Movement Labs Severs Ties With Co-Founder After Shadow Token Deals Surface
Another day, another crypto founder caught playing hide-the-ball with token allocations—just when you thought ’transparency’ was Web3’s favorite buzzword.
Movement Labs boots Rushi Manche following undisclosed personal token deals. Because nothing says ’decentralized ethos’ like off-book side hustles, right?
The move comes as the sector faces mounting scrutiny over founder accountability. But hey—at least this time they didn’t wait for a 90% price crash to act.
Report Uncovers Secret MOVE Token Deals Tied to Movement Labs
The move comes in response to a recent investigative report, which exposed a series of undisclosed deals between Movement-affiliated entities and third-party market makers during the MOVE token’s launch phase.
The report detailed the existence of so-called “shadow advisors,” covert payment arrangements, and hidden allocations of MOVE tokens—all of which pointed back to Manche.
Manche had been suspended on May 2, shortly after Coinbase delisted 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.
That delisting was prompted by increasing community scrutiny over transparency and operational practices at Movement Labs.
The market reaction has been swift. MOVE tokens fell 8.5% in the 24 hours following Manche’s removal and are down 35% over the past week, reflecting broader investor unease.
Market makers often play a crucial role in the early success of digital assets by providing liquidity and facilitating access to major exchanges.
However, when misused, these partnerships can spell disaster. A mid-April analysis warned that mishandled market-making arrangements could undermine confidence and derail projects entirely.
Rising Concerns Over Market Manipulation
Notably, concerns about manipulation in crypto markets have grown in recent months.
Data from summer 2024 revealed that as many as 78% of new token launches since April had suffered from problematic or poorly disclosed market-making deals.
3) Furthermore to make things clear – we are not a charity (or foundation
). Very much far from it, Wintermute (like any other prop trading firm) is in business of making money by trading. More specifically, our CORE business is trading digital assets. As such, we are very much…
Several high-profile incidents have fueled skepticism. Creditors of defunct crypto lender Celsius Network alleged that Wintermute, a leading market maker, engaged in wash trading of the CEL token.
Likewise, Fracture Labs filed a lawsuit in late 2024 accusing Jump Crypto of manipulating the value of its in-game token, DIO.
Meanwhile, DWF Labs faced accusations of inflating trading volumes through undisclosed arrangements—allegations both it and Binance have denied.
In response to growing concerns, U.S. regulators have ramped up enforcement, even launching a sting operation with a fake token to catch bad actors.
In one notable case, a Massachusetts court recently fined CLS Global for fraudulent trading practices.
