Movement Labs Co-Founder Rushi Manche Suspended Amid Market Manipulation Case
The storm has hit Movement Labs. This morning, the crypto project announced the suspension of its co-founder Rushi Manche, as pressure mounts over an explosive internal governance, delisting, and market manipulation case. The MOVE token is plummeting.
This scandal comes as Movement Labs had just raised $38 million. Officially backed by renowned investors and even described as having ties to Trump by some commentators, the project seemed destined for rapid success. Instead, the MOVE token collapsed before it could even properly begin its journey in the markets.
Coinbase Exits, Binance Had Already Struck
Everything changed after the revelation of a massive token dumping operation involving a market maker allegedly linked to Web3Port. More than 5% of the MOVE supply is said to have been sold on the market, causing a sharp drop in price.
This chaos was triggered by a massive sell-off of 66 million tokens just one day after its launch. Binance quickly identified and banned the account responsible for this liquidation, and Coinbase eventually suspended MOVE token trading. The explosive question that remains is how this account managed to obtain so many tokens so early on.
MOVE Loses 20% and Movement’s Reputation Lies in Ruins
Events suggest an opaque agreement signed between Movement Labs and a group named Rentech. According to documents circulating online, nearly half of the total MOVE supply was allocated to them, under a contract stating that if the token’s market cap reached $5 billion, they could sell everything and share the profits.
A deal resembling a time bomb. Movement now claims to have been deceived, but the contracts appear genuine, the tokens were indeed dumped, and individual investors suffered as a result.
In just one day, the MOVE token lost over 20% of its value. A harsh punishment from the markets and a clear warning to all web3 projects: backstage operations no longer go unnoticed.
Movement Labs has not provided more details, other than stating that Manche’s suspension is linked to “ongoing events” and an investigation into the project’s governance. The message published on X remains vague, but the timing leaves little room for doubt.
Another Scandal for DeFi?
This case once again highlights the vulnerabilities of governance in the crypto ecosystem. Between conflicts of interest, lack of transparency, and excessive power of market makers, the credibility of projects as a whole is at stake.
