Movement Labs is planning to introduce a new system for fast transaction settlements on layer 2 (L2) scaling networks by the end of 2024, according to Rushi Manche, the co-founder of Movement. In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Manche explained that this new mechanism, called “postconfirmations,” offers an alternative to existing methods like zero-knowledge (ZK) and fraud proofs for settling Ethereum (ETH) L2 transactions. Postconfirmations have the potential to significantly reduce confirmation times to less than 1 second, as stated in Movement’s blog post on September 2.
As Ethereum’s popularity continues to soar, the total value locked (TVL) on L2s has more than tripled in 2024, reaching almost $35 billion, according to L2Beat. This surge in activity has put a strain on the network’s limited bandwidth. In the last 30 days, Ethereum’s average throughput was less than 13 transactions per second (TPS), while rival Solana (SOL) recorded nearly 700 TPS, according to Chainspect.
Movement recognizes that existing solutions 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, Manche explained. With postconfirmations, applications built on Movement’s upcoming L2, called M2, will be able to route transactions to a network of validators secured by Movement’s native token, MOVE. The token is scheduled to launch by the end of 2024. Manche highlighted that this approach allows for custom rollups with a set of validators, ensuring L2 security, while still being able to post call data to Ethereum. This enables high throughput while settling on Ethereum when necessary.
In addition to settling transactions on M2, Movement’s network will also handle settlements on the mainnet Ethereum, similar to other optimistic rollups. To handle data waiting to be settled on the mainnet, Movement has partnered with EigenDA, a data availability service built on the restaking protocol EigenLayer.
Movement is one of several Web3 developers, including Aptos and Sui, that are building blockchains using Move, a Rust-based programming language. Manche believes that Move has the potential to help developers create safer and higher-throughput smart contracts. He predicts that by the second half of 2025, up to 20% of Web3 developers will be working with Move, compared to the current 7.5%.
In summary, Movement Labs is introducing postconfirmations as a new mechanism for fast transaction settlements on Ethereum’s L2 scaling networks. This innovative solution aims to address the limitations of existing methods and improve throughput while maintaining the security of L2 transactions. Movement’s upcoming L2, M2, will leverage a network of validators secured by the MOVE token, with settlements also taking place on the mainnet Ethereum.