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Project Overview
Aptos is a safe and scalable layer 1 blockchain that aims to bring decentralized assets into the everyday lives of billions of users.
TownSquare Announces $100 Million USD1 Stablecoin Liquidity Program
TownSquare, an infrastructure platform focused on institutional yield and cross-chain lending brokerage services, has announced a $100 million USD1 token liquidity program—a strategic initiative designed to bring institutional-grade and cross-chain yield opportunities to a broader user base via World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin and institutional yield strategies. Previously, TownSquare collaborated with the World Liberty Financial DeFi team to integrate the USD1 token onto Monad, a high-performance EVM-compatible chain, and received official incentives from the Monad Foundation. The team stated that this new liquidity program marks TownSquare’s continued commitment to expanding DeFi’s real-world applicability and delivering institutional strategy yields to more assets. Currently, the project’s official website has launched its cross-chain lending functionality, while its yield vault product is listed as “Coming Soon.” According to official information, the project has previously completed a funding round backed by Monad, a16z, Aptos, Solana Bonk, and other U.S. and European angel investors and VCs. The founding team includes alumni from Coinbase, Meta, Accenture, and market-making firms. Details about the project’s next funding round have not yet been disclosed.
Ekiden Raises $2M in Seed Funding Led by P2 Ventures and Others
blockchain trading platform Ekiden has announced the completion of a $2 million seed funding round, led by Unicorn Factory Ventures and P2 Ventures. The round also attracted participation from angel investors who have previously invested in projects such as GSR, Pyth, Aptos, LayerZero, and Cube Exchange. It is reported that Ekiden is valued at $20 million. The company is dedicated to bringing institutional-grade trading on-chain, providing efficient and secure trading solutions through blockchain technology. (TechFundingNews)
Echo Protocol: Management key control has been regained, and the attacker’s remaining 955 eBTC have been destroyed.
Echo Protocol announced that the team has now regained control of the administrative keys and destroyed the remaining 955 eBTC held by the attacker. Additionally, the current exposure on Aptos is limited to approximately $71,000 in the Echo lending market and the Hyperion liquidity pool, and the team has observed no fund losses on Aptos. As a precautionary measure, the team has fully suspended Aptos bridge operations while the review remains ongoing. Echo Aptos Lending remains unaffected but has been paused for security reasons.
tZERO Integrates Compliant Tokenization Platform with Aptos, Accelerating Institutional RWA Issuance to High-Performance Public Chain
: tZERO, a regulated securities trading platform, has announced the integration of its tokenization issuance platform with the Aptos network, enabling issuers to directly issue Real World Asset (RWA) tokens on this high-performance public chain, further broadening the path for institutional-grade assets to be placed on-chain.Aptos is being positioned as the underlying network for institutional-grade tokenization infrastructure and is consistently attracting integration by traditional finance and compliant tokenization platforms. Currently, tokenized funds from institutions including BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are already operating on the chain. With tZERO's integration, the compliant asset issuance and trading infrastructure on Aptos is further enhanced, covering the full-chain capabilities from issuance, circulation, to settlement.
Aptos Foundation partners with Japan's NETSTARS to explore multi-chain payment solutions
Odaily, Aptos Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NETSTARS, a Japanese QR code payment service provider, to jointly explore multi-chain payment solutions. The two parties plan to integrate the high-performance Aptos L1 blockchain into NETSTARS' existing cashless payment system, introducing stablecoin payments to its merchant network, with a focus on instant settlement, low costs, and a compliant embedded transaction experience.
