• The Rise of Move: Rebuilding Blockchain Logic
• What is Move and Why It Matters?
• Sui - Object-Centric Design for Real-Time Apps
• IOTA - MoveVM Built Directly Into Layer-1 Execution
• Aptos - Developer-Centric Performance
• Supra - Integrated Infrastructure and Extreme Throughput
• Movement Labs (M1) - Bringing Move to Ethereum L2
• Starcoin - Historical Importance, Evolving Relevance
• What 2026 Means for Move-Based Blockchains?
• Conclusion
• More Blog Posts
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The Rise of Move: Rebuilding Blockchain Logic

Blockchain technology continues to evolve, and by 2026 one of the most compelling developments in the space is the rise of Move-based blockchains. These are networks built around the Move programming language - a language originally designed for Meta’s Diem project - that now power a range of ecosystems optimized for speed, safety, and modern smart contracts. In this post, we break down what makes Move unique, explore five of the most noteworthy Move chains (Sui, Iota, Aptos, Supra, Movement Labs/M1, and Starcoin), and explain why Move is increasingly relevant for Web3 in 2026.

What is Move and Why It Matters?

At a fundamental level, Move is a smart contract language built with resource-oriented programming and formal verification as core principles. Unlike languages such as Solidity, which evolved from the early Ethereum design, Move treats digital assets as first-class resources. Those resources can’t be duplicated or accidentally destroyed, reducing the class of bugs that have historically plagued smart contracts.

This doesn’t just make Move safer - it enables smart contracts to have clearer semantics and higher confidence in correctness. It also opens a new design space for blockchain execution models that emphasize parallelism and object-level state rather than the traditional, sequential account-based models that many chains still rely on.

By 2026, this design philosophy is not just academic - it’s translating to real networks with real users, ecosystems, and significant throughput capabilities.

Sui - Object-Centric Design for Real-Time Apps

Sui is one of the most advanced examples of a Move-based chain. What sets Sui apart is its object-centric model, which treats every piece of on-chain state as an object that can be independently processed. This enables true parallel transaction execution, meaning many independent transactions can be finalized simultaneously without waiting on global ordering.

This architectural choice has significant implications:

• High performance: Sui has demonstrated throughput of over 290,000 transactions per second in test environments, a figure that puts it in the same league as some of the fastest chains in crypto.
• Fast finality: By decoupling consensus from execution, Sui can confirm transactions rapidly, which is particularly useful for applications like gaming and dynamic NFTs where responsiveness matters.
• Developer experience: Its tooling and Move integration make it a popular choice for builders in sectors that require real-time interaction and low latency.

In short, Sui exemplifies what a high-performance, Move-native blockchain can look like - especially for interactive, parallel workloads.

IOTA - MoveVM Built Directly Into Layer-1 Execution

IOTA is one of the newest and most interesting implementations of the Move programming model. What makes IOTA stand out is its native MoveVM integration at the protocol layer, allowing smart contracts to execute directly on the network without relying on secondary execution frameworks. This gives developers the ability to write resource-safe logic in Move while tapping into a parallel execution pipeline designed for high-performance computation across diverse use cases.

This approach has clear advantages:

• Programmable L1 with Move: Move is not “added on top,” but embedded directly into IOTA’s execution environment, making it a first-class part of the network’s design.
• Parallel smart contract execution: Independent transactions can be processed concurrently, enabling responsive applications and avoiding typical bottlenecks seen in sequential execution models.
• Low-friction development: With support for the IOTA CLI, Move package tooling, and testnet deployment flows, developers can go from building to shipping smart contracts with minimal friction.
• Cost efficiency for builders: MoveVM benefits from IOTA’s fee-efficient architecture, enabling use cases such as micro transactions, tokenization, and rapid on-chain updates without the burden of high gas fees.

In short, IOTA demonstrates how Move can power a modern programmable layer-1, delivering scalable execution, streamlined development, and asset safety for builders creating the next wave of on-chain applications.

Aptos - Developer-Centric Performance

While Sui shines on performance, Aptos takes a slightly different path by focusing on developer experience, modular architecture, and stable execution models. Built by a team of engineers with roots in Meta, Aptos combines Move with a carefully engineered parallel execution engine called BlockSTM.

