Aptos and Jump launch Shelby, a thermal data protocol. Can it turn the tide?

By Alex Liu, Foresight News

On the evening of June 24, Aptos announced that it would launch a new storage protocol Shelby in collaboration with crypto giant Jump Crypto. This is the first major move by Jump Crypto since it announced its return to crypto on June 19. As soon as the news came out, the market reacted swiftly - APT soared 30%, from 4.2 USDT to 5.13 USDT, the best performance in recent times.

Jump Crypto participated in Aptos Labs' $150 million Series A financing in 2022. It is well-known for its "grouping" ability and engineering technical capabilities. For example, Jump is the main contributor to Solana's highly anticipated validator client Firedancer. As the first high-profile project to enter the market since Jump's return, Shelby has brought back attention to Aptos, as well as the "imagination space" for ecological linkage to recreate prosperity.

But there are doubts. Sui was the first to launch the storage protocol Walrus. Is Aptos copying the strategy of its competitors? Let's take a closer look at Shelby.

Shelby, the "hot storage protocol"

From Cold to Hot: Changing Web3 Storage Paradigms

In the infrastructure narrative of Web3, decentralized storage has always been an unavoidable topic. However, for a long time, this field has been dominated by "cold storage": suitable for storing low-frequency access and long-term data, such as NFT metadata, backups, etc. Typical representatives such as Filecoin, Arweave, etc., emphasize persistence and cost optimization, but may not be competent for high-frequency, high-real-time scenarios.

Shelby is a "hot storage" solution proposed to address this pain point.

According to the official definition, Shelby is the first "cloud-grade infrastructure" in the Web3 world, with features such as sub-second read, native incentive mechanism, and chain-independent compatibility. It not only allows data to be stored, but also makes data streamable, usable, and priced. The service objects include video streaming, AI output, dynamic NFT, game assets and other Web3 application scenarios with extremely high real-time requirements.

Currently, Shelby uses Aptos as its preferred settlement layer, using its 600 millisecond final confirmation, 30,000 TPS and ultra-low gas fees to coordinate real-time data streams. Shelby will launch a developer testnet in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Aptos Labs CEO Avery Ching pointed out in a personal article: "The exchange of Web3 assets can already be done in seconds, but the data remains in a static and difficult to use state. Shelby aims to solve this key bottleneck."

Backed by Jump, Shelby is more than just "fast"

If Aptos is known for its high concurrency and high throughput, then Jump Crypto is a veteran in high-frequency trading and real-time systems. The reason why Shelby dares to call itself "hot storage" lies in the characteristics of its underlying architecture:

• High-speed synchronization of global nodes supported by a dedicated fiber-optic backbone network;
• Ensure content localization and sub-second reading speed through edge caching system;
• Adopting Clay code redundancy mechanism to reduce replication costs while ensuring repair efficiency;
• Encryption + Pay-to-Read mechanism natively supports usage-based monetization logic;
• Supports smart contracts to define access control and DRM, providing one-stop processing from data distribution to copyright protection.

This design is not just about making a faster IPFS (the most famous decentralized storage network), but rather an attempt to combine the performance standards of Web2 with the decentralized principles of Web3 to create a programmable, monetizable, and scalable data circulation network.

Top-tier projects have settled in, and community discussions are heated

The price of APT quickly rose by about 30%. In addition to the endorsement of Jump Crypto, it was also due to the luxurious lineup of ecological projects attracted by Shelby - Metaplex, Story Protocol, DoubleZero, etc., which are not only the most active data-intensive applications in the industry, but also representatives of various chains that are exploring the value of Web3 data usage.

Metaplex is rooted in Solana, and DoubleZero was founded by Austin Federa, the former head of strategy at Solana. The Solana ecosystem project, in which Jump is deeply involved, also participates in the construction of the Aptos ecosystem. Does this mean that there is really something behind Shelby and it has been recognized by everyone?

The community's interpretation of Shelby has also been incredibly positive.

Some people compare it with Walrus Protocol, pointing out that the purposes of their services are very different: Walrus tends to be cold storage and archiving, while Shelby is oriented towards real-time use and revenue distribution; the former relies on low-frequency access and audit incentive mechanisms, while the latter converts each data read into a payment behavior, fundamentally incentivizing the improvement of data readability.

Some people even point out that Shelby's encryption + paid reading mechanism provides a paradigm breakthrough for the long-standing "reading incentive" problem in the field of data availability. Compared with Celestia, Walrus and other projects that still rely on external funding subsidies to maintain their services, Shelby directly incorporates user behavior into the economic closed loop, driving nodes to actively maintain data availability.

A higher vision: more than just a turnaround for Aptos

The release of Shelby is certainly an important move for Aptos to seek ecological breakthroughs, but its broader significance may be that it is the first time that it attempts to deeply integrate the content economy, creator economy and on-chain infrastructure with the concept of "data as native assets". This not only serves Aptos itself, but also radiates to the entire multi-chain world through its "chain-independent" characteristics.

Aptos Labs repeatedly emphasized Shelby’s composability and cross-chain capabilities in the announcement: Whether you are deploying dynamic NFTs on Solana or building a RAG model on Ethereum Layer 2, Shelby can achieve rapid access and revenue linkage through standardized interfaces. In the future, it will also be expanded to on-chain environments such as Cosmos and Modular Stack.

Combined with Aptos' existing Global Trading Engine value transmission engine, Shelby complements the value generation end: the former allows assets to flow freely, and the latter allows content to become an asset with measurable value. The two complement each other, and Aptos is trying to create an on-chain economic closed loop.

Conclusion: The possibility and challenges of a comeback

From technical design to partnerships, from ecosystem implementation to market sentiment, Shelby is undoubtedly a high-scoring answer sheet from Aptos at the infrastructure level. When Walrus's large-scale airdrop ignited the Sui ecosystem wealth effect, Aptos was once regarded as a "bystander"; and now, Shelby, supported by Jump, may be the breakthrough point for it to return to the central narrative.

Of course, challenges remain: performance realization difficulties, developer migration costs, early ecological cold start... these will be the real problems Shelby will face next. But at least from the market and technical perspective, Aptos is no longer satisfied with being a "faster and cheaper public chain", but is seeking innovation and change, betting on a new paradigm of data-driven on-chain economy.

When hot data really starts to flow, the next wave of Web3 may also start from here.