Aptos Launches Confidential APT, a Privacy Token That Uses Zero-Knowledge Proofs to Hide Balances and Transfer Amounts
According to Cointelegraph, Aptos recently launched its privacy token, Confidential APT, on the mainnet. Confidential APT is pegged 1:1 to APT and uses zero-knowledge proofs to conceal token balances and transfer amounts, while preserving wallet address visibility and transaction verifiability. Sherry Xiao, founding engineer at Aptos Labs, stated that the token aims to resolve the long-standing tension between blockchain privacy and regulatory transparency, and can mitigate sensitive on-chain information exposure—such as payroll distributions, treasury operations, and trading strategies. From a compliance perspective, enabling audit keys requires approval via on-chain governance voting. The launch of Confidential APT follows a governance proposal that passed with near-unanimous support. Xiao expects individual users to adopt the token more rapidly than enterprises; if the mainnet operates stably for six months and demonstrates strong trading volume, it could help shorten the sales cycle for enterprise adoption.
Aave Labs Launches AI Governance Security System Aave Checkpoint
According to an official announcement, Aave Labs has launched Aave Checkpoint—a governance security system powered by AI—to conduct structured, multi-layered reviews of governance proposals and payloads before they are executed on-chain. The system has been operational since March 2026 and has covered all governance proposals during that period. Aave Checkpoint combines automated analysis with mandatory manual review: it fetches on-chain payload data, proposal source code, and IPFS-hosted text, then cross-references Seatbelt simulation results to examine execution paths, state changes, and potential risks—generating audit reports accordingly. Each AI-generated report must be signed off by at least two independent reviewers before the review is finalized. Currently, the system supports Aave V3, V4, GHO, and Aptos-v3.
Echo Protocol: Management key control has been regained, and the attacker’s remaining 955 eBTC have been destroyed.
Echo Protocol announced that the team has now regained control of the administrative keys and destroyed the remaining 955 eBTC held by the attacker. Additionally, the current exposure on Aptos is limited to approximately $71,000 in the Echo lending market and the Hyperion liquidity pool, and the team has observed no fund losses on Aptos. As a precautionary measure, the team has fully suspended Aptos bridge operations while the review remains ongoing. Echo Aptos Lending remains unaffected but has been paused for security reasons.
AaveLabs: Updates Bug Bounty Program, Core Aave V3 Maximum Reward Raised to $5 Million
that, according to official sources, AaveLabs has proposed restructuring the Aave DAO bug bounty framework into multiple specific subsystem programs, operating on the Immunefi, Sherlock, and Cantina platforms respectively. Core Aave V3, Core Aave V2, GHO, and non-liquidity protocol infrastructure will be covered by Immunefi; Aave V4 and the Aave App Stack will be covered by Sherlock; and Aave V3 on Aptos will be covered by Cantina.The proposal suggests adjusting the bounty scale for each system. The maximum reward for critical vulnerabilities in Core Aave V3 is $5 million, while the maximum reward for critical vulnerabilities in Aave V4 is $2.5 million. Additionally, the funding source for the Aave V3 bug bounty on Aptos will be transferred from Aave Labs to the Aave DAO. This ARFC proposal has currently been passed.
North Korean hacking group “HexagonalRodent” leverages AI to industrialize attacks against Web3 developers, stealing over $12 million in crypto assets in three months
According to a research report released by cybersecurity firm Expel, the company is tracking an advanced persistent threat (APT) group dubbed “HexagonalRodent,” which is highly assessed to be a North Korean (DPRK) state-sponsored actor. This group primarily targets Web3 developers and specializes in stealing high-value digital assets—including cryptocurrencies and NFTs. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, the group compromised 2,726 developer devices and stole access credentials for 26,584 cryptocurrency wallets, with the total value of stolen assets reaching as high as $12 million. The group primarily carries out its attacks via fake job postings—publishing lucrative positions on LinkedIn and Web3 recruitment platforms to lure job seekers into completing “skills assessments” embedded with malicious code. These assessments exploit VSCode’s tasks.json functionality to automatically execute malware when victims open the project folder. The malware used includes BeaverTail, OtterCookie, and InvisibleFerret, all of which possess capabilities such as password theft, remote control, and reverse shell execution. Notably, the group extensively leverages generative AI tools—including ChatGPT and Cursor—to develop malware, build counterfeit corporate websites, and generate AI-forged executive teams. It even registered a shell company in Mexico to enhance the credibility of its operations. Additionally, the group recently carried out its first-ever supply-chain attack, successfully infiltrating a VSCode extension.
