Market maker co-founder of Movement Labs faces suspension amid scandal, following 20% plunge of MOVE token due to Coinbase delisting.
In a casual, laid-back tone, here's a fresh take on the Situation Unfolding at Movement Labs:
Movement Labs' co-founder, Rushi Manche, has found himself in hot water due to an ongoing scandal involving one of the platform's previous market makers. The drama unfolded when Manche was hit with a suspension, with Groom Lake leading the investigation.
The whole thing went down just days after Coinbase announced they'd be suspending all Movement trading pairs, effective May 15. They cited failure to meet their listing standards without explicitly pointing fingers at manipulation. Interestingly, MOVE had already been moved to limit-only trading ahead of the decision.
The chaos started back in December when a market maker, allegedly associated with Web3Port, dumped a whopping 66 million MOVE tokens for approximately 38 million Tether. Binance caught wind of the issue, froze the funds, and alerted both the Movement Foundation and Movement Labs. However, it appears Rentech—the firm behind the dump—wasn't truly associated with Web3Port but rather an independent shell entity with little to no digital footprint.
Leaked contracts suggest Rentech controlled over 5% of MOVE's total supply and had terms encouraging price inflation before a planned sell-off aimed at a whopping $5 billion valuation. To minimize the damage, the Movement Foundation ended its partnership with the market maker and promised a $38 million USDT buyback through a new reserve fund. The results from the independent investigation will reveal whether Movement executives were involved in the scheme or were misled.
Currently trading at $0.19, MOVE has taken a 20% dive in the past 24 hours. Given the downtrend that began in late March, the token is showing signs of further risks should the $0.18 support fail to hold. The MOVE/USDC chart clearly shows this instability, with the price still below all major moving averages and the relative strength index around 32—still bearing the weight of the bearish momentum. The volume spike, a reaction to the recent news, adds a dash of volatility to the unpredictable chart.
Meanwhile, World Liberty Financial's USD1 has been selected as the official stablecoin for MGX's Binance investment. Whether the investigation's findings and MOVE's recovery efforts will help the project regain its credibility remains to be seen.
Timeline of Events:
- March 28, 2025: Draft market-making agreement granting Rentech control over 66 million MOVE tokens (approximately 5% of the supply) is sent to the Movement Foundation via Telegram.
- Token Dumping Incident: A market maker linked to Web3Port sells the 66 million tokens, causing a price crash and triggering investigations.
- April–Early May 2025: Binance and Coinbase suspend MOVE trading due to concerns about manipulation and compliance risks.
- May 2, 2025: Movement Labs confirms Rushi Manche's suspension and announces an independent third-party audit by Groom Lake to focus on governance irregularities. Internal scrutiny expands to include advisors like Sam Thapaliya, a Zebec founder linked to Rentech's Galen Law-Kun.
Developments and findings:
- Rentech’s role: Rentech, founded by Galen Law-Kun (Thapaliya’s business partner), acted as an intermediary in the agreement. Movement Labs' co-founder Cooper Scanlon labeled the project a "victim" in Slack communications.
- Contradictory Statements: Thapaliya denied holding shares, tokens, or decision-making power in Movement Labs. Legal teams involved in the case, such as Autonomy and GS Legal, have shifted blame, exposing gaps in governance.
- Regulatory Fallout: Coinbase and Binance delisted MOVE, citing compliance concerns. External auditors are reviewing organizational governance and token allocation practices.
- Amid a storm of allegations, Movement Labs' co-founder, Rushi Manche, stands suspended, with the investigation by Groom Lake still ongoing.
- In the wake of the suspension, Coinbase opened the doors for all trading pairs related to Movement to halt, effective May 15, without explicitly accusing the platform of manipulation.
- The round of turbulent events first kicked off back in December, as a market maker, associatively linked with Web3Port, offloaded a massive 66 million MOVE tokens, worth approximately 38 million Tether.
- Binance thwarted the suspicious movement of funds and authenticated both the Movement Foundation and Movement Labs of the issue. However, it was later discovered that Rentech, the firm behind the dump, was an independent shell entity with minimal online presence, contrary to initial assumptions.
- Binance Coin (BNB), Tron (TRX), Ripple (XRP), and various cryptocurrencies such as Chainlink (LINK), Cardano (ADA), Polkadot (DOT), and Binance USD (BUSD) can now be traded on Decentralized Exchanges (DEX), provided through the Web3Port Finance platform.
- Following the allegations of price manipulation and the ensuing chaos, the MOVE token's value currently hovers around $0.19, revealing a 20% plunge in the past 24 hours.
- Amidst the tumultuous ventures of MOVE, World Liberty Financial's USD1 has been selected as the official stablecoin for MGX's Binance investment. Whether MOVE will manage to regain its credibility is still an open question.
