Co-founder of Movement Labs Suspended Amid MOVE Token Scandal

Co-founder of Movement Labs, Rushi Manche, has been suspended amid an investigation into a deal with a market maker that resulted in a dump of 66 million MOVE tokens.

The auditing firm Groom Lake is «conducting a third-party review concerning organizational governance,» according to the company’s statement.

As reported by CoinDesk, the firm Rentech, which claimed a partnership with Web3Port, received tokens to provide liquidity support. However, the contract revealed a conflict of interest, as Rentech acted both as an agent for Web3Port and as a representative for Movement.

Attorneys for Movement described the agreement as «the worst-case scenario.» Nonetheless, Manche approved the deal, as noted by CoinDesk.

On December 9, a day following the listing of MOVE on exchanges, wallets linked to Rentech and Web3Port withdrew $38 million, triggering a 47% drop in price.

In March, Binance **blocked** the market maker’s account due to «violations,» while Movement announced its intention to buy back tokens to stabilize the market.

On May 1, Coinbase announced it would halt trading of MOVE, citing a scheduled review of the assets.

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

In April, the Movement Network team **launched** an investigation into «market maker anomalies,» and Manche took a «temporary leave of absence.»