A Market Maker Manipulated the Launch of MOVE Token, Generating $38 Million in Profit
The cryptocurrency giant Binance has identified a key actor in the market manipulation of the MOVE token, revealing that a market maker sold 66 million tokens the day after the project’s launch. This resulted in a net profit of $38 million in USDT before the platform froze the funds and expelled the responsible entity.
Behaviors Totally Against Binance’s Rules
According to Binance, the involved market maker had already been banned on March 9th due to similar conducts in other projects, GPS and SHELL. However, despite the ban, a related entity managed to massively sell MOVE tokens on December 11th, with a clear imbalance between sell and buy orders. This operation generated a substantial profit without adhering to the obligations imposed on official market makers by the platform, such as providing bilateral liquidity, maintaining a reasonable spread, and stabilizing the order book.
Binance claims to have immediately informed the Movement Labs and Movement Network Foundation teams, frozen the generated funds, and initiated a process to compensate affected users.
Movement Foundation Cuts Ties with the Market Maker
In a separate statement, the Movement Network Foundation stated that they were not aware of these actions. They clarified that they had collaborated with this market maker in good faith, as the actor had already operated within the Movement ecosystem.
The organization affirmed that they severed all ties with the responsible entity as soon as Binance alerted them. They also contacted other platforms to inform them of the ongoing investigation. This quick transparency allowed for the recovery of the $38 million obtained through the fraudulent sale.
A Massive Buyback Program to Restore Trust
To mitigate the impact on the project and reassure its community, the Movement Network Foundation announced a buyback plan. The recovered $38 million will be entirely allocated to purchasing MOVE tokens on the market over a three-month period. The acquired tokens will then be transferred to the “Movement Strategic Reserve,” an on-chain wallet designed to support the ecosystem in the long term.
This program aims to inject liquidity in USDT while reducing the circulating supply. However, the foundation did not specify whether affected users would be directly compensated, despite Binance’s intentions.
MOVE: A Project at the Intersection of Blockchains
Movement is built on the Move programming language, initially developed by Meta for the Diem project. While the network utilizes Ethereum’s security, it positions itself neither as a Layer 2 nor a simple sidechain. Its creators describe it as a fast-finality rollup, expanding the usage of the Move language beyond Aptos and Sui.
The governance crisis surrounding the MOVE token raises questions about partner selection in a young yet ambitious ecosystem. The success of the buyback plan will be closely scrutinized, both for its ability to restore trust and its impact on the token’s price.
