Aptos Mainnet To Experience NFT Boom Despite Network Scalability Problems

• New layer-1 blockchain Aptos is set to expand its NFT base as new marketplaces plan to allow users to mint their first NFTs.
• Topaz and Souffl3 are among the NFT marketplaces that have ditched Solana to pitch their tents with the new blockchain. 
• Believers of Aptos say that although the road to the top will be challenging, the new blockchain will rise to the occasion.

Aptos is the layer-1 blockchain launched days ago and has already been dubbed the ‘Solana killer’ by its community as it plans to wrestle the non-fungible token (NFT) market with older networks.

Aptos mainnet went live on Monday and has faced questions on its scalability and token distribution. Unfazed by these initial problems, the network is pushing to new frontiers and plans to grow its NFT base with new projects already on the way.

Leading the NFT marketplace on Aptos, Topaz has released a Cryptopunks knockoff Aptos Punks with about 3,700 distinct NFTs on its platform and has processed 12,000 APT worth over $87,000. Topaz expects Aptos to grow exponentially with time, stating that as the network gets a wider adoption through more project releases and being accepted to top centralized exchanges, its NFT market will explode. 

The team behind the project has hailed the technology behind Aptos, praising it for handling about 4000 transactions per second without “breaking a sweat.” 

“There’s something about Aptos—the tech, the team, [and] the mission—that is attracting people and breathing new life into this crypto winter.”

Souffl3, an NFT marketplace that left Solana last month, is dropping its new NFT series, the PFP collection inspired by profile picture collections, and has a growing social media community. Other releases expected in Aptos are Bruh Bears, Rekt Dogs, Retro Boys.m Club, etc.

Aptos has lured Solana’s developers to its platform and has raised $350 million from venture capitalists to help build web3 projects.

Network problems may be the Achilles’ heel

With lots of traction coming into Aptos, the network has already been dubbed the Solana killer, but scalability issues may be its biggest threat. Solana has challenged Ethereum in terms of NFT volumes in recent months but still suffers network outages partially attributed to increasing volumes leaving many concerned about Aptos’ prospects amid its scaling issues.

Before its launch, Aptos boasted a fast block processing speed of 130,000 transactions per second (TPS) and was hailed as the next home for developers. Few hours after its mainnet went live, the network struggled with 7 TPS, almost the same as the bitcoin blockchain, raising scalability concerns. Although its CEO Mo Shaikh is confident that network speeds will increase over time, its performance so far is short of a possible Solana killer.