Aptos Labs expands leadership as tokenized real-world assets surpass $540M in value

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The team doubles down on institutional partnerships and prepares for regulatory shifts as demand for real-world asset tokenization accelerates.

Aptos Labs, the development team behind the Aptos layer 1 blockchain, has appointed Solomon Tesfaye as its new Chief Business Officer, strengthening its executive team at a time of rapid growth in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and institutional blockchain adoption.

Tesfaye previously served as Head of Capital Markets at Aptos, where he led efforts to connect the blockchain to traditional financial players.

His leadership enabled Aptos to build partnerships with institutions including BlackRock, Apollo, and Franklin Templeton, helping to position the network for deployment in crypto ETPs and ETFs in both the US and Europe.

“Solomon has been critical in shaping our Global Trading Engine vision and forging the partnerships that will help make it a reality,” said Avery Ching, Co-Founder and CEO at Aptos Labs. “As CBO, he’ll be key to scaling that work, bringing more institutions, markets, and real-world use cases onto Aptos as global web3 adoption continues to accelerate.”

With more than a decade’s experience in investment banking, venture capital, and digital asset strategy, Tesfaye is expected to lead Aptos Labs’ push into financial services infrastructure, institutional onboarding, and scalable tokenization.

His focus will include driving global enterprise partnerships in fintech, payments, and asset management, advancing strategic initiatives and business development, opening new markets and use cases for on-chain finance.

Aptos is expected to benefit from pro-crypto policies under the Trump administration, which promise improved regulatory clarity and enhanced support for crypto businesses.

“With the US nearing the completion of frameworks for next-generation financial services, Aptos Labs is well-positioned to lead the shift to on-chain assets and help shape the infrastructure of tomorrow’s global markets,” said Tesfaye in a statement. “I’m excited to forge the partnerships and integrations that institutions and other market participants need to fully harness Aptos’ tokenization capabilities at scale.”

The leadership change comes amid accelerating adoption, as Aptos surpasses $540 million in tokenized real-world assets, with institutional integrations having doubled since the start of 2025.