Visa-Scale Performance Meets Wall Street: Inside Aptos's Institutional Strategy

"We could support all the credit card transactions in the world onchain," says Solomon Tesfaye, Chief Business Officer at Aptos Labs. This isn't theoretical capability but the foundation of how Aptos approaches institutional adoption.

Solomon's background spans traditional finance and regulated blockchain infrastructure. After covering industrial technology in Citigroup's investment banking division, he spent five and a half years at tZERO, working on tokenization deals like Exodus's $75 million Reg A+ offering that later moved to the New York Stock Exchange.

Real Usage Over Vanity Metrics

At Aptos Labs, Solomon focuses on three pillars: trading, money movement, and onchain data. The protocol processes $70 billion in monthly stablecoin volume, but Solomon makes a crucial distinction: "It's one thing to have TVL. It's another thing to actually have usage of stablecoins."

Real usage comes from practical applications. PACT Foundation has originated over $1.5 billion in microfinance loans through Aptos. The protocol supports regulated offerings from BlackRock's money market fund to Apollo's diversified private credit fund. Aptos recently became Aave's first non-EVM implementation, bringing the DeFi protocol's $70 billion in net deposits to the ecosystem.

The usage patterns reveal geographic differences. Emerging markets drive adoption through remittance and microfinancing where blockchain solves immediate friction points. B2B payments in developed markets move slower but Solomon sees institutional momentum building.

Building Toward Onchain Capital Formation

The regulatory environment has shifted dramatically. Solomon describes having conversations with BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Hong Kong's monetary authority about CBDCs, then immediately discussing DeFi applications. Traditional players acquire Web3 capabilities while crypto platforms purchase regulated licenses.

This convergence enables Aptos's ambitious goal. "We're very excited about facilitating in the future an Onchain IPO on Aptos, facilitating not only the capital formation but secondary trading as well," Solomon explains.

The infrastructure exists. Aptos handles Visa-scale transaction volume with sub-100 millisecond block times. Regulatory clarity continues improving. Solomon believes the industry needs one successful case study to trigger broader adoption, similar to how ERC-20s democratized crypto native fundraising.

From traditional investment banking to regulated tokenization to protocol-level infrastructure, Solomon's career mirrors blockchain's evolution toward institutional adoption. The technical foundation is ready. The regulatory environment is maturing. The next phase is execution.