Crypto’s Foot Race Heats Up as Ex-Meta Workers Unfurl Blockchain

Aptos Labs, a startup with its roots in Meta Platforms Inc.’s failed crypto ambitions, went live with a blockchain.

Apto Labs launched a blockchain that seeks to make transactions quicker and more secure. (REUTERS)

Aptos Labs, a startup with its roots in Meta Platforms Inc.'s failed crypto ambitions, went live with a blockchain that seeks to make transactions quicker and more secure.

“This is step one in a long journey to create universal and fair access to decentralized applications” via “a safe, scalable, and upgradeable blockchain,” Aptos said in a statement on Tuesday.

Aptos's blockchain uses a programming language called Move that's supposed to make transactions faster and cheaper. Move also powered the network of Meta's cryptocurrency project Diem, which faced strong resistance from regulators and eventually sold its assets.

Aptos has won investment from the likes of Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. Other supporters include Andreessen Horowitz and the venture units of FTX and Coinbase Global Inc.

Projects like Aptos and rival blockchain Solana are pursuing faster transaction speeds, which are seen as key to the wider adoption of digital ledgers.