Binance Has Frozen $38 Million from a Market Maker Who Sold 66 Million Movement (MOVE) Tokens

Binance has frozen $38 million from a market maker who sold 66 million Movement (MOVE) tokens without proper buy orders

Crypto exchange Binance has frozen $38 million in funds from a market maker who sold 66 million Movement (MOVE) tokens without proper buy orders, the exchange announced on March 25.

The market maker sold the tokens on December 10, 2024, just one day after the token’s listing. This action went against Binance’s rules for market makers, which require them to maintain balanced buy and sell orders to ensure a stable trading environment.

After a three-month investigation, Binance decided to ban the market maker permanently on March 18.

“Any project-authorized market makers who do not comply with or breach such principles and rules, Binance will take further actions against such market makers to best protect our users,” Binance stated in its announcement.

The Movement Network Foundation said it was not notified of the market maker’s actions until March 11, when Binance contacted them.

“[We] had absolutely no knowledge that this was happening,” the Movement Network Foundation stated. “This happened against our wishes, without our consent, and was in breach of our agreement, which required the MM to provide liquidity on both sides of the $MOVE/$USDT pair.”

In response, Movement Network will carry out a $38 million buyback program using the recovered funds. The buyback will take place only on Binance over the next three months, with the purchased tokens going to a strategic reserve wallet.

This incident brought attention to the issue of market manipulation in crypto trading. Market makers are crucial for providing liquidity by placing both buy and sell orders, which helps maintain a balanced market.

Binance specified four main rules for market makers: they must place both bid and offer orders, ensure there are enough orders of sufficient size, maintain stable price spreads, and avoid disrupting the market with too many quick order placements or cancellations.

This action against the MOVE market maker comes as Binance is also dealing with another problem. The exchange recently suspended an employee for allegedly using insider information from a previous job at BNB Chain to profit from a token launch.

Despite these issues, big investors continue to trust Binance. The exchange recently received a $2 billion investment from MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based technology investor.

For MOVE token holders, the planned buyback may help stabilize the token’s price, which has seen a decline since early 2025. The Movement Network, which works with Ethereum-compatible technology, still enjoys strong support from investors, including Polychain Capital and Binance Labs.

The company said its technology and vision remain the same despite this incident.