← Opportunities

Move Smart Contract Pallet

Funder
Web3 Foundation · Grants Program
Type / status
rfp · announced
Amount
Deadline
unknown
Ecosystems
polkadotsubstrate
Categories
dev toolinginfra
Tech stack
moverustsubstrate
Apply
https://github.com/w3f/Grants-Program/blob/master/docs/RFPs/move_smart_contract_pallet.md
Source
https://github.com/w3f/Grants-Program/blob/master/docs/RFPs/move_smart_contract_pallet.md
Fit
13% · poor fit · The Venture23 Aleo team works in the Aleo ecosystem with a tech stack of Rust, Leo, and ZK, which is entirely unrelated to Move, Substrate, or Polkadot.
Trust
95% · model self-report 80% · first seen 2026-09-09 · v3
Verified
2026-09-15 · page still up, no closing language

This RFP seeks teams to continue or independently implement a Move virtual machine pallet for Substrate-based chains, building on initial work by Pontem Network. The grant supports development of a smart contract execution environment using the Move language, emphasizing access control and scarcity.

Eligibility: Open to teams interested in implementing or continuing work on a Move virtual machine pallet for Substrate.

Pipeline

Override status:

Trust breakdown (2/2 checkable facts verified)

SignalWeightResultNote
apply link0.075100%link in source
funder0.075100%named in source
source quality0.15100%official page or repo
model confidence0.180%model self-report

Fit breakdown (against the ORG_* profile)

SignalWeightResultNote
model fit0.510%model rated 10%
ecosystem overlap0.250%polkadot, substrate vs aleo
category overlap0.1533%dev_tooling, infra vs zk, privacy, infra, dev_tooling, security, interoperability
tech overlap0.133%move, rust, substrate vs rust, leo, zk

Sources (1)

RoleDocumentFromFetched
primaryMove Smart Contract PalletWeb3 Foundation Grants: RFPs (GitHub)2026-09-09

History (3)

vChangedFields
32026-09-09title, summary
22026-09-09title, summary
12026-09-09created

Extracted text

# Move Smart Contract Pallet

:::caution
This Request for Proposals is currently considered **under development**, meaning one or more grants have been signed to address the topic. We might be interested in additional implementations, but it’s better to double check this with the grants team.
:::

* **Status:** [Under Development](https://github.com/w3f/Grants-Program/blob/master/applications/Substrate_Move_System_Pallet_1.md)
* **Proposer:** [David Hawig](https://github.com/Noc2)

## Project Description :page_facing_up:  

The Move Virtual Machine (MoveVM) was initially developed by Facebook and is now maintained by the Aptos Foundation.  Move is a smart contract programming language that emphasises access control and scarcity.

[Pontem Network](https://pontem.network/) initially developed the [Move virtual machine pallet](https://github.com/pontem-network/pontem/tree/master/pallets/sp-mvm) to execute Move smart-contracts on Substrate-based chains. However, they stopped working on this pallet to focus on other initiatives. 

The purpose of this RFP is to find other teams that are willing to pick up this initial work and continue with it or work on their own implementation of the Move virtual machine in Substrate. 

**Useful resources:**
- [Move: A Language With Programmable Resources](https://developers.diem.com/papers/diem-move-a-language-with-programmable-resources/2020-05-26.pdf)
- [Move virtual machine pallet](https://github.com/pontem-network/pontem/tree/master/pallets/sp-mvm)
- [Move on Aptos](https://aptos.dev/guides/move-guides/move-on-aptos)

## Deliverables

The structure of the grant and the milestones depends highly on the project itself. It’s therefore up to the applying team to come up with a milestone and delivery structure.