Movement Labs Dismisses Co-founder Amid MOVE Token Scandal

Movement Labs has announced the dismissal of co-founder Rushi Manche following a scandal involving market makers and price manipulation of the MOVE token.

Movement Labs has terminated Rushi Manche. Movement will continue under different leadership.

Details on leadership changes and a revamped governance structure will be coming soon.

— Movement (@movementlabsxyz) May 7, 2025

The project will continue under new leadership, according to startup representatives.

On the same day, the company announced the creation of Move Industries, a subsidiary with a revised governance system. Torab You and Will Gaines, who previously held junior positions at Movement, have been appointed as leaders.

We are Move Industries. The Movement is now under new leadership. Today, a new era begins!

Who is behind Move Industries?

Early employees from Movement Labs, including the two founding leaders of Move Industries.@torabyou: CEO and Movement ecosystem architect…

— The Movement (@moveindustries) May 7, 2025

“We must start with a clean slate. Back to basics—technology and community,” explained Move Industries regarding the decision.

The company has promised weekly open meetings with investors and audits of key operations.

The scandal erupted after Manche made a deal with a market maker. The latter was granted the right to sell a large package of MOVE, triggering a price collapse and accusations of market manipulation.

Binance blacklisted the market maker, while Coinbase announced the cessation of token trading.

Despite attempts to stabilize the situation, the MOVE price continues to fall. At the time of writing, the token is trading at $0.1578, down 14.6% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.

Back in April, the Movement Network team initiated an investigation into the “market maker anomaly.”