The period from May 15 to May 21 has been a significant time for the Aptos ecosystem, with large amounts of development across DeFi, NFTs, tokenization, and staking.

From the whopping 500 million xBTC that got officially deployed on the network to the several decentralized exchanges that have seen their trading volume breach the $1 billion threshold, Aptos is fast securing its reputation as a Layer 1 blockchain that’s built for scalability and driven by developer creativity.

xBTC Launch and Institutional Support Boost Tokenized BTC on Aptos

One of the most notable aspects this week was the word that xBTC is now flying under the flag of Aptos to be listed on OKX. xBTC is a version of Bitcoin you can find on the Aptos blockchain. It is backed 1:1 by Bitcoin you can find in cold storage at OKX. This means that OKX has an amount of Bitcoin that is the same as the amount of xBTC you can find on the Aptos blockchain. What does this all mean? Well, if you’re a holder of Bitcoin and you want to stick it in the same smart contract as those who hold xBTC, you can do that now.

In contrast with Bitcoin, which you can only find living on its own blockchain, xBTC is clearly more versatile.

xBTC support marks a pivotal moment for Aptos. It brings the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency into the Aptos ecosystem—albeit in a wrapped format. Bitcoin has long been considered a benchmark for ecosystem maturity. You integrate Bitcoin and you get ecosystem respect. Aptos now offers Bitcoin exposure in a way that’s closer to a native asset than anything we’ve seen thus far.

DeFi Trading Booms as DEXs Cross $1B Milestone

The decentralized finance sector on the Aptos network has entered a new phase of competition. Five decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have crossed the mark of $1 billion in cumulative trading volume:

Thala Labs
Cellana Finance
LiquidSwap
Hyperion
PancakeSwap

These projects are now at the forefront of the struggle to attract users and liquidity. In doing so, they are each employing a mix of innovative products and competitive incentives that make the DEXs a good choice for users.

This is, of course, a good problem to have. There are, to be sure, other DEXs that have not yet crossed the $1 billion mark that are also doing very well at attracting volumes. But these five in particular have seen, well, apparent success.

This week, Hyperion particularly distinguished itself by tallying a remarkable $455 million in weekly trading volume, the highest yet on Aptos. This boosted its all-time trading volume to an impressive $1.6 billion, hinting at very solid user retention and growth of the protocol.

At the same time, Amnis Finance hit a fresh staking milestone, as it now has more than 60 million APT staked on the platform. The Aptos ecosystem’s validator map shows worldwide participation, with nodes from Aptos operating in 23 countries and 54 cities. All together, almost 861 million APT is staked across the entire network, with over 71 percent of all APT in circulation now involved with some form of staking.

Weekly $APT @Aptos Recap – Tuần 3, tháng 05

xBTC đã chính thức hỗ trợ trên Aptos tại @okx

xBTC là token được bảo chứng 1:1 bằng Bitcoin (BTC), được OKX lưu trữ một cách an toàn. Người dùng hiện đã có thể nạp và rút xBTC trực tiếp trên mạng Aptos.… pic.twitter.com/SoCcLrTHlc

— Blog Tiền Ảo (@blogtienao_hq) May 26, 2025

The staking engagement and trading volume level suggests that a DeFi environment is maturing, with the user base that we see for Aptos seeming very loyal, and what could be some institutional interest that may be coming in the months ahead. Aptos is not only starting to have applications live; it’s also starting to have some real utility for governance and for its tokens.

NFTs Gain Momentum and New Projects Set to Launch

The Aptos NFT world is also seeing a lot of activity and growth, providing yet another dynamic and layered aspect to the strange growth story of Aptos. With collectibles not yet a year old, there are already 4,500 of them in our ecosystem. Collectible minting is up, too; we recently hit 1.2 million individual mintings of tokens. We have seen a veritable explosion in new collections, with 240 hitting the ecosystem in just the last month. This uptick is largely being driven by a now-strong and diverse group of creators in our NFT space.

Events scheduled for the near future promise to add to the NFT space’s current momentum. The far-from-average LFGO drop has set its dates in stone: whitelist minting starts on May 29 at 21:00, with the public sale following closely behind on May 30 at, well, the same time. If the current NFT energization feels anything but a dead cat bounce, participation in these sale events appears nearly unavoidable.

The Aptos ecosystem is extremely active, diversified, and growing simultaneously across several verticals. Unlike other Layer 1s that may be focusing on niche improvements or facing user attrition, Aptos has a very robust NFT, DeFi, and tokenized asset development space.

As May goes on, everyone will be watching to see how these progressions pan out in the long-term retention of the ecosystem. If the present course continues, Aptos will not only be recognized for its speed and tech stack but also for the flourishing economy that now exists on-chain.

Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ May 27, 2025 5:06 am