Aptos (APT), a blockchain network designed for scalability and high throughput, has shown notable growth in recent months despite challenges in the crypto market. As of March 2025, the total value locked (TVL) on the Aptos network reached an impressive $1.03 billion. This figure represents a 109% increase year-over-year in USD terms and a 562% rise in APT token terms, marking a significant boost despite a 47% drop in the price of the APT token during the same period.

Aptos has become a leader in stablecoin usage, with its stablecoin market cap surpassing $1 billion for the first time in March 2025. This is a dramatic 10x increase compared to the previous year and a 3x increase from just December 2024. The growth in the stablecoin market cap is largely attributed to the rise of two major stablecoins, Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), which saw massive inflows after introducing their native contracts on the Aptos network. USDT saw an increase in its market cap by over 8x, rising from $80 million to $680 million, while USDC grew by 131%, moving from $128 million to $295 million.

The increase in TVL is a clear indicator of growing adoption, and it is reinforced by Aptos’ ongoing commitment to enhancing its technology. The blockchain network has introduced two significant innovations to improve its scalability and transaction speeds: Zaptos and Shardines. Zaptos enhances Aptos’ pipelined architecture, allowing multiple stages of the blockchain process to run in parallel. This reduces latency and increases efficiency, helping the network achieve faster transaction speeds. Meanwhile, Shardines, a horizontally scaled execution engine, allows the network to distribute transactions across multiple nodes, enhancing its ability to handle a large number of transactions simultaneously and boosting its overall efficiency. Together, these technological upgrades are critical in allowing Aptos to move towards its goal of processing 1 million transactions per second (TPS).

While Aptos has shown strong performance in terms of TVL and stablecoin adoption, it faces intense competition from other Layer 1 blockchain networks, which are also striving for scalability and performance. According to data from DefiLlama, Aptos is currently ranked as the 11th largest blockchain network in terms of total value locked, with its TVL still relatively small compared to larger ecosystems like Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain. However, its strong growth trajectory and technological developments position it as an emerging competitor in the blockchain space.

Institutional demand for Aptos is also on the rise. In March 2025, Bitwise, a well-known asset management firm, filed for a spot Aptos Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) in the United States. This marks a key moment for the network, signaling increasing institutional interest in the APT token. The Bitwise ETF filing, however, excludes any staking component, which may indicate a preference for a more passive investment approach. Alongside this filing, Coinbase Custody is set to act as the custodian for the ETF, which adds another layer of institutional validation to Aptos’ growing ecosystem. This follows Bitwise’s earlier introduce of an Aptos Staking Exchange-Traded Product (ETP) in Switzerland, which had attracted interest from a Spanish bank that allocated 2% of its holdings to the asset.

Despite a decrease in APT token prices, the continued growth in TVL, institutional interest, and the introduce of new technological advancements demonstrate that Aptos is making strategic moves to solidify its position in the blockchain market. The increase in stablecoin adoption, alongside new solutions aimed at scaling and improving the blockchain’s performance, points to a strong future for the network. With these developments, Aptos is positioning itself as a promising blockchain network to watch in 2025 and beyond, especially as it continues to attract both retail and institutional investors.

In conclusion, Aptos’ growth in TVL and stablecoin market cap, coupled with its technical advancements, showcase the network’s ability to overcome challenges in the competitive blockchain space. Although its APT token price has faced setbacks, the network’s strong fundamentals and continued adoption suggest that Aptos will remain a key player in the evolving DeFi ecosystem.