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• The Move programming language was originally created by Meta to enable its Libra/Diem blockchain. After the project shut down in 2022, team members continued to build outside of Meta. Aptos is a Layer 1 blockchain that stayed close to Move’s original implementation, while Sui by Mysten Labs modified some of the tech. Both of them VC-backed, today Sui is a top 10 blockchain with a $668.75M TVL. Aptos is half its size at a $339.87M TVL, but still ahead of prominent players like Osmosis and NEAR.

• Sui and Aptos use parallel execution technology, the defining characteristic of which is speed. Both chains claim possible throughput of 120k+ transactions per second, with Sui even logging 297k TPS in a test. But real use demands only double-digit TPS so far: currently 15 for Aptos and 60 for Sui.

• Positioned as alt-L1 competition to the likes of Solana, both chains have robust DeFi, NFT, and GameFi ecosystems (and Aptos – a ‘cryptophone’ partnership as well). In DeFi, lending protocols dominate: Scallop and Navi on Sui with $156M and $137M TVL respectively, and Thala on Aptos with over $153M.

• 💦🔬 Tx-Level Alpha: From Cryptopunks to Solana Monkey Business, early NFT collections become symbolic for blockchains, thanks to not only multiplying their initial volumes, but also early adopter lore. On Sui, one of these key collections is turning out to be Fuddies, a collection of PFPs minted into the depths of the May 2023 bear market for 1 SUI (~$1.33) each, and still one of the top collections by volume in Feb. 2024. While many sell for less, on Feb. 7 an address purchased a Fuddy for 1,000 SUI (~$1,540).

• LiquidSwap is Aptos’ original automated market maker (AMM). Pontem Network, a key product studio for Aptos, runs the exchange, which features a standard menu of DeFi activities: swapping, liquidity provision, staking, and bridging. LiquidSwap, with its $33.29M TVL, is the 4th largest protocol on Aptos according to DefiLlama. LiquidSwap TVL and volume are on an upswing in 2024, some weeks (Jan. 8-14, Feb. 5-11) exceeding $10M in swap volume.

• With anywhere between 18k and 75k DAU wallets, most activity is currently attributed to wallet addresses that have transacted on LiquidSwap before rather than first-timers. New user acquisition happened in three surges: at launch in 2022, then spring to fall and briefly in the 2nd half of Dec. 2023.

• More than 89% of user wallets don’t stay away from LiquidSwap longer than a week at a time. While part of this metric is driven by new users’ 1st and 2nd transactions always happening within 12 hours (possibly bridging funds to Aptos then taking the next action), this behavior indicates an engaged user base.

• 💦🔬 Tx-Level Alpha: A popular use case for LiquidSwap is to buy and sell APT, Aptos' native token. The USDC/APT liquidity pool, for example, leads the AMM by swap volume and TVL. Some trades between the tokens, like this one, involve swapping tens of thousands of dollars. Other high volume pools contain wrapped and bridged versions of the stablecoins USDC and USDT, wrapped ETH (WETH), liquid staked APT from competitor Amnis, and $DOODOO, a Pontem-affiliated meme token.

• NFTs on SUI remain a niche sector relative to leading blockchains in the space. In the last 30 days, daily volume on NFTs trades topped out at 33,038 SUI, worth ~$57,480 at the time of writing. There are roughly 600 active NFT accounts per day on Sui, with a major spike to ~1,500 coming on Feb. 14. Nearly 366,000 address hold an NFT and there are 1,787 collections on the platform.

• An NFT project called Fuddies is Sui's all-time leading NFT collection by volume with the tokens driving 3.4M in SUI, worth ~$5.5M, SUI all time. The project follows the standard 10,000 token model. Fuddies spiked to a floor of 798 SUI on Dec. 12. and have fallen to 200 SUI since, but still have a $4M market capitalization.

• Having facilitated 3.2M SUI in trading volume all-time, BlueMove is Sui's biggest NFT marketplace. That figure represents 29% market share, followed by Hyperspace which has 23%. TradePort, an aggregator, has 22% but has captured 80% in the last 30 days.

• 💦🔬 Tx-Level Alpha: Aftermath Finance, a multifaceted DeFi project with $68M in TVL on Sui, opened minting for a mysterious NFT called Egg, on Jan. 24. Egg has generated over $100,000 in volume since then, often leading in terms of daily volume of all NFTs on Sui. With 500 Eggs and at over 5% of supply, this is the largest single holder of the collection.