Movement Labs Co-Founder Suspended Amid MOVE Token Controversy

Movement Labs co-founder Rushi Manche has been suspended amidst an investigation into a deal with a market maker that led to the dumping of 66 million MOVE tokens.

We confirm that Rushi Manche has been suspended from Movement Labs. This decision was made in light of ongoing events and as the third-party review is still being conducted by Groom Lake regarding organizational governance and recent incidents involving a market maker.

— Movement (@movementlabsxyz) May 2, 2025

Audit firm Groom Lake is conducting a “third-party review regarding organizational governance,” according to the company’s statement.

According to a CoinDesk investigation, Rentech, which claimed a partnership with Web3Port, received tokens to support liquidity. However, the contract contained a conflict of interest: Rentech acted simultaneously as a representative of Web3Port and an agent for Movement.

Lawyers for the latter described the agreement as “the worst possible.” Nevertheless, Manche approved the deal, CoinDesk reported.

On December 9, a day after MOVE was listed on exchanges, wallets associated with Rentech and Web3Port withdrew $38 million, triggering a 47% price drop.

In March, Binance blocked the market maker’s account for “violations,” and Movement announced a token buyback to stabilize the market.

On May 1, the exchange Coinbase announced it would suspend trading of MOVE, citing a scheduled asset review.

We regularly monitor the assets on our exchange to ensure they meet our listing standards. Based on recent reviews, we will suspend trading for Movement (MOVE) on May 15, 2025, on or around 2 PM ET.

— Coinbase Assets ?️ (@CoinbaseAssets) May 1, 2025

At the time of writing, the project’s coin is trading at $0.19 (-20.7% over the day), according to CoinGecko. Over the month, MOVE’s price has plummeted by 50.3%.

In April, the Movement Network team initiated an investigation into a “market maker anomaly,” and Manche took a “temporary leave.”