What Is Movement Network? The Opportunity for a Facebook-Origin Public Chain

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Movement Network is the first Layer 2 blockchain that brings the Move language developed by Meta (formerly Facebook) into the Ethereum ecosystem. It doesn't take the "new public chain" route; instead, it allows developers to benefit from Move's security and high performance using Solidity—inheriting the technical legacy of the Facebook Libra/Diem project without giving up Ethereum's existing user base and liquidity.

First, Understand What the Move Language Is – The Technical Legacy Left by Meta

Move is a smart contract language originally developed by Facebook for the Libra/Diem stablecoin project launched in 2019. After the team disbanded, the language system was inherited by projects like Aptos and Sui.

Move differs from Ethereum's Solidity in two core ways:

Comparison DimensionMoveSolidity
Asset SecurityBuilt-in protection via resource types; assets cannot be copied or arbitrarily destroyedRelies on developers to manually control permission logic
Transaction EfficiencyNatively supports parallel execution, with TPS reaching tens of thousandsSerial execution, limited by gas and block space

In short, Move makes it harder to write security vulnerabilities than Solidity, while handling higher throughput transactions. The problem is that 90% of market liquidity and users are currently in the EVM ecosystem; although Aptos and Sui have strong technology, they face the dilemma of having "no one on the chain."

The key takeaway: Move's strengths are security and high performance, but launching a standalone new public chain makes it difficult to attract users.

Look at Movement's Solution – Not an "Ethereum Killer," but an "Ethereum Plugin"

Movement does not operate as an independent new public chain but is built as an Ethereum-based Layer 2 solution. Through a component called Fractal, Solidity contracts are automatically converted into Move code, so developers can deploy Ethereum DApps directly on Movement without writing a single line of Move.

The architecture has two layers:

  • M1 (Consensus Layer): Based on Avalanche's Snowman consensus mechanism, handling transaction ordering and network consensus
  • M2 (Execution Layer): A ZK-Rollup that simultaneously supports Aptos Move, Sui Move, and EVM-compatible Solidity contracts

In plain terms: M1 decides "who calls the shots," while M2 runs the applications. Developers can run Solidity apps on M2, enjoy Move's execution efficiency, with security ultimately anchored to the Ethereum mainnet.

The core strategy of Movement: not to steal Ethereum's users, but to let Ethereum users leverage Move.

Look at the Core Team and Funding Background – The "Facebook Lineage" DNA

Movement Labs was founded in 2022 by Rushi Manche and Cooper Scanlon, both of whom have backgrounds in the development of the Libra/Diem project.

Funding record:

  • September 2023: $3.4 million seed round, led by Varys Capital and dao5
  • April 2024: $38 million Series A, led by Polychain Capital
  • May 2024: Binance Labs additional investment

Testnet data shows cumulative transactions of 681 million, active addresses exceeding 15.8 million, and 46 applications running on the testnet. These figures place Movement in the upper-middle tier among Layer 2 projects.

Understand that Movement is backed by institutions such as Polychain and Binance Labs, and its testnet data has a real foundation.

Understand the MOVE Token – Circulation, Utility, and Controversies Worth Noting

MOVE has a total supply of 10 billion tokens, with an initial circulation of about 22% at mainnet launch.

Allocation structure:

  • Ecosystem & Community: 40%
  • Early Investors: 22.5%
  • Early Contributors: 17.5%
  • Foundation: 10%
  • Airdrop: 10%

Token utility: network gas fees, staking to secure the network, and participating in on-chain governance voting.

Controversies worth noting: In early 2026, co-founder Rushi Manche was dismissed during a market maker compliance investigation, and co-founder Cooper Scanlon temporarily stepped down, revealing a management crisis within the team. This has affected market confidence in the project's long-term stability and is one reason some platforms mark it with "invest with caution."

Key takeaway: you now know MOVE's allocation and utility, as well as the team turmoil.

See Movement's Transformation – From "Tech Narrative" to "Payment Settlement"

In June 2026, Movement announced a significant strategic shift: focusing on cross-border payments and stablecoin settlement in emerging markets, and obtaining compliant payment licenses for the US, Canada, and the EU.

Core data:

  • The average global cross-border remittance fee is still as high as 6.36%, with emerging market remittance volumes around $685 billion
  • Core goal: compress traditional bank settlement times of 2–5 days to real time, reducing the need for pre-funded float

Ecosystem progress:

  • KAST: already has more than 18,000 verified users
  • USDCx: natively issued on the Movement network
  • Sorted Wallet: a non-custodial wallet supporting feature phones, with over 500,000 downloads covering 160 countries

This transformation means Movement no longer positions itself merely as a "technically better Layer 2," but attempts to use blockchain technology to solve real problems in cross-border payments.

Understand that Movement is expanding from a pure Layer 2 narrative toward payment settlement.

Common Misconceptions

  • "Movement is a new public chain": Incorrect. It is an Ethereum-based Layer 2, not an independent Layer 1 public chain.
  • "Movement is exactly Facebook's project": Incorrect. It inherits the technical legacy of the Move language, but the project itself is independently developed and operated by Movement Labs.
  • "You must learn the Move language to develop on Movement": Incorrect. Through the Fractal component, Solidity developers can deploy contracts directly without needing to learn Move.

Risk Warning

  • The team experienced management turmoil in early 2026 with the dismissal and temporary departure of core founders, creating uncertainty about project continuity.
  • The mainnet has only been live for a short time, and the strategic transformation was officially announced only in June 2026; the real-world effectiveness of its payment initiatives still needs verification.
  • The MOVE token uses a 60-month gradual unlock mechanism, and the release of early investor and team allocations may create sustained selling pressure on the market.

Developers can visit the official Movement documentation at docs.movementnetwork.xyz to check mainnet endpoints and RPC configurations, and try deploying a Solidity contract to the Movement testnet (Chain ID: 250) to experience the transaction speed difference of the same code running in a Move execution environment.