Introduction
Five years ago, Facebook's Libra/Diem project burst onto the scene, capturing global attention. However, this ambitious project ultimately came to a quiet end in 2022, leaving an unfinished mark on the era. Nevertheless, the technical legacy of Libra—the Move language—is being revived through its 'successors.'
As everyone knows, Aptos and Sui carry this technical legacy.
Today, the emergence of the Movement Network has further opened up possibilities for breaking through the original concept of Libra. Through its modular design and the concept of ecological interconnectivity, it paints a much grander blueprint for Move than what was originally designed for Libra/Diem.
Development of smart contract public chains
Ethereum has become the most popular public chain after Bitcoin due to its EVM smart contract functionality, driving the popularity of the Solidity programming language.
After Ethereum, many emerging public chains have tried to forge new paths, 'following the trend' to create their own smart contract programming languages in an attempt to replicate Ethereum's success. For instance, NEO tried using C# and JavaScript, Waves launched Ride, and Cardano chose Haskell. However, despite the innovative intentions behind these public chains, most have not achieved significant market share and ultimately failed to replace the dominance of Solidity.
In the development of DeFi over the years, the shortcomings of Solidity have gradually become apparent: its complex language design, vulnerability to bugs, and cumbersome development process have left many teams and users feeling exhausted.
The market's demand for a new generation of smart contract languages that are simpler and more secure is becoming increasingly apparent.
The Move language meets such needs perfectly, emphasizing the security and uniqueness of data resources, arising from a profound understanding of financial security and resource management. This design thinking aligns with the core needs of blockchain asset management and is more easily accepted by communities that emphasize safety and stability.
In this market cycle, the Move ecosystem is steadily making progress, with developers and users gradually 'voting with their feet' by choosing to migrate to Move-based blockchains. This is different from the previous speculative 'follow-the-trend' behavior during the explosion of smart contract languages; the popularity of Move is due to its effective resolution of the needs of developers and the market.
By observing the development path of the Move ecosystem, we can find that Move's progress presents a growth trajectory that is starkly different from Ethereum and also differs from the rapid expansion path of early smart contract platforms amid market booms. The Move ecosystem has chosen a more pragmatic development strategy, focusing on solving practical problems and meeting market demands.
Move ecosystem and Ethereum ecosystem
There are many literatures comparing Move and Ethereum from a technical perspective; this section takes a different approach to discuss the paths of their rise.
The biggest difference between the two is that the infrastructure team of Move has a closer connection with the ecosystem project teams.
In the process of Ethereum's development, the relationship between the developer team and ecological projects has been relatively distant, lacking a clear supportive attitude. When the price of Ether fell from $1,400 to $80 in 2018, there were almost no applications running on the entire chain, and the subsequent stories are known to many readers: the support of grassroots DeFi teams and miners saved Ethereum.
The Ethereum Foundation has not given special support or recognition for these contributions but has focused on promoting Layer 2 and PoS, which, while ensuring continuity in the technical route, has somewhat limited the diversified development of the ecosystem infrastructure.
In a sense, the success of Ethereum stems from the smart contract functionality developed by the Ethereum developer team and the first batch of grassroots DeFi teams, both of which are indispensable.
In contrast, the Move ecosystem, in its early development, saw the infrastructure team actively supporting various applications and developers in the community, especially in areas such as development tools, funding support, and resource sharing, reflecting a more collaborative and win-win relationship. This relationship not only strengthened the cohesion of the community but also laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Move ecosystem.
At the same time, the Move ecosystem demonstrates a stronger market orientation. Of particular note is the Movement project, as the only solution in the Move ecosystem with a positioning similar to Ethereum Layer 2, its development path reflects the Move ecosystem's keen grasp of market demands.
Movement is not constrained by the technical decisions of any centralized organization, and can respond to market feedback to provide Move infrastructure products that meet market needs. Unlike Ethereum, it does not oscillate between Beam and Layer 2 options.
In the long run, the market-oriented technological development path of the Move ecosystem may be more conducive to cultivating a vibrant innovation environment.
It allows technological upgrades to respond more directly to the needs of users and developers, rather than being constrained by the established plans of a centralized organization. This feature also allows the Move ecosystem to exhibit greater adaptability and development potential in the rapidly changing blockchain market.
Evolution of Move
The development of the Move infrastructure ecosystem can be divided into three phases.
In the first phase, in 2019, Facebook (now Meta) aimed to create a global digital currency through the Libra/Diem project and develop a new programming language, Move, to ensure the security of smart contracts. Due to U.S. policy reasons, the project was terminated in 2022, which also led to the postponement of the first commercial application of the Move language.
In the second phase, with the termination of the Diem project, two Move Layer 1 public chains, Aptos and Sui, were successively born. These projects were founded by former members of the Libra/Diem team and aimed to continue developing and pushing the innovative concepts from the Libra/Diem project into the market.
Aptos was founded by former Diem executives like Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching, and it launched its mainnet in October 2022. Aptos aims for high performance and low latency, attracting developer attention and rapidly accumulating substantial capital support through the use of the Move language and a unique consensus protocol.
In contrast, Sui was founded by another group of former Diem team members, with core members from Mysten Labs. Sui launched its mainnet in May 2023, positioning itself as a high-performance public chain with modular and scalable features.
