Written by: David C, Bankless
Compiled by: Deng Tong, Jinse Finance
Aptos’ APT native token just broke through to a new all-time high today after an impressive comeback from last week’s downturn.
As more and more capital pours into its DeFi ecosystem, some promising projects are underway. Many of them also offer their own opportunities, such as earnings, points programs, or potential airdrops.
Today, let’s take a look at five top projects to see what makes these protocols stand out and highlight how users can take advantage of the opportunities they bring. Let’s take a closer look!
Thala Finance
Thala leads Aptos’ TVL with its DeFi suite featuring stablecoins, DEX, and liquidity staking.
The profitable Move Dollar (MOD) can be exchanged for USDC from LayerZero or Wormhole and used in Thala Swap or the entire ecosystem to increase profits. Thala's liquid staking and MOD pairs provide high-yield opportunities in the stable pool. Locking THL for veTHL also enhances rewards, powering the classic DeFi flywheel. Thala also provides a launchpad outside of these core projects, although they have only launched their own native token.
In addition, Thala and the Aptos Foundation launched a $1 million fund (expandable to $5 million) for Aptos DeFi development. A Thala team member recently revealed that Thala Foundry plans to launch artificial intelligence and DeFi projects soon, which is expected to be launched in the second to third quarter.
He also pointed to the strong inspiration the team drew from Celestia Airdrops – words that are sure to spark the imagination.
Where are the opportunities?
Thala's wide range of products offers a wide range of opportunities:
APT: Deposit APT in exchange for Thala’s LST thAPT, then stake it to earn an annual interest rate of approximately 10%. Alternatively, you can deposit a combination of the two into their stable pool, which offers around 18% APR with little risk.
MOD: Block some zUSDC from bridging with LayerZero, deposit zUSDC into MOD, and deposit both into its stable pool to get ~60% APR!
Stability Pool: Deposit into Thala’s Stability Pool to earn approximately 65% annual interest and support its lending vault. This strategy is the riskiest.
THL: You can lock THL (Thala's governance token) for veTHL to earn rewards and possibly even airdrops from projects through the Thala Foundry program. Considering what they said about TIA, that's not an exaggeration.
Overall, Thala positions itself as the center of DeFi on Aptos with its overall suite, strong control over TVL, and Foundry support.
Aptin Finance
Aptos lending marketplace Aptin Finance saw significant TVL growth last month.
Aptin's user-friendly dashboard allows earning and borrowing stablecoins, APT, and ETH with approximately 25% higher yields. Additionally, participating in their marketplace will provide you with points toward their upcoming token, which is expected to launch in the first quarter. Aptin’s roadmap shows they have their finger on the pulse of this cycle’s headwinds, with integrations and products targeting the Bitcoin/BRC20 ecosystem a focus in Q2 and Q3. Additionally, they are targeting full-chain lending, which could open the market to massive new liquidity.
Where are the opportunities?
As mentioned above, the best opportunities for Aptin currently come from two paths:
Borrowing: Earn yields of ~25% and ~20% by bridging zUSDC and ETH, or borrow against these assets at ~8% and ~1%.
Points Program: You can also earn points for their token issuance by borrowing money. Recommend others to use their platform and you’ll earn even more!
Aptin’s lending market, ambitious roadmap, and recent growth may help it become a key player in the Aptos ecosystem. Focusing on a specific goal rather than trying to be a jack of all trades, coupled with targeting the BTC ecosystem, could do wonders for its liquidity growth. However, they have to execute this and even before that, maintain interest after the coin drops.
Amnis Finance
Amnis introduces liquidity staking to Aptos, providing high yields while maintaining liquidity.
It innovates by creating YT tokens through the tokenization of income, dividing interest-earning assets (stAPT) into principal PT and income YT. YT tokens allow holders to receive full interest for free and redeem their entire initial investment upon maturity.
Where are the opportunities?
Opportunities for Amnis come from the following areas:
Staking APT: The most straightforward opportunity Amnis offers is to stake your APT to them and earn 11%.
LST in DeFi: If you want to take it a step further, there are a range of yield opportunities for using their LST on other DeFi protocols around the ecosystem, some of which offer up to 45% APR!
Amnis’ Liquid Staking offers a higher base yield than other providers. It allows for further growth through protocols within its ecosystem. Amnis faces competition, though, as liquidity staking is a standard protocol feature.
Aries Market
Aries leads Aptos' leveraged trading with derivatives and integrated trading platforms.
It also has AMM swaps, a bridging platform, and a lending market to earn income on assets such as USDC, USDT, and ETH. As far as trading goes, they currently support ETH and APT and plan to expand their offerings soon.
Where are the opportunities?
In addition to trading, Aries' opportunities come from proceeds from its incentive program and lending market.
Yield: Driven by the current incentive program, the lending rate for stablecoins is currently around 20%, and the lending rate for USDC is around 1-2%. This difference can make for some good strategies.
Points Program: Additionally, Aries announced a points program in January that rewards users for lending, borrowing, and, of course, referring others.
As the current leader in the Aptos derivatives market, Aries is off to a strong start. Driven by ongoing incentive programs and low borrowing fees, the protocol is likely to continue to stand out and grow. However, given the early stages of the Aptos ecosystem, this may not be enough to keep Aries ahead of the curve, especially with projects related to the launch of Thala Foundry.
Ondo Finance
In addition to showing incredible strength during the recent economic downturn, Ondo Finance also provides investment opportunities in the Aptos ecosystem.
The RWA platform associated with Blackrock will launch its Treasury-backed product USDY on its tokenized product Aptos in the United States. Thala is the most integrated here. USDY will be added to the AMM pool and whitelisted as collateral for MOD stablecoins. Additionally, given Ondo’s announcement that its global marketplace will tokenize securities, we can see this bringing more trading volume to the chains it supports. Additionally, Aptos is expected to make a massive RWA-focused announcement in April after its team met with three of the world's largest asset managers - which is expected to be a huge catalyst for them.
Where are the opportunities?
Ondo has many opportunities - hold ONDO, participate in its points program, and use USDY in strategies. Here's how to do these:
ONDO: ONDO can be used on exchanges such as Coinbase and Bybit. It can directly enter the ecosystem of Aptos. It can also be used on Sui, Solana and Ethereum. Ondo has also deployed USDY on these exchanges.
Points Program: Providing liquidity for USDY on the chain, holding ONDO on Ethereum, or even missing out on stable income opportunities in the past can earn you points for future redemption. However, ONDO tokens won't be unlocked until January 2025, so you'll have to wait quite a while.
USDY in DeFi: Yield opportunities abound on the USDY chain as well, and since the token is pegged to Treasury bonds, it has proven to be more stable than most.
At the intersection of DeFi and RWA, Ondo Finance offers arguably the safest option, giving you access to the Aptos ecosystem backed by giants like Founder's Fund, DCG, LAO, and Tiger Global.
As Aptos grows, Thala, Aptin, Amnis, Aries, and Ondo stand out as promising players influencing how DeFi takes shape on-chain, and all offer opportunities in terms of staking, yields, and real-world asset integration.
These initiatives make Aptos' ecosystem an exciting place to be in the Alt-L1 world. With the network currently topping all-time highs, more attention is likely to flock to its DeFi ecosystem, and in crypto, where there are eyeballs, there are opportunities.
