Move-Based Chains like Sui, Aptos, and Supra, are Gaining Massive Traction
A new wave of blockchains is challenging the status quo in 2025 — and many of them have one thing in common: they’re built on Move.
Originally developed by Meta for its now-defunct Diem project, Move is a programming language designed to make smart contracts faster, safer, and easier to work with. Unlike older platforms like Ethereum, which rely on Solidity, Move was built from the ground up to prevent common bugs and security flaws that have caused billions in losses across the crypto space. It uses a strict, modular design that gives developers more control over how digital assets are created, transferred, and protected.
As a result, the Move programming language has quickly become the foundation for some of the most promising new blockchain projects. Sui is leading the charge in gaming and NFTs with its parallel transaction system and unique object model. Aptos is carving out a niche in DeFi and financial applications, backed by a developer-friendly approach and a rapidly growing ecosystem. Then there’s Supra, a high-speed Layer-1 combining Move’s safety with deep vertical integration — including built-in oracles, zero-delay automation, and lightning-fast speeds, having reached a theoretical TPS of more than 500,000.
In this article, we’ll break down the top five Move-based blockchains of 2025, explore what makes each one different, and explain why Move is becoming one of the most important technologies in Web3 today.
Developer: Mysten Labs
Summary: Sui distinguishes itself within the Move ecosystem through its object-centric model enabling parallel transaction processing and high performance for applications like gaming and dynamic NFTs
Key Features:
- Object-based programming model with native support for asset ownership and mutability.
- Near-instant finality via the Narwhal (mempool) and Bullshark (consensus) architecture.
- Horizontal scalability and parallel execution of independent transactions.
- Over 290,000 TPS in testing; low-latency execution for real-time apps.
- Backed by a16z, Binance Labs, Coinbase Ventures, and other major firms.
Notable Use Cases:
On-chain gaming and NFTs (e.g. SuiFrens), DeFi platforms, NFT marketplaces, and social apps.
Why It Stands Out:
Sui introduces a unique execution paradigm by treating on-chain assets as programmable, composable objects rather than entries in an account-based model. This design enables highly efficient parallel execution, especially for use cases like games and dynamic NFT interactions where state changes are isolated. Developers can assign ownership, transferability, and logic to each object — enabling more complex interactions while preserving clarity and safety.
Additionally, Sui’s consensus layer allows execution and consensus to scale independently, helping prevent bottlenecks as the ecosystem grows. The network also uses Move Prover, a formal verification tool that helps ensure the correctness of smart contracts — a major draw for DeFi and enterprise developers.
With robust tooling, fast finality, and a thriving developer community, Sui continues to be one of the more performance-optimized and production-ready Move-based blockchains in 2025.
Developer: Aptos Labs (founded by ex-Meta engineers)
Summary: Aptos is a developer-focused Move blockchain prioritizing safety and upgradeability, leveraging parallel execution for high-throughput DeFi and financial applications
Key Features:
- Modular, upgradable architecture designed for long-term ecosystem evolution.
- High throughput via BlockSTM, a parallel execution engine using Software Transactional Memory (STM).
- 160,000+ TPS in test environments; sub-second time to finality.
- Move-native development toolkit with built-in testing, debugging, and package management.
- Funded by a16z, Jump Crypto, Binance Labs, and others.
Notable Use Cases:
Permissionless DeFi (Aries Markets, Econia), wallets (Pontem), and NFT tools.
Why It Stands Out:
Aptos is arguably one of the more developer-centric Move blockchains, focusing on flexibility, safety, and composability at the protocol level.
Its BlockSTM engine introduces optimistic parallel execution, meaning transactions are run in parallel and only rolled back if conflicts are detected. This model maintains consistency while drastically improving performance — making Aptos well-suited for DeFi and financial applications with high transactional volume.
Aptos has continued to emphasize developer experience with its integration Move CLI, native support for formal verification, and a modular design that supports hot upgrades — making it easier to adapt to new requirements without hard forks. Combined with a dedicated effort to expand Move education and documentation, Aptos is helping to shape what professional-grade smart contract development looks like in a post-Solidity world.
Despite early criticisms of centralization and fierce competition from Sui, which is significantly more popular, Aptos has attracted a growing list of ecosystem partners and continues to iterate rapidly.
