Movement Labs To Introduce Fast Finality Mechanism For Layer 2 Networks By 2024

According to Cointelegraph, Movement Labs plans to launch a new mechanism for quickly settling transactions directly on layer 2 (L2) scaling networks by the end of 2024. Rushi Manche, Movement’s co-founder, discussed the initiative in an interview, highlighting the potential of fast finality 'postconfirmations' as an alternative to existing methods for settling Ethereum (ETH) L2 transactions, such as zero-knowledge (ZK) and fraud proofs. This new method could reduce confirmation times to less than one second, as mentioned in a blog post by Movement on September 2. The total value locked (TVL) on L2s has more than tripled in 2024, reaching nearly $35 billion, according to L2Beat. This surge is attributed to Ethereum’s growing popularity, which has strained the network’s limited bandwidth. Over the past 30 days, Ethereum’s average throughput was fewer than 13 transactions per second (TPS), compared to nearly 700 TPS for rival Solana (SOL), as reported by Chainspect. Existing solutions for L2 transactions have their limitations. Fraud proofs on optimistic rollups like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base can take up to seven days for finality, and zk-rollups can be costly, according to Manche. With postconfirmations, applications building on Movement’s upcoming L2, known as M2, can optionally route transactions to a network of validators secured by Movement’s native token, MOVE. This token is expected to launch by the end of 2024. Manche explained that developers could launch a custom rollup using a set of validators, accept L2 security, and still post call data to Ethereum. This approach allows for high throughput while settling on Ethereum when necessary. The M2 network will also settle transactions on mainnet Ethereum similarly to other optimistic rollups. Movement is partnering with EigenDA, a data availability service built on the restaking protocol EigenLayer, to manage data waiting to be settled on the mainnet. Movement is among several Web3 developers, including Aptos and Sui, building blockchains on Move, a Rust-based programming language. Manche believes this has the potential to help developers create safer, higher-throughput smart contracts. He predicts that by the second half of 2025, up to 20% of Web3 developers will work with Move, up from the current 7.5%.