Movement Labs’ mission statement, per its site, is to “democratize and decentralize the growth of Move,” a programming language that can be used in web3 spaces. To this end, they are “building open-source tooling, frameworks, and protocols” to expand Move’s use and accessibility by creating “seamless standardization across infrastructure.” In essence, Movement Labs is helping to create and spread a single shared language used across crypto platforms and blockchains. Co-founder Rushi Manche joined Trading 360 to discuss his company and what’s next for crypto.

The Move programming language is an open-source language that allows users to write smart contracts and other blockchain applications. According to Sam Blackshear, its creator, Move’s focus is on security, flexibility, and ease of use. It was first developed as part of Meta’s Libra project and can be used on multiple chains rather than being specific to one.

A smart contract, according to IBM, is a “digital contract stored on the blockchain” that is “automatically executed when predetermined terms and conditions are met.” A foundation of web3, they can be used to automate workflow or execute an agreement without an intermediary. IBM’s examples include issuing a ticket, sending notifications, or releasing funds. They’re built on If/When…Then statements, meaning that they can be both simple and extremely complex (I think of the difficulty in using a genie’s wish without overlooking loopholes).

The argument for smart contracts is that they cut out any middleman because they are self-executing when the preconditions are met, the records of the transactions are stored on the blockchain without being tampered with, and they are encrypted for security and privacy. It’s even more difficult to tamper with the record after the fact, because the “block” of the record is connected to whatever came before and came after it on the “chain” – meaning that someone would have to mess with the entire chain to alter a single record.

The argument for a shared language, then, would be to democratize building these contracts so that no middlemen could arise, or one party couldn’t be taken advantage of by another, more tech-savvy one. And while Movement Labs doesn’t trade on the stock market, it does, of course, have its own crypto token, MOVE.

Movement, therefore, benefits not only from wider crypto adoption, like if the U.S. began holding bitcoin, but adoption and comfort with smaller, lesser-known tokens (unfortunately, that Wild West market is broadly dominated by news of rug pulls and other scams – Rushi Manche says $4B a year is lost in scams or hacks). Manche seems confident in the sector’s path forward under the Trump administration. He says that the “United States wasn’t a home for crypto” before this, with many founders worried about legal issues in launching tokens or products. He highlights that Trump’s ‘World Liberty Financial’ holds MOVE.

“If you’re trying to get into crypto,” he recommends starting with the bigger, well-known products, like Bitcoin or Ethereum, which have seen some institutional adoption. Then, he thinks smaller assets like MOVE and Ripple will lead “the next 5 years” of the industry. He tells the story of how he and his co-founder started Movement Labs from almost nothing, calling crypto the real “American Dream.” He also discusses his position as an advisor to several governments, including Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

Crypto is seeing a surge in acceptance this year. While the expectation of American deregulation and crypto-friendliness is spurring a rush (/BTC up over 80% since last year), crypto still has a murky reputation to overcome and an identity to find. Investors should also consider the great power and water demands of crypto as A.I. and other factors compete for the grid. Still, it looks like an interesting future ahead.

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