Developer: Supra Labs
Summary: Supra offers a unique, high-performance Move-based architecture with vertically integrated oracle services, automation, and broad interoperability plans for a comprehensive, MultiVM Web3 infrastructure.
Key Features:
- 500,000+ TPS in testing, powered by the proprietary Moonshot consensus.
- Vertical integration of oracle services, VRF, automation, and execution.
- Ranked as the #8 oracle provider globally by total value secured, with $891M+ in TVS as of May 2025, per DeFiLlama.
- Containers: Isolated execution environments (similar to appchains) for enhanced scalability and modular deployment.
- Zero-block delay automation — enabling high-speed “if-this-then-that” logic for CDP liquidations, trading bots, and real-time DeFi operations.
- Built-in interoperability roadmap: support for EVM, SolanaVM (Rust), and CosmWasm coming in 2025.
Notable Use Cases:
DeFi risk management, automated trading systems, cross-VM infrastructure apps, and decentralized oracle integration.
Why It Stands Out:
Supra is arguably the most comprehensive Move-based blockchain architecture in development today, combining ultra-high-performance consensus with a vertically integrated Web3 infrastructure stack. Unlike most blockchains that depend on external middleware for services like oracles, randomness, or task scheduling, Supra delivers these natively — giving developers faster access to critical components, better composability, and reduced latency across the stack.
Its Moonshot consensus protocol achieves lightning-fast finality while preserving Byzantine fault tolerance and global validator coordination. With over 500,000 TPS recorded in testnet, Supra is pushing the boundaries of throughput scalability for smart contract platforms.
The introduction of Containers allows developers to spin up isolated blockspace environments — ideal for DeFi dApps, appchains, and enterprise tools that need guaranteed execution without interference from other contracts. Paired with zero-block-delay automation, Supra enables next-gen protocols to execute complex workflows like collateral liquidations, portfolio rebalancing, or arbitrage — without relying on third-party automation networks like Gelato or Chainlink Functions.
In an ecosystem where gas fees and trading costs continue to fall, Supra’s team believes the future financial health of L1s and L2s will depend less on blockspace demand and more on new service-based revenue models. Supra’s native automation infrastructure may become a key monetization layer — giving the network long-term sustainability as developers shift toward lower-cost execution environments.
To further support adoption, Supra has also committed $100 million to an ecosystem fund aimed at helping developers build core infrastructure, novel DeFi protocols, and interoperable apps across multiple VM environments.
Rooted in Move but built for broader interoperability, Supra positions itself as a horizontally scalable, developer-first execution layer in a multi-chain Web3 world — where performance, automation, and modularity are essential.
Developer: Movement Labs (now rebranded as Move Industries)
Summary: Movement Labs (now Move Industries) aims to bring the security and composability of the Move programming language to the Ethereum Layer-2 ecosystem through its optimistic rollup M1
Key Features:
A Move-based Layer-2 protocol built on Ethereum, using Celestia for data availability.
Implements a parallelized Move Virtual Machine inside an optimistic rollup framework.
Designed for EVM compatibility, bridging the Solidity and Move ecosystems.
Early ecosystem focus: DeFi, high-frequency trading, and cross-chain interoperability.
Notable Use Cases:
Move-enabled apps on Ethereum, risk-optimized DeFi deployments, Move-EVM cross-compilation toolkits.
Why It Stands Out:
Movement Labs (now Move Industries) is one of the first serious efforts to bring Move’s security and composability to the Ethereum L2 space. Its flagship chain, M1, aims to offer developers the ability to deploy Move smart contracts within an optimistic rollup — giving them access to Ethereum’s liquidity and user base while benefiting from Move’s static typing, safety guarantees, and modularity.
What makes Movement’s approach unique is its explicit dual-VM focus: the team is building toward seamless integration between Move-based logic and existing EVM infrastructure, unlocking a broader design space for developers building modular or multichain dApps. M1 also prioritizes composability, allowing developers to run Move contracts alongside Solidity-based logic in a single environment — a rare feature in the current L2 landscape.
However, the project faced a major setback in early 2025. After a sharp decline in its token price — losing over $2 billion in market cap — Movement Labs abruptly terminated CEO and co-founder Rushi Manche following allegations of market manipulation. The scandal shook investor confidence and prompted the team to rebrand as Move Industries, distancing the protocol from its previous leadership and signaling a renewed focus on transparency and technical execution.
