Are rollups becoming a thing of the past? How Movement (MOVE) solves the scalability problem

While the developers of each of the Layer-2 or L2 networks aim to bring some unique mechanisms to address blockchain bandwidth issues better, they typically rely on the same type of mechanisms based on "rollups," a technology for scaling and improving the performance of decentralized networks.

However, some aim to present an even more effective solution to significant blockchain performance problems. And Movement has become such a project.

What is Movement?

Movement Network is a "community-oriented" Layer 2 blockchain designed to address transaction latency issues on the Ethereum network. It combines several innovations, such as directed acyclic graph (DAG), decentralized shared sequencer (DSS), and pooled liquidity.

The Movement Labs team is developing the project; Movement Network's L2 blockchain is their flagship product as of December 2024. Movement Network's L2 blockchain was launched on December 9, 2024.

The Movement Network was developed using Move, a new programming language created by the former Facebook team that worked on the defunct Diem project (formerly known as Libra). Move was used to develop the Aptos blockchain network, which is now one of the top 30 crypto projects according to CoinMarketCap.

Move is a programming language specifically designed to develop smart contracts and decentralized solutions, which focuses on ownership and security, and its assets are represented as resources. This is why Move is also called a "resource-oriented programming language." The Move language is an alternative to Solidity, used to build Ethereum-based applications, and is made to simplify the development of secure smart contracts for all the significant tasks that blockchain technology solves.

How does Movement work?

Like any other layer 2 blockchain, the Movement Network was designed to solve the major, often interconnected problems of the Ethereum network, which include:

• Low throughput resulting in transaction latency (which is especially noticeable when there is a high load on the Ethereum network);
• Scalability issues;
• Security vulnerabilities.

Movement Network processes transactions outside the first layer (Ethereum), thus relieving it of the load.

The Movement Network itself consists of three main components:

1. The Move Executor execution environment;
2. Fast Finality Settlement Module, which is responsible for settling transactions in the Movement Network;
3. Decentralized Shared Sequencer or simply DSS.

The Move Executor runtime environment is a core component of the Movement-SDK development tools and includes the MoveVM virtual machine, similar to the EVM in the Ethereum ecosystem.

However, MoveVM combines the capabilities of its virtual machine and EVM to create decentralized and scalable multi-chain solutions that will run on different blockchain networks. In other words, MoveVM provides Movement Network compatibility with other blockchains in the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem.

Fast Finality Settlement Module is a module that provides Movement Network's L2 transactions with a high transaction rate and the ability to regulate them. With this module, Movement Network validators get the benefits of staking and fast transaction confirmation without sacrificing security.

Instead of Optimistic and ZK-Rollups used in the vast majority of Layer 2 networks such as Arbitrum, Polygon, Optimism, and Mantle, Movement Network developers have proposed an alternative solution — so-called "Fast-Finality Chains", which just provide fast confirmation and settlement of transactions at Layer 2.

Movement Network developers note that the already classic rollup-based approaches have drawbacks. While they provide security and valid transaction validation, they rely on "challenge periods" during which invalid transactions can be rejected. All of this leads not only to higher costs but also to delays in transaction execution.

The approach used in the L2 Movement Network, based on "fast-complete chains," ensures faster transaction completion and maintains a high level of network security while reducing transaction validation time and, thus, the associated costs.

Finally, a decentralized shared sequencer or DSS is responsible for streamlining transactions on the Movement Network and enhancing their reliability and fair processing while keeping the blockchain resistant to censorship (the ability to control the processes of any one group).

Movement ecosystem

The Movement Network already has a reasonably well-developed ecosystem. While it does not yet have DeFi giants like Uniswap or Aave, it already includes dozens of well-known crypto projects such as Cedro Finance, MovementSwap, Abel Finance, Noble, OmniBTC, LayerBank, Ethena, Flipside and Pyth.

Given that Movement Network is backed by major crypto market players such as Binance Labs, other significant Web3 companies and projects in the crypto industry will likely eventually join its ecosystem.

Movement token

MOVE is a native token of the Movement Network blockchain and appeared on exchanges along with the main net launch on December 9, 2024. The MOVE token is also available on the Ethereum network in the ERC-20 format.

The very next day, after listing on cryptocurrency exchanges, the value of the MOVE token reached an all-time high (ATH) of $1.45, but then quickly corrected. As of mid-December 2024, the MOVE token is trading at $0.65.

A total of 10 billion MOVEs have been issued, of which only 2.25 billion are traded on the market - less than 25% of the total token issuance. Even though the token was launched and placed on exchanges only recently, it has already managed to enter the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Some of the primary uses of the MOVE token are the following:

• Payment of transaction fees;
• Automating interactions with DeFi protocols;
• Improving the functionality of the Movement Network ecosystem;
• Potentially — the creation of GameFi platforms, based on which developers will release their game applications.

Conclusion

Movement Network is not a typical second-tier solution, which has flooded the crypto market and introduced a fundamentally new paradigm. The developers of Movement Network have presented their solution, which combines security and high performance, which is hard to achieve for the creators of other second-tier solutions.