The period from May 15 to May 21 has been a significant time for the Aptos ecosystem

By the whopping 500 million xBTC that got officially deployed on the network to the several decentralized exchanges

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 tidbits 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 if you’re a holder of xBTC you can simply withdraw it on OKX for Bitcoin. In contrast with Bitcoin, which you can only find living on its own blockchain, xBTC is clearly more versatile.

"We are excited to announce that xBTC, the tokenized Bitcoin derivative on Aptos, is now available for trading on OKX! 🔥

xBTC is a 1:1 tokenized Bitcoin coin on Aptos, backed by a corresponding amount of Bitcoin held in cold storage by OKX. This enables users to seamlessly transfer xBTC on Aptos and withdraw it as Bitcoin on OKX at a 1:1 ratio."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. 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.

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:

* Hyperion

* ClearSwap

* Mynomy

* Harvest Swap

* Amnis Finance

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.

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