Sui is also based on the Move language but has further extended its functionality, enhancing concurrency capabilities and developing richer developer tools to improve the development experience and efficiency.
Both adhere to the technical foundation of Libra/Diem and, based on the Move language, have successfully established new ecosystems in the blockchain industry through their unique technologies and market strategies. The rise of these projects symbolizes a revival of the legacy of Libra/Diem within the new public chain ecosystem, continuing the original intention of promoting the development of blockchain technology.
The birth of Aptos and Sui is not only a continuation of the team's exploration of the unfinished business of the original project but also a resurgence of the Move language as the next-generation smart contract language in the blockchain industry, showcasing its advantages in high security and developer friendliness. The favor and investment of institutions in these projects also reflect the market's high recognition of the potential of this ecosystem and the Move language.
In the third phase, Movement Labs follows up on the vision of Libra/Diem by launching the Movement Network, a modular Move blockchain infrastructure with high TPS and fast finality.
The timing of Movement's creation is worth mentioning. After the heat of Aptos and Sui's launch subsided, the Move ecosystem was relatively sluggish, with Sui and Apt at a phase low, leaving the prospects of the Move track full of uncertainty.
At this point, in September 2023, Movement Labs announced the completion of a $3.4 million Pre-Seed funding round. The addition of these investors not only demonstrates institutional confidence in the Move ecosystem but also indirectly endorses the capabilities of the Movement team.
Movement raised $38 million in funding led by Polychain in April this year and received investment from Binance Labs in May, making it a hot topic.
Image source: Biteye
From the development history of Move, it is evident that the Move ecosystem's attitude towards DeFi and miners was different from that of the Ethereum Foundation in the early days.
The Move infrastructure team actively supports innovative projects and developers in the ecosystem, forming a highly cohesive developer ecosystem through funding support, technical tools, and community building. This comprehensive support has allowed the Move ecosystem to rapidly accumulate a large number of developers and users, gradually becoming a favorite for smart contract development.
The new star in Move is Movement Network.
In the Move ecosystem, the positioning of the Movement Network is strategically significant. Unlike Layer 1 public chains like Aptos and Sui, Movement does not compete with them; instead, it plays a key bridging role in the Move ecosystem through its unique modular architecture.
As a new star in the Move ecosystem infrastructure industry, Movement Network is injecting new vitality into the development of the Move ecosystem with its innovative technical architecture.
This network consists of three core components: the Move executor, the Fast Finality Settlement Module, and the Decentralized Shared Sequencer, together building a high-performance, secure, and interoperable infrastructure platform.
In terms of technical architecture, Movement's innovation lies in its successful integration of the Move language with the EVM ecosystem.
The Move executor of Movement, as the core component of Movement-SDK, implements dual support for MoveVM and EVM bytecode.
This dual compatibility not only allows developers to fully leverage the advanced features of the Move language but also maintains compatibility with existing Ethereum applications. By integrating the parallel execution capabilities of MoveVM with the existing EVM interpreter, the Move executor strikes a good balance between compatibility and scalability.
Developers can fully leverage the advantages of the Move language while maintaining Ethereum settlement. Notably, Movement supports running Move code from both Aptos and Sui simultaneously, an innovative architecture known as 'Move-EVM' (MEVM), which provides developers with unprecedented flexibility.
In terms of transaction settlement, the Fast Finality Settlement Module adopts an innovative staking verification mechanism.
Compared to traditional zk-rollups and optimistic rollups, Movement Network achieves sub-second transaction finality without needing expensive proof generation equipment, significantly reducing latency and optimizing user experience. This module ensures network security through validator-staked assets, enhancing transaction processing efficiency while ensuring the security of the crypto economy.
These technological innovations make Movement a highly promising infrastructure project within the Move ecosystem, providing solid technical support for the widespread application of the Move language and ecological development.
The current macro environment is also very favorable for Movement's narrative; as the U.S. regulatory environment shifts towards being more friendly to the crypto industry, it is foreseeable that more enterprises will venture into the Web3 industry like during the previous bull market.
As a programming language designed specifically for enterprises by Facebook, Move is likely to become the preferred choice for these enterprises. Especially considering the strict requirements of enterprises for system sovereignty, public chains like Aptos/Sui cannot meet the sovereignty support enterprises need. Movement, as the only modular solution in the current Move ecosystem, has its strategic value increasingly highlighted.
Through the open-source Movement SDK, enterprises can deploy their own rollups, maintaining complete control over the system while enjoying the infrastructure advantages of the Ethereum ecosystem and the Move language.
Summary
Looking back at the development history of Web2, it is not difficult to find that there is a direct positive correlation between the ease of development and the quality of applications. Aptos, Sui, and Movement are bringing this experience into the Web3 industry, collectively promoting the prosperous development of the Move ecosystem through different technological routes and innovative solutions.
The narrative of Move is being continued by Movement, likely surpassing the original vision of the Libra project.
[Disclaimer] The market carries risks; investments should be cautious. This article does not constitute investment advice, and users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions contained herein are suitable for their specific circumstances. Invest at your own risk.
This article is reprinted with permission from: (Foresight News)
Original author: Biteye core contributor Fishery
'The Next SUI, Aptos? Another Star Emerges in the Move Public Chain, Is This Chain About to Rise?' This article was first published in 'Crypto City.'
