[Exclusive Interview]David Wolinsky "Focusing on Freedom with Web 3.0"

"Web 3.0, The Ideal Way to Realize Decentralized world"
With 'Security'·'Upgradable Availability' Built on Facebook
"Aptos Will Provide Real Utility of Web 3.0 to the Users"

Aptos appeared at October of 2022 with its mainnet and heated up the world with the 'Aptos craze'. The launch of Aptos received the world's expectations on the reputation that it was launched by the developers from Facebook's blockchain project 'Libra' and 'DM'. With the expectation, Aptos succeeded in attracting large-scale investment before the launch of the mainnet, and then Aptos succeeded in attracting popularity and made it a syndrome with its unique technology after the launch.

While there are many Web 3.0 projects that appeared with the slogan of 'Building a Web 3.0 World' with their own technologies, Aptos also threw its hat into the ring. Although Aptos was challenged as a relatively latecomer, Aptos is maintaining its unrivaled position in the Web 3.0 competition. Aptos continues to prove that the expectations from the world were never futile expectations.

Block Street, an economic media specializing in blockchain, had an opportunity to press the news that many investors might be curious about by meeting with David Wolinsky, the head of Aptos Engineering on 'Aptos Analyst Day' hosted by Xangle.

Q. What do you see as the biggest difference between Aptos and Libra-Diem?

Aptos is about bringing digital assets directly to billions. Aptos focuses on scale and freedom. Anyone can use Aptos. Aptos is cost-efficient. Aptos is open. Aptos focuses instead on ecosystem and enablement. While we share many of the principles that founded Libra/Diem, such as security and upgradeability, those platforms targeted a limited, permissioned ecosystem.

Q. Is there any advantage that started Aptos as Facebook's blockchain project team?

There are two advantages that come to mind. One is that we built the team over 3 years at Facebook; forging some of the best relationships that transcend our time at Aptos and directly impact the improvement of blockchain technology. The second is that Facebook offered us the opportunity to spend three years building out the best tech in Web3 without distraction or interruption.
Q. What do you think is the concept of Web 3.0?

Prior to Aptos and Facebook, I spent a decade in academia in the realm of decentralized computing. Web 3.0 offers a real pathway toward realizing a decentralized computing reality (and my dreams). The core concept for me is empowering the user to make decisions that drive the best outcome for them.I look forward to the day when creators can easily make rich, decentralized applications that can scale in the same fashion as Web2 applications without requiring the same infrastructure effort. There's a lot of work that needs to be done to realize a decentralized infrastructure that can compete with that of centralized networks. Web 3 is still nascent. But it's also running on powerful technology that can be extremely disruptive and lead to real creativity in the space—and a near-future where access and opportunity are more equitable for all creators and builders.

Q. Can you tell me about the competition in the Web 3.0 ecosystem that you're currently figuring out?

The greatest competition we face is our own fear. There are a lot of unsolved problems in the Web 3 space. Personally, I love challenges and each day I am eager to learn what new problems we have to solve. Some may perceive external organizations as competition, but I believe that we all have one unified goal of really building the best Web3 platform and ecosystem. There exist way too many paths to explore and so we benefit from these other entities. Because of the openness and transparency in Web3, good ideas quickly spread and lesser ideas can be universally avoided.

Q. What differentiates Aptos from other Layer 1 blockchains? Above all, how can Aptos compete with other Layer 1 blockchains as a competitive advantage?

Aptos' blockchain technology is built from the ground up to scale, provide strong security, and offer seamless upgrades. It is this technology that has demonstrated 20K TPS. We brought forward Move, a novel Web3 programming language that makes it easy to build secure, scalable applications—critical as Web3 is often used as a means for financial infrastructure. We continue to evolve Move by adding advanced cryptographic functionality, with plans to deploy on-chain randomness soon. Our core libraries make it easy to build rich on-chain applications while still preserving interoperability. Specifically, NFTs and Tokens have extensible standards that empower common and application-specific behavior from within the same asset. We continue to regularly evolve Aptos with nearly monthly upgrades across all layers in the stack. We are heavily invested in making Aptos the easiest Web3 development environment with the intent of rivaling even the simplicity of Web2.
Q. As an Aptos official, please tell us about the problems Aptos is currently facing and its solutions.

The biggest challenge is that there are a lot of impediments to broadscale adoption of Web3. We still see organizations spending far too much time to build out their Web3 solutions especially in contrast to their core offerings. Until we make Web3 as easy to build as it is in Web2, Web3 will remain a nascent technology.

Q. In a previous interview, he said, "Aptos is trying to build something seamless inside of Web 3.0 as it is in Web 2.0." Can you explain this in detail?

In Web2, creators and builders have access to a plethora of tools and platforms that empower them to translate their ideas into reality. Whether they are looking to build a new marketplace via platforms like Shopify, or bring new games to market via numerous gaming platforms, it is easy to be a Web2 builder. Web3, on the other hand, has limited tools. Data in blockchains is stored to be efficient for execution of transactions but not necessarily for client applications. Similarly, the write path or submitting transactions to blockchains has many failure models. For context, we spent over a year at Facebook with over 50 engineers building out a platform to attempt to bring Facebook into Web3 as part of the digital collectibles effort. That ultimately did not pan out. As these are just the cornerstones or basic building blocks, we recognize at Aptos that there is a lot of work that needs to be done to bridge the developer experience gap in Web3.
Q. I understand that Aptos held its first hackathon in Korea. What does Aptos think of the Korean market and what approach is it taking?

I first came to Korea for the Xangle Blockchain Foundations event in January of 2023. After having spent the past several years building Web3 in the US, it was exhilarating to visit Korea and meet so many individuals so enthusiastic about Web3. We spent that week engaging with new friends from various infrastructure providers and engaging with the local gaming industry. I admired the prevalent sincerity and dedication I encountered. Since then, I have been back to Korea 3 more times, including this trip. Korea has broadly adopted interest and enthusiasm for Web3 and our partners here are equally as excited about the opportunities that Web3 can bring into both products and technologies to provide real utility back to the users—all while offering new economic models and business opportunities.

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