spirit of his native Hawaii—a way of life rooted in kindness, respect, and compassion toward others, nature, and oneself. What follows is the edited transcript of our interview.
Foresight News: It's already mid-2025. Can you summarize Aptos’ progress in the first half of the year with one word?
Avery Ching: If I had to pick one word, it would be "aggressive." In the past, most blockchain networks were general-purpose L1s or L2s. We're pioneering a goal-oriented approach. We've taken highly aggressive steps in two areas: building a global trading engine through the Decibel initiative, and advancing decentralized cloud computing via the Shelby protocol. We believe these are the two core technologies shaping crypto over the next three to five years, and we’re pushing full speed ahead.
Unlike other market projects, where traditional approaches involve building an L1 or L2 first and then growing an ecosystem on top, we aim to tightly integrate the L1 with the ecosystem so they work together. This method is unique—and truly aggressive.
Foresight News: Beyond Decibel and Shelby, what other key developments has the Aptos team achieved in recent months?
Avery Ching: I represent Aptos Labs, not the entire Aptos ecosystem. That said, the broader Aptos ecosystem has also seen strong growth, with projects like Hyperion driving significant increases in DeFi trading volume. Currently, Aptos ranks among the top public chains in transaction volume, TVL (total value locked), and other capital flow metrics. We offer transaction finality under 100 milliseconds and fees below one cent, making us one of the fastest and cheapest networks available. This has fueled widespread adoption of stablecoins such as USDT, USDC, USDE, and PYUSD, with many more expected to follow. (Editor’s note: The day after this interview, WLFI announced its stablecoin USD1 would launch on Aptos.)
In addition, RWA activity on Aptos is thriving. Market data shows we rank among the top three in the RWA sector, with financial institutions like Franklin Templeton, BlackRock, and Apollo issuing money market funds and other products on Aptos. These developments confirm Aptos is becoming a global transaction engine, with rapidly growing user adoption, capital flows, and asset onboarding.
Foresight News: Recently DATs have gained global traction, with companies like MicroStrategy continuously expanding their Bitcoin strategic reserves. Do you think institutions might adopt similar strategies to accumulate Aptos tokens? How does Aptos view this trend?
Avery Ching: We’re working closely with multiple partners to launch ETPs and ETFs, exploring Aptos’ role in traditional finance (TradFi). Our unique strengths in brand, product, and background give traditional financial institutions confidence in us. We’ve already partnered with Bitwise to launch an ETP, and our ETF efforts are progressing. If Aptos can launch a DAT, we believe our strong connections in both Wall Street and the crypto world will position us for success.
Foresight News: Do you think the U.S. SEC will approve Aptos-related ETPs or ETFs? Other tokens like Solana or Ripple are also pursuing similar opportunities.
Avery Ching: I think it will take time, but we remain optimistic. As regulations become clearer—such as through the advancement of the "Genius Act"—we’re actively participating in regulatory discussions, helping define mature versus immature networks. Aptos is exceptionally well-positioned to bridge TradFi and DeFi, giving us a favorable standing within the evolving regulatory landscape.
Foresight News: In August, you delivered a speech on cryptocurrency before the U.S. Congress. That must have been a unique experience. What did you take away from it?
Avery Ching: It was an honor to be invited to testify before the House Agriculture Committee, one of only four representatives sharing insights as builders. We emphasized the importance of clear market structure definitions. Many terms remain undefined today, and clear rules help innovators understand how to comply. Progress on the Genius Act will unlock innovation not just in the U.S., but globally. We’re excited by the swift actions taken by both the executive branch and Congress—House and Senate alike—in advancing legislation.
Foresight News: Speaking of policy, the Trump administration significantly advanced the crypto industry. What’s your view on Trump?
Avery Ching: There’s no doubt the Trump administration played a crucial role in advancing America’s crypto agenda. Progress on the Stablecoin Transparency Act, the Genius Act, and the Digital Asset Clarity Act wouldn’t have happened without government support—including the appointment of David Sacks as White House AI and crypto advisor, and the release of the White House position paper on U.S. DeFi development. These policies influence not only Congress but also state governments and the global industry at large.
Foresight News: Let’s now discuss Aptos’ plans and growth strategy for the second half of 2025.
Avery Ching: In the first half, we focused on core crypto use cases and established key partnerships like Decibel and Shelby. Now we’re fully committed to coding, product support, and building next-generation trading and cloud computing experiences. For Shelby, we’re seeing tremendous interest from AI, creator, and enterprise sectors, with dozens of partners eager to leverage our technology. These products are unprecedented in crypto, and we’re collaborating with partners to develop best-in-class applications.
Foresight News: How does Aptos attract developers and users? Super projects like Polymarket and Pume.fun are very popular—how does Aptos plan to create its own star projects?
