AppLayer

About AppLayer

AppLayer, formerly known as SparqNet, is a blockchain infrastructure company that provides a modular Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) layer designed for high-performance cross-chain applications. Founded in 2022 by Michael Weinrub and Itamar Carvalho Pinto Salomao, the Panama City-based firm aims to address the inherent scalability and flexibility limitations of traditional EVM chains. Weinrub serves as CEO, while Salomao is the Founder and CTO. The project's development history began at the Avalanche Summit 2022 hackathon with a project called Æverest++, which evolved into SparqNet before rebranding to AppLayer.

The AppLayer network consists of three main components: a Blockchain Development Kit (BDK), an EVM network, and a Chain Abstraction Network (CAN) for bridging assets and data. The BDK allows developers to build their own application-specific blockchains. The platform supports smart contracts in both Solidity and C++, with its C++ based architecture enabling significant performance improvements. This is designed to give developers more freedom and overcome typical EVM constraints. The network's security is enhanced by a system of Validators and Sentinels, the latter being AppLayer Labs-powered nodes that prevent collusion and fortify the network.

AppLayer's business model centers on providing the infrastructure for developers to build decentralized applications (dApps), particularly in the GameFi and DeFi sectors. The platform is built to handle high throughput, supporting over 400,000 transactions per second (TPS) and executing smart contracts in microseconds. Use cases range from decentralized exchanges and data storage solutions to multiplayer games and AI applications. The company incentivizes development on its platform through grants and a testnet program, with rewards offered in its native token, $APPL. The $APPL token is integral to the ecosystem, used for staking, paying protocol fees, keeper rewards, and accessing special features like Real-World Asset (RWA) minting. While the company has not had a public funding round, it has received investment from firms including Arcanum Ventures, Connectico Capital, and Frens Syndicate.