Movement Relaunches as Stablecoin-Focused Layer 1 After Scandal

Movement, the blockchain project embroiled in a token-dumping scandal that ousted co-founder Rushi Manche, has rebranded as a standalone Layer 1 network. CEO Torab Torabi unveiled the pivot toward stablecoin settlements and remittances for emerging markets, citing partnerships with Circle and licensed payment infrastructure across the US, Canada, and EU.

The project abandoned its Ethereum Layer 2 roots—originally built on Meta's Move programming language—after Torabi criticized its "Frankenstein" architecture. The prior iteration relied on Celestia for data availability, suffering seven-second transaction latencies. "If you’re seven seconds in L2, what’s the point?" Torabi remarked. The new Layer 1 chain targets sub-500-millisecond settlement speeds, a fourteenfold improvement.

The shift reflects a broader trend: Ethereum scaling projects like Polygon are moving away from general-purpose rollups toward specialized applications as competition intensifies among dozens of L2s.