Coinbase axes $500M MOVE token—alleged market manipulation triggers nuclear option

Another day, another crypto ’correction’—this time with regulators playing whack-a-mole.

When the exchange that survived the SEC’s wrath suddenly develops ethics concerns, you know the numbers must be truly hilarious.

Pro tip for traders: When your ’decentralized’ project gets delisted by a centralized gatekeeper, maybe revisit that whitepaper.

Coinbase to delist MOVE token over market manipulation concerns 

Coinbase said Thursday it will suspend all MOVE token trading pairs on May 15, after concluding a routine review of listing standards. The announcement follows weeks of speculation about irregularities in MOVE’s market activity.

While Coinbase didn’t cite manipulation as the reason, the exchange moved MOVE order books into limit-only mode and confirmed that the token no longer meets its listing criteria. 

The decision comes as Movement Labs continues to investigate controversial transactions involving a terminated market Maker accused of triggering a $38 million token dump.

The Movement Network Foundation had severed ties with the market maker earlier in April, initiating a $38 million USDT buyback through a new reserve fund. A third-party investigation is now underway to determine whether Movement Labs executives were misled or complicit in enabling the alleged manipulation.

Internal documents revealed Rentech had influence on both sides of the deal, raising serious conflict-of-interest concerns and governance failures within the Movement Network.

Price impact: MOVE plunges 20% despite Bitcoin hitting 70-day highs

While Bitcoin traded near a 70-day high above $97,000 this week, the MOVE token declined rapidly, reflecting its internal credibility crisis. 

Movement (MOVE) token price action, May 2 | CoinGecko

Following the Coinbase announcement, MOVE plunged over 20% to a record low of $0.18 before recovering slightly to $0.20, according to Coinkeco data, MOVE market cap has now declined below the $500 million mark. 

Notably, the decline marks the sharpest single-day drop since MOVE’s launch in December. Having peaked NEAR $0.70 earlier this year, the MOVE token is now trading 73% below its all-time high valuation.