Avery Ching: There are few true success stories in Web3—Polymarket, SushiSwap, Hyperliquid, and Pump.fun are rare exceptions. Aptos takes a vertically integrated approach. We believe building just on an L1 isn’t enough—we must span the entire tech stack. This delivers superior product experiences and drives innovation across the ecosystem. For example, we’re reducing block times from our industry-leading 100 milliseconds down to 65 milliseconds next month, possibly even reaching 20 milliseconds. This improves trading speed, reduces slippage, and enables new use cases like micropayments. Full-stack optimization gives the Aptos ecosystem a greater chance at success.
Foresight News: Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have been extremely hot in recent years. What’s your outlook on the future of DEXs?
Avery Ching: DEXs are remarkable products. Take Perp, for instance—it allows users leveraged exposure without requiring underlying assets to be listed or moved onto the exchange. The advantage of DEXs is faster asset listing and broader global reach, whereas centralized exchanges face regulatory constraints. We believe the global transaction engine is the future, and traffic will gradually shift on-chain. Hyperliquid is a great starting point, but there won’t be a single dominant DEX. Just as Binance, Bybit, and OKX have all succeeded as centralized exchanges, we expect 10 to 20 successful DEXs to emerge. Decibel aims to be among the leaders.
Foresight News: How does Aptos stand out among numerous L1 networks?
Avery Ching: We don’t position ourselves as a general-purpose L1. Instead, we see Aptos as the home for global traders, focused on becoming the global transaction engine. We optimize the underlying technology, chain, and code to deliver the best possible trading and decentralized cloud computing experience. This is our core differentiator.
Foresight News: Among emerging fields like AI, RWA, and on-chain trading, which direction excites Aptos the most?
Avery Ching: The global transaction engine spans many domains. In RWA, we want to see assets not only tokenized but actively traded—like packaging loans into tradable products. On the AI front, Shelby focuses on data licensing and trading markets. Data generated via the internet or autonomous vehicles can be tokenized and traded on-chain for AI training or inference. This creates an innovation flywheel between value creation (Shelby) and value exchange (Decibel).
Foresight News: Will AI become a gateway to mass adoption in crypto, or is it just a bubble?
Avery Ching: AI needs targeted applications. Shelby focuses on infrastructure and data markets for AI training, while in trading, AI can power smart portfolios—for example, dynamic rebalancing via Decibel. In the future, AI agents may execute trades or payments on behalf of users, bridging crypto and the traditional internet. As long as use cases are clear, AI holds enormous potential in crypto.
Foresight News: Stablecoins are a critical component of the crypto space. What’s your view on their future?
Avery Ching: Stablecoins are fiat-backed digital assets on-chain, sometimes offering yield. They are a primary use case for exchanges and have seen broad adoption on Aptos due to low cost and fast settlement. We’re partnering with Bitso and Yellow Card to explore payment scenarios in emerging markets, while enhancing user experience through privacy features—like confidential transactions that hide balances—and Web2-style logins (e.g., Google or Apple accounts). Aptos’ low fees and high throughput make it an ideal platform for stablecoin transactions.
For example, today it’s difficult for me to convert my dollars into euros—I have to go somewhere, check exchange rates, and do it during business hours at a specific institution. But in crypto, I can press a button and instantly trade for any stablecoin I want.
Foresight News: How will Aptos leverage APT as the core token of the ecosystem?
Avery Ching: APT is the foundational pillar of the token economy within the Aptos ecosystem. First, it serves as the gas fee token for the Aptos network, and after transactions are processed, this gas is completely burned. Second, it secures the network through staking. Validators receive APT rewards for protecting the network against attacks. Additionally, it enables governance functions. So APT is a core functional and utility token for the Aptos network. Ultimately, we envision APT serving as infrastructure—like roads, services, and taxes in a country—that can fuel economic growth for companies like Meta, Amazon, and Tesla.
Similarly, we want incredible businesses built on Aptos. We hope to see highly successful projects and enterprises emerge here. We’re excited about our own initiatives through Decibel and Shelby, but we also anticipate many new projects leveraging Aptos’ unique capabilities. We’re hearing from enterprises wanting to deploy at scale—companies with 100,000 or even 5 million real users. In the blockchain world, very few networks can truly support that, whether due to scale, latency, or cost. Aptos is the only network meeting all three requirements, and we’re thrilled to partner with these major traditional companies—that’s where our confidence comes from.
Foresight News: If you could have dinner with any figure from history or the modern era, who would you choose?
Avery Ching: I’d choose Elon Musk. He’s an extraordinary innovator—Tesla, X, and SpaceX have achieved astonishing technological feats. Discussing how Aptos’ scalable technology could power the next generation of AI or blockchain products would be incredibly exciting.
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