Building the Next Era of Web3: Aptos, Helium, Gemini & Ammalgam at Token2049
🎯 Summary
Podcast Summary: Building the Next Era of Web3: Aptos, Helium, Gemini & Ammalgam at Token2049
This 65-minute episode of “The Edge of Show,” recorded live at Token2049 in Singapore, featured deep dives into the infrastructure and application layers of Web3, focusing heavily on the technological advancements of Aptos and the decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) evolution of Helium.
1. Focus Area
The discussion centered on Blockchain Infrastructure, Scalability, Institutional Adoption, Programmable Money (Stablecoins), AI integration in DeFi, and Decentralized Physical Networks (DePIN). The narrative arc moved from the foundational technology of Aptos (derived from Meta’s Diem project) to the real-world utility of Helium’s decentralized wireless networks, all framed within the context of driving mass consumer adoption.
2. Key Technical Insights
- Aptos and Move Language: Aptos leverages technology developed from Meta’s Diem project, specifically the Move language, which is designed as a safer, more intuitive way to program smart contracts, focusing on asset safety and resource management.
- Dual-Purpose DeFi Pools: A novel concept introduced involves asset pools designed for dual functionality—serving purposes similar to both Uniswap (liquidity provision) and Aave (lending/borrowing), maximizing capital efficiency.
- Helium’s Infrastructure Shift: Helium successfully scaled its initial IoT network (reaching 1 million hotspots) but faced significant L1 blockchain scaling challenges running the chain on low-compute hotspots. This led to the migration of the core blockchain functionality to a more robust L1 architecture, allowing the network to focus on scaling physical infrastructure deployment (IoT and Mobile).
3. Market/Investment Angle
- Institutional Confidence in Aptos: Major financial institutions like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are showing confidence in Aptos due to its focus on high-assurance security and the proven background of its team from high-stakes environments like Meta.
- Stablecoin Utility as Mass Adoption Driver: The rapid onboarding of major stablecoins (USDT, USDC, PYUSD, etc.) onto Aptos signals that programmable money and stablecoin utility are currently the most viable paths toward mass consumer adoption, proving out the business model.
- Cloud Infrastructure Disruption: A significant untapped market identified is the $300 billion cloud infrastructure industry, which Aptos is targeting for disruption via decentralized compute and storage systems (e.g., the “Shelby” project with Jump Crypto) to support next-gen AI models.
4. Notable Companies/People
- Aptos Labs: Represented by the CEO and Co-founder (interviewed), detailing the journey from Diem/Move development to the current L1.
- Helium/Nova Labs: Represented by Frank Mongles (COO), discussing the evolution from IoT coverage to the consumer-facing Helium Mobile 5G/wireless network.
- Financial Giants: BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Apollo were cited as institutions actively building or exploring infrastructure on Aptos.
- AI Agents in DeFi: The conversation heavily featured the potential for AI agents to manage personalized investment portfolios on-chain, dynamically rebalancing based on user risk parameters and asset availability.
5. Regulatory/Policy Discussion
While not a central focus, the discussion implicitly touches on regulatory comfort through institutional adoption. The confidence shown by firms like BlackRock suggests that the infrastructure being built (especially around tokenization and stablecoins) is meeting the necessary security and compliance thresholds required for traditional finance integration.
6. Future Implications
The industry is moving toward:
- Hyper-Efficient Programmable Money: Where users seamlessly transact across different stablecoins without manual swapping, driven by low transaction costs (Aptos boasts fractions of a cent).
- AI-Driven Finance: The evolution of DeFi from speculative spot markets to sophisticated, automated investment platforms managed by AI agents tailored to individual risk profiles.
- DePIN Utility Expansion: Decentralized networks are moving beyond niche crypto applications (like IoT tracking) into essential consumer services, exemplified by Helium Mobile offering free phone plans by leveraging network contributions.
7. Target Audience
This episode is highly valuable for Web3 Infrastructure Developers, Blockchain Investors (VCs and Institutional), DeFi Strategists, and Enterprise Technology Leaders interested in the convergence of blockchain, AI, and real-world asset tokenization.
🏢 Companies Mentioned
đź’¬ Key Insights
"I think what's happened with institutions in particular is that two years ago, or at the beginning of 2023, we had the spot Bitcoin ETF approvals, right? Prior to that happening, I think for many institutions that had to go through their investment committees and get all the approvals and then figure out how they would custody the underlying and get all of that process in place was just much more complicated."
"Even nation-states are coming. If you remember the last cycle, there was one nation-state, El Salvador, that everyone was talking about, everyone was getting excited about. And then in this cycle, what you see is that the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Abu Dhabi puts like half a billion dollars in Bitcoin, and it doesn't even barely make the news, right?"
"All of it is based on revenue. You can dress up some tokenomics any way you want, but without revenue, it's not sustainable."
"And now the deal is we signed a deal with them where they're going to migrate about two million subscribers to the Helium Network in Mexico."
"The cost of network building is to freight across hundreds of thousands of people, instead of one entity."
"There's an underlying smart contract beneath the plan that says that if you're a free user, you're sharing your location with the chain, and for doing so, you're earning crypto HNT. So we don't expose that to the user. We keep the HNT, they get a free phone plan."