Echo Protocol: Aptos service has been fully restored; contract audit revealed no potential risks.
According to an official announcement, Echo Protocol stated that its services on Aptos have been fully restored, covering lending, strategies, liquid staking, vaults, and other related protocols. Echo Protocol added that it has completed a security audit of all contracts deployed on Aptos—including checks of administrative privileges—and found no potential contract-related risks.
Aptos becomes the first L1 supporting formal verification of dynamic scheduling
Aptos stated on X platform that it is the first L1 blockchain to support formal verification of dynamic scheduling, mathematically proving that it operates as designed. Aptos said that AI writes the specifications, mathematics proves their correctness, and the Move Prover serves as the oracle — this is the trust layer between the market and the machine.
AaveLabs: Updates Bug Bounty Program, Core Aave V3 Maximum Reward Raised to $5 Million
that, according to official sources, AaveLabs has proposed restructuring the Aave DAO bug bounty framework into multiple specific subsystem programs, operating on the Immunefi, Sherlock, and Cantina platforms respectively. Core Aave V3, Core Aave V2, GHO, and non-liquidity protocol infrastructure will be covered by Immunefi; Aave V4 and the Aave App Stack will be covered by Sherlock; and Aave V3 on Aptos will be covered by Cantina.The proposal suggests adjusting the bounty scale for each system. The maximum reward for critical vulnerabilities in Core Aave V3 is $5 million, while the maximum reward for critical vulnerabilities in Aave V4 is $2.5 million. Additionally, the funding source for the Aave V3 bug bounty on Aptos will be transferred from Aave Labs to the Aave DAO. This ARFC proposal has currently been passed.
TownSquare Announces $100 Million USD1 Stablecoin Liquidity Program
TownSquare, an infrastructure platform focused on institutional yield and cross-chain lending brokerage services, has announced a $100 million USD1 token liquidity program—a strategic initiative designed to bring institutional-grade and cross-chain yield opportunities to a broader user base via World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin and institutional yield strategies. Previously, TownSquare collaborated with the World Liberty Financial DeFi team to integrate the USD1 token onto Monad, a high-performance EVM-compatible chain, and received official incentives from the Monad Foundation. The team stated that this new liquidity program marks TownSquare’s continued commitment to expanding DeFi’s real-world applicability and delivering institutional strategy yields to more assets. Currently, the project’s official website has launched its cross-chain lending functionality, while its yield vault product is listed as “Coming Soon.” According to official information, the project has previously completed a funding round backed by Monad, a16z, Aptos, Solana Bonk, and other U.S. and European angel investors and VCs. The founding team includes alumni from Coinbase, Meta, Accenture, and market-making firms. Details about the project’s next funding round have not yet been disclosed.
tZERO Integrates Compliant Tokenization Platform with Aptos, Accelerating Institutional RWA Issuance to High-Performance Public Chain
: tZERO, a regulated securities trading platform, has announced the integration of its tokenization issuance platform with the Aptos network, enabling issuers to directly issue Real World Asset (RWA) tokens on this high-performance public chain, further broadening the path for institutional-grade assets to be placed on-chain.Aptos is being positioned as the underlying network for institutional-grade tokenization infrastructure and is consistently attracting integration by traditional finance and compliant tokenization platforms. Currently, tokenized funds from institutions including BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are already operating on the chain. With tZERO's integration, the compliant asset issuance and trading infrastructure on Aptos is further enhanced, covering the full-chain capabilities from issuance, circulation, to settlement.
The Aptos Foundation and Aptos Labs will invest over $50 million to support ecosystem development.
