Author: Pedro Source: Modular Media Translation: Shan Ouba, Jinse Finance
Movement Labs has just launched their incentivized testnet campaign, inviting participants to help build “Parthenon.” This launch marks a major milestone for the space, not only because Movement is one of the largest communities in the modular space, but also because they will be bringing new technologies to the forefront — most notably MoveVM.
But more on that later. First, let’s take a look at the Parthenon testnet to see how you can participate, climb the leaderboard, and earn future rewards.
Parthenon Testnet
Parthenon made its debut in January of this year when the team first announced their 6-phase roadmap from initial validator onboarding to the current testnet launch.
So how exactly does Parthenon work?
As Movement founder Rushi said, this testnet experience is more like an on-chain empire game.
For those who remember the once popular on-chain game, this reminds me of a more advanced version of Defi Kingdoms.
Admittedly, Parthenon is still an early version of what I expect the final product to be, but we can see the vision for it.
Ultimately, the purpose of this testnet is to complete tasks and challenges in exchange for resources, which may be converted into other forms of rewards in the future.
These quests are organized by guilds, with each guild specializing in a different skill set.
Spartans : For those who like to explore the sports ecosystem and test new dapps
Pathfinder : Answer community questions, curate games, and create educational content
Explorers : Help spread the movement by tweeting, joining community spaces, or helping to build new partners and collaborations
Creators : This is for artists who want to help make graphics and potentially launch NFTs
Scholar : You are here for technology, so talk about technology
Masons : Producing educational content for developers and builders
Each guild has its own set of quests to start and complete, and a set of resources that can be gained by completing those quests. Here is a Spartans quest page, for example:
In addition to the challenges listed on the Missions tab, there are several other dapps that users can interact with to earn future rewards. Simply click on one of the dapps you want to test out and it will take you to Galxe where you can try it out.
So considering you might be interacting with different dapps on Movement, which wallets are compatible?
Razor Wallet
Nightly Wallet
MetaMask (for MEVM dapps)
Now let’s take a quick look at some of the technologies Movement Labs is developing.
Key Components of Movement Labs
As a reminder, Movement Labs is building an ecosystem of Move-based chains and has already launched two chains of its own:
M1 : A permissionless Move-based blockchain running as an Avalanche subnet.
M2 : The first ZK Move-EVM L2 on Ethereum, consisting of the following components:
Execution : MoveVM
Data published by : Celestia
Sort : M1
Settlement : Ethereum
M2 hosts the Parthenon testnet.
Move language, MoveVM and Move-EVM
M2 is built using the Move programming language, which was originally developed for Facebook's Diem project. Move is designed to provide security and flexibility for executing complex transactions. You can learn more about the Move language here.
MoveVM is a virtual machine built specifically for running Move programs, which improves the security and efficiency of smart contract execution. Unlike the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), MoveVM is optimized for parallel execution, which reduces bottlenecks and increases transaction throughput.
Move-EVM is a unique approach that allows for the simultaneous execution of Move and Ethereum smart contracts, providing developers with the best of both worlds. This interoperability is critical as it enables seamless migration of Ethereum-based applications while leveraging Move's advanced features.
Modular Mobility
It is important to distinguish between exercise labs and exercise:
Movement Labs : The team developing M1, M2, and the rest of the Movement ecosystem.
Movement : The entire Movement ecosystem, including M1, M2, and other Move-based chains launched within this ecosystem.
This brings us to modular Move.
Movement Labs is leading the development of the modular Move open framework. This open source initiative aims to standardize and simplify the creation of modular blockchain components, making it easier for developers to build Move-based applications and rollups. The modularity of the framework enables it to integrate seamlessly with a variety of blockchain stacks, enhancing its versatility and usefulness.
Essentially, builders can leverage the Move stack to create their own custom, dedicated Move-based chains. In addition to Movement's core technology (M1 sequencer, MoveVM, etc.), developers can also choose their preferred data availability (DA) solution. While Movement itself uses Celestia for DA, the team plans to integrate other DA solutions into their stack to provide developers with more options.
Why this release is important
This launch comes at a time when the web3 community is preoccupied with enhancing the capabilities of the VM to support more complex and high-volume transactions — which is why you’re seeing the “next generation VM” narrative starting to gain traction now.
The ecosystem is currently exploring alternatives to the EVM to address scalability and security issues. MoveVM, along with other next-generation VM teams such as Fluent and Fuel, represents the next generation of virtual machines that promise to scale Ethereum and attract more developers by providing a more powerful and flexible development environment. Move Labs’ testnet is a groundbreaking step in this direction, demonstrating a real-world application of this cutting-edge technology.