Despite the controversy, M1 remains a significant experiment in bringing Move to Ethereum, and its long-term success may hinge on its ability to deliver secure, performant Move tooling in the highly competitive L2 arena.
Developer: Open-source contributors (originally supported by a Chinese developer community)
Summary: Starcoin was an early Move-based Layer-1 blockchain focused on formal verification and on-chain governance, historically exploring secure digital asset issuance within the Move landscape
Key Features:
- Native Move-based Layer-1 blockchain.
- Implements a hybrid PoW/PoS consensus mechanism.
- Emphasizes formal verification, on-chain governance, and modular smart contract development.
- Historically focused on financial applications and secure digital asset issuance.
Notable Use Cases:
Was once used for tokenized financial assets, community governance experiments, and Move contract testing environments.
Why It (Briefly) Stood Out:
Starcoin was one of the earliest adopters of the Move programming language outside of Meta’s Diem ecosystem. Its emphasis on on-chain governance, formal verification, and a hybrid consensus model made it a technically interesting project at a time when most Layer-1s were still Solidity-centric.
The project sought to create a developer-friendly environment for building secure, resource-oriented smart contracts with Move — positioning itself as a more decentralized, community-driven alternative to VC-backed chains like Aptos and Sui.
However, by mid-2024, development activity on Starcoin had slowed dramatically, and by 2025 the project was considered effectively dormant. Community participation declined, core contributors moved on, and the ecosystem failed to attract sustained DeFi or NFT activity. While the blockchain remains live, its lack of updates and developer traction has pushed it to the margins of the Move ecosystem.
Still, Starcoin played a minor historical role in demonstrating Move’s capabilities early on, and some of its experimentation with consensus and on-chain governance influenced newer implementations.
Final Thoughts on Move-Based Blockchains in 2025
Move is quickly becoming one of the most important technologies in Web3, offering developers a smarter, safer way to build scalable blockchain applications. As the ecosystem evolves, the chains adopting Move — from high-performance leaders like Sui and Aptos to fast-rising challengers like Supra — are setting a new standard for speed, security, and developer control. Whether you’re building the next DeFi protocol or a high-speed gaming app, the Move ecosystem in 2025 is one worth watching.
FAQs:
What is a Move-based blockchain?
A Move-based blockchain uses the Move programming language — originally developed for Meta’s Diem project — to enable secure, resource-oriented smart contracts. Move treats digital assets as unique objects that can’t be duplicated or accidentally deleted, improving safety and simplifying parallel execution. Notable Move-based chains include Sui, Aptos, Supra, and Movement Labs (M1).
How is Move different from Solidity?
Move was designed from the ground up for formal verification and asset safety, while Solidity evolved for general-purpose smart contracts on Ethereum. Move supports static typing, transaction scripts, and module-based logic, and it natively prevents common vulnerabilities like reentrancy attacks. These features make it ideal for high-value DeFi and financial applications.
Which Move-based blockchain is the fastest in 2025?
Supra currently leads in performance, with over 500,000 TPS in testing using its Moonshot consensus protocol. Sui and Aptos also support high throughput (200,000+ TPS and 160,000+ TPS respectively), but Supra combines speed with built-in oracles, zero-block automation, and isolated Containers for app-specific scaling.
Is Move better for DeFi than EVM-based chains?
Move’s safety features and parallel execution make it a strong fit for DeFi, especially in use cases that involve automated liquidations, CDPs, or asset vaults. Supra and Aptos, in particular, are building DeFi-native infrastructure, while Sui is leaning into gaming and NFTs.
Why was Movement Labs rebranded in 2025?
In early 2025, Movement Labs faced a major scandal after its MOVE token lost over $2 billion in market cap. Co-founder and CEO Rushi Manche was fired following allegations of market manipulation, and the team rebranded as Move Industries to reset its public image and reaffirm a focus on technical development.
Which Move blockchains support EVM compatibility?
Supra is building support for EVM, SolanaVM (Rust), and CosmWasm, aiming for a fully interoperable developer environment. Movement Labs also supports EVM via its Ethereum-based optimistic rollup, making it easy for Solidity developers to adopt Move.