The Aptos Foundation and Aptos Labs announced an investment of over $50 million to support first-party products, research, protocol infrastructure, and a strategic fund for trading and AI partners. Aptos stated that Decibel has launched on the Aptos mainnet, with cumulative trading volume exceeding $1 billion. The stablecoin market cap on the Aptos network stands at $1.93 billion, and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization totals $1.2 billion, with asset management firms including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Apollo Global already deployed on the network. Upcoming initiatives include encrypted mempools, FIX and CCXT connectivity, multi-leader consensus, and confidential perpetuals.
Related news
Echo Protocol: Aptos service has been fully restored; contract audit revealed no potential risks.
According to an official announcement, Echo Protocol stated that its services on Aptos have been fully restored, covering lending, strategies, liquid staking, vaults, and other related protocols. Echo Protocol added that it has completed a security audit of all contracts deployed on Aptos—including checks of administrative privileges—and found no potential contract-related risks.
Three Aptos token economics proposals have passed and been implemented, adjusting the hard cap supply limit to 2.1 billion tokens.
Aptos announced that all three tokenomics proposals have passed and been implemented, including setting the hard cap supply limit at 2.1 billion tokens, reducing staking rewards from 5.19% to 2.6%, and increasing gas fees by a factor of 10. Aptos stated that these adjustments have officially taken effect.
Echo Protocol: Management key control has been regained, and the attacker’s remaining 955 eBTC have been destroyed.
Echo Protocol announced that the team has now regained control of the administrative keys and destroyed the remaining 955 eBTC held by the attacker. Additionally, the current exposure on Aptos is limited to approximately $71,000 in the Echo lending market and the Hyperion liquidity pool, and the team has observed no fund losses on Aptos. As a precautionary measure, the team has fully suspended Aptos bridge operations while the review remains ongoing. Echo Aptos Lending remains unaffected but has been paused for security reasons.
Aptos becomes the first L1 supporting formal verification of dynamic scheduling
Aptos stated on X platform that it is the first L1 blockchain to support formal verification of dynamic scheduling, mathematically proving that it operates as designed. Aptos said that AI writes the specifications, mathematics proves their correctness, and the Move Prover serves as the oracle — this is the trust layer between the market and the machine.
AaveLabs: Updates Bug Bounty Program, Core Aave V3 Maximum Reward Raised to $5 Million
that, according to official sources, AaveLabs has proposed restructuring the Aave DAO bug bounty framework into multiple specific subsystem programs, operating on the Immunefi, Sherlock, and Cantina platforms respectively. Core Aave V3, Core Aave V2, GHO, and non-liquidity protocol infrastructure will be covered by Immunefi; Aave V4 and the Aave App Stack will be covered by Sherlock; and Aave V3 on Aptos will be covered by Cantina.The proposal suggests adjusting the bounty scale for each system. The maximum reward for critical vulnerabilities in Core Aave V3 is $5 million, while the maximum reward for critical vulnerabilities in Aave V4 is $2.5 million. Additionally, the funding source for the Aave V3 bug bounty on Aptos will be transferred from Aave Labs to the Aave DAO. This ARFC proposal has currently been passed.
TownSquare Announces $100 Million USD1 Stablecoin Liquidity Program
TownSquare, an infrastructure platform focused on institutional yield and cross-chain lending brokerage services, has announced a $100 million USD1 token liquidity program—a strategic initiative designed to bring institutional-grade and cross-chain yield opportunities to a broader user base via World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin and institutional yield strategies. Previously, TownSquare collaborated with the World Liberty Financial DeFi team to integrate the USD1 token onto Monad, a high-performance EVM-compatible chain, and received official incentives from the Monad Foundation. The team stated that this new liquidity program marks TownSquare’s continued commitment to expanding DeFi’s real-world applicability and delivering institutional strategy yields to more assets. Currently, the project’s official website has launched its cross-chain lending functionality, while its yield vault product is listed as “Coming Soon.” According to official information, the project has previously completed a funding round backed by Monad, a16z, Aptos, Solana Bonk, and other U.S. and European angel investors and VCs. The founding team includes alumni from Coinbase, Meta, Accenture, and market-making firms. Details about the project’s next funding round have not yet been disclosed.