Binance Bans Market Maker Linked to Movement (MOVE) Project Over Trading Irregularities

Some in the crypto community speculate that Web3port might be the market maker for GoPlus, MyShell, and Movement, projects that were recently investigated by Binance.

Binance has banned a market maker for trading irregularities, and will be freezing the firm's funds and working with Movement Labs and the Movement Foundation to redistribute them to users.

The market maker in question is widely rumoured to be Web3port, which is also said to have been working with GoPlus (GPS) and MyShell (SHELL).

Those familiar with the matter told Blocktopia that the crypto exchange has been investigating the market maker for several months.

It is understood that the market maker was previously banned by Binance for misconduct. As such, Binance has become more cautious about the market maker’s activities and increased monitoring on the market activities after the market maker was reappointed by another project to work on GoPlus (GPS) earlier this year.

Those in the know said that Binance has a policy against market manipulation. This includes ensuring that market makers maintain an adequate order size, limit excessive bid-ask spreads, and prevent disruptive high-frequency trading.

However, Binance detected that the market maker was engaging in practices that violated these principles.

One day after the MOVE token was listed on December 10, 2024, the market maker is said to have sold around 66 million MOVE tokens at negligible buy orders. This amounted to approximately 38 million USDT of net profit before Binance finally offboarded the company on March 18, 2025.

The market maker will not be named by Binance. But those in the crypto community will know who is being discussed - it is widely rumoured to be Web3port, which is also said to have been working with GoPlus (GPS) and MyShell (SHELL).

Recently, Binance was seen auditing several projects and among them are GoPlus (GPS), MyShell (SHELL), and Movement (MOVE). This has led some to speculate that Web3port might be the market maker for these projects.

On Saturday, Movement Labs and the Movement Foundation said in a statement that they were not previously aware of the "assumed wrongdoing" by the market maker.

"We are cooperating fully with Binance in this matter and are engaging openly with the crypto media to ensure optimal transparency throughout this process. We selected this market maker based on their experience working with other projects in the Movement ecosystem."

However, they have now pledged to use the frozen funds for a MOVE token buyback program.

In their statement, they added that all cash proceeds redeemed from the Market Maker will be used by the Movement Network Foundation to create the Movement Strategic Reserve: a 38M $USDT buyback of $MOVE for long-term utility and to return the USDT liquidity to the Movement ecosystem.

Although this initiative is better than having no provision at all, it still raises concerns about the quality of due diligence in selecting market makers and the overall need for greater transparency in such partnerships. Ultimately, it highlights the fundamental risks inherent in the crypto industry.

Binance is currently investigating reports of staff members engaging in insider trading. A report by TokenPost claims that several Binance employees were involved in illicit activities, including leaking confidential information and engaging in insider trading.

The allegations suggest that the employees misused their internal access to Binance's systems and advance knowledge of upcoming listings to personally benefit from price movements.

According to reports, one employee is said to have tipped off a friend about an upcoming listing, enabling them to make significant gains. Another employee allegedly sold a large amount of Bitcoin (BTC) at an inflated price to an institutional investor.

Furthermore, it is alleged that a team leader at Binance Academy leaked an internal document to an external party. This action reportedly compromised Binance's trade secrets and competitive intelligence.

In response to these allegations, Binance has reportedly placed the implicated employees under suspension pending further investigation.

The crypto exchange is known for its strict stance on ethical conduct and is taking steps to identify and hold accountable any employees found to be engaging in wrongdoing.

As part of its internal procedures, Binance routinely monitors employees' activities for any suspicious patterns or activities that may contravene the company's code of conduct.

The investigation into the alleged insider trading activities is ongoing, and Binance is cooperating fully with the relevant authorities.