BlockSTM allows Aptos to attempt optimistic parallel execution - transactions are processed in parallel when possible, rolling back only if there’s contention. The result is meaningful performance with strong consistency guarantees:

• 160,000+ transactions per second in testing - a figure that’s competitive with other high-performance chains.
• Strong ecosystem tooling: From CLI integrations to native formal verification support, Aptos emphasizes an environment where developers can move quickly without compromising safety.

Aptos is particularly appealing for builders focused on DeFi, financial infrastructure, and composable smart contracts — use cases where both safety and performance are critical.

Supra - Integrated Infrastructure and Extreme Throughput

If Sui and Aptos are optimized for user-facing apps and developer ergonomics, Supra is optimized for broad, high-performance infrastructure. Supra’s design combines a high-throughput consensus protocol with built-in services like oracles, randomness (VRF), and native automation.

What makes Supra noteworthy:

• 500,000+ transactions per second demonstrated in testing, making it one of the fastest Move-based networks in existence.
• Vertical integration: Instead of requiring external middleware for core functions like oracle data or automation triggers, Supra delivers these as native features — reducing latency and simplifying integration.
• Interoperability roadmap: Support for multiple virtual machine formats (including EVM, SolanaVM, and CosmWasm) is planned, extending Supra’s utility beyond the Move ecosystem itself.

This makes Supra a compelling choice for DeFi, cross-chain systems, and complex automated protocols where every millisecond counts and reducing external dependencies leads to better performance.

Movement Labs (M1) - Bringing Move to Ethereum L2

While Sui, Aptos, and Supra are layer-1 blockchains, Movement Labs (also known as M1, now rebranded as Move Industries) represents a different strategy: bringing Move into the Ethereum ecosystem. Instead of launching its own chain, Movement built a Move-enabled Layer-2 on Ethereum using optimistic rollup techniques.

The goal here is ambitious:

• Enable developers to write Move smart contracts that run alongside (or interoperably with) Solidity and EVM systems.
• Benefit from Ethereum’s massive liquidity and user base while retaining some of Move’s safety and modular benefits.

Early performance and design were promising, but the project also faced real challenges, including leadership changes and a volatile token market in 2025. Nevertheless, Movement Labs remains one of the first serious attempts to merge Move logic with Ethereum’s ecosystem, and its long-term success will depend on execution and adoption.

Starcoin - Historical Importance, Evolving Relevance

Finally, Starcoin represents an important early chapter in the history of Move adoption. As one of the first blockchains to implement Move outside of Meta’s internal experiments, Starcoin focused on governance and formal verification, even exploring hybrid consensus models.

By 2025 and into 2026, Starcoin’s development activity had slowed considerably, and it is often considered dormant compared to the other active Move chains. However, its early experimentation helped demonstrate the viability of Move beyond its original context, and its influence persists in technical discussions around governance, contract safety, and distributed state.

What 2026 Means for Move-Based Blockchains?

By 2026, Move-powered networks are no longer fringe experiments - they have matured into real ecosystems with specific design priorities:

• Parallel execution and object-centric models (Sui)
• Developer-friendly tooling and modular upgrades (Aptos)
• Infrastructure-level integration and throughput (Supra)
• Cross-ecosystem reach (Move Industries)

Each of these networks is built differently, yet all share a common lineage in Move, and all point to a broader trend: blockchain platforms are diversifying beyond traditional VM models. Move offers a fresh trade-off in safety, performance, and expressiveness - and by 2026, that trade-off is proving valuable in contexts as diverse as DeFi, gaming, automation, and cross-chain interoperability.

Conclusion

Move is more than a programming language - it’s a foundation for execution innovation. In 2026, Move-based blockchains stand out not because they mimic older models, but because they rethink how blockchains execute transactions, represent assets, and serve developers.

For builders and users alike, this shift matters. Whether you care about throughput, safety, modularity, or real-time performance, there’s a Move chain tailored to that need - and that diversity is why Move is not just relevant, but central to the next phase of blockchain evolution.

As the infrastructure layer evolves, Encapsulate is supporting networks that redefine execution and unlock the next wave of builders.

That’s why we run validators and contribute to the growth of Move-powered ecosystems, including Sui Network, Iota, Supra. We’re excited for what comes next - and we’re here to help Move builders go farther, faster.

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