Aptos mainnet upgrade boosts price amid privacy and AI developments
Aptos (APT)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
tradersunion.com reports that Aptos (APT) is trading at $0.773, up 7.81% for the day, supported by its position above key short- and medium-term moving averages. On September 18, 2026, Aptos activated Confidential APT on its mainnet, introducing protocol-level privacy by encrypting token balances and transaction amounts while keeping wallet addresses visible. This upgrade aims to enhance user privacy and transaction confidentiality, potentially boosting demand from privacy-sensitive users and institutions.
Additionally, in May 2026, the Aptos Foundation and Aptos Labs committed $50 million to develop AI agent infrastructure and launch the x402 protocol for stablecoin payments. A partnership with io.net was also established to integrate GPU rentals, expanding the asset’s technical footprint. APT trades above the MA-20 at $0.7379 and the MA-50 at $0.7325 on the hourly chart, as well as above the MA-200 daily benchmark at $0.7662.
Immediate support is identified at the Ichimoku Kijun level of $0.7385. Analysts noted that bullish momentum is strengthening following the privacy feature introduction and preparations for post-quantum cryptography upgrades.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for APT, measured when this story was written up on 21 September 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
APT is currently trading at $0.7400 on Binance spot markets. Buy ratios are 51.1% over the last hour and 53.9% over the last four hours, indicating a slight shift toward buying pressure compared to the 24-hour period where the ratio was 48.3%. Volume deltas show positive net buying of +$44,576 in the last hour and +$375,175 over four hours, contrasting with a negative delta of -$390,592 over the past day. This suggests that while daily net flow was negative, recent hourly activity shows renewed buyer interest. The Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) for the 24-hour close is +$414,492, with net buying occurring in 16 of the last 24 hours. Spot volume for the day stands at $12,379,667 across 58,369 trades.
The latest daily buy ratio of 50.0% sits at the 59th percentile of the last 323 days, against a median of 49.3% - ordinary for this coin.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for APT, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 49.9%, making today's 24-hour ratio of 48.3% slightly lower by 1.5 points. Spot volume was 0.93x the weekly average, indicating slightly lower trading activity than usual. Net buying occurred on only 3 of the 7 days, and the total volume delta for the 8-day period was -$747,866. Despite this, the price increased by 25.9% over the 8-day period. This represents an unusual day where price appreciation has outpaced the average volume and buying ratio metrics.