The Movement Network Foundation Is Grappling with a Controversy Involving “Market Maker Abnormalities” Tied to Its Token, $MOVE

The situation has drawn attention to co-founder Rushi Manche, with conflicting reports about his status at Movement Labs.

Prominent blockchain entity Movement Network Foundation is encountering a controversy that has brought a prominent blockchain project into the spotlight. The situation began when Binance, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, uncovered “market maker abnormalities” linked to Movement Labs’ token, $MOVE.

This issue arose shortly after Movement Labs, a blockchain project utilizing the Move language, launched its token on Binance.

As reported by Blockworks, Binance encountered irregularities in the market maker’s activities, noting an imbalance in buy and sell orders.

While the market maker is typically assigned to ensure liquidity and a stable price through a balance of trading activity, the market maker appeared to be focused mainly on selling.

According to Binance, the market maker engaged in anti-competitive behavior by placing small buy orders and selling large token volumes, contributing to price volatility.

The exchange decided to freeze $38 million from the market maker’s activity on Binance to compensate users affected by the market maker’s actions.

In a statement, Movement Labs confirmed that it was not notified of any irregularities by Binance until they began pulling back on the market maker.

“We are used in one capacity and they are used in another,” said a spokesperson for Movement Labs. “We have no further comment.”

This incident sparked widespread discussion within the crypto community, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), where members debated the implications of market maker transparency.

One X user, ‘The DeFi Reaper’ closely follows emerging DeFi projects and shared their insights on the unfolding situation.

In March 2025, Binance identified a market maker dumping 66 million MOVE tokens at Movement Labs shortly after their listing, triggering a sharp price drop. This incident occurred as Binance was shutting down derivatives trading on short notice due to a technical issue.

The incident unfolded when Binance encountered a technical issue that led to the shutdown of derivatives trading and the liquidation of user positions.

To compensate affected users, Binance decided to freeze $38 million in funds linked to the market maker’s activity on the exchange.

These problems have thrust Rushi Manche, a key figure at Movement Labs, into the spotlight.

Many articles claimed that Manche was on a temporary leave of absence from the project, and his company Slack account was briefly deactivated, fueling speculation about his involvement in the irregularities.

However, Manche quickly took to X to debunk these claims, asserting that he remains fully engaged with the project.

Manche’s active social media presence, including sharing a photo of himself speaking as a co-founder of Movement Labs at the Web3Festival conