Movement Labs has suspended co-founder Rushi Manche following revelations of a dubious market-making deal that led to a $38 million token dump, a Binance and Coinbase trading ban, and widespread investor backlash.

What was at first presented as a standard liquidity agreement has unraveled into a tale of alleged deception, opaque middlemen, and internal breakdowns that now threaten the credibility of Movement’s native MOVE token.

The Deal That Went Wrong

The trouble stems from a deal between Movement Foundation and a third-party entity named Rentech, reportedly fronted by Singapore-based financier Galen Law-Kun. According to leaked contracts and internal messages obtained by CoinDesk, Rentech was supposed to facilitate liquidity provisioning for MOVE through Chinese market maker Web3Port.

It led to a decision to transfer 66 million MOVE tokens to the little-known firm, amounting to about 5% of the circulating supply. This was done under terms legal experts have since called “unusual” and “reckless.”

For instance, one of the provisions allegedly allowed Web3Port to liquidate tokens if MOVE’s valuation hit $5 billion, splitting profits 50/50 with the Movement Foundation. According to analysts, this created a pervasive incentive to pump and dump.

Predictably, on MOVE’s launch on Binance on December 9, 2024, wallets linked to Web3Port reportedly began unloading their holdings, triggering a $38 million sell-off. Consequently, the token’s price plummeted, causing Binance to ban the implicated market maker for alleged breach of contract.

The exchange also informed the Movement team of the situation, with the foundation claiming it had been unaware of Web3Port’s activities and immediately cutting ties with the firm.

Following the CoinDesk scoop, Coinbase announced it would suspend MOVE trading on May 15, claiming the token had failed to meet its listing standards. The exchange has moved order books to limit-only mode, further tightening the noose on what has become a reputational disaster for all parties involved.

Manche Under Investigation

YK Pek, the foundation’s general counsel, had initially slammed the proposal between Movement and Rentech, calling it the worst deal I have ever seen.” Still, a revised version was signed, raising questions about who pushed it through.

Co-founder Manche is said to have circulated the Rentech deal internally and has since been placed on administrative leave pending a third-party investigation led by Groom Lake. Movement Labs confirmed his suspension in a brief statement on X:

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, read the post.

However, the 22-year-old claims he was duped by someone within the foundation, with insiders reportedly pointing to unofficial advisor Sam Thapaliya as a major influence behind the scenes.

The Zebec founder, who denies having any formal involvement in the deal, was not only copied on important emails but was also allegedly present at Movement’s San Francisco office during the chaotic token launch.

Following Manche’s suspension, MOVE’s price dropped by more than 27%, going from an intraday high of $0.2543 to a new all-time low of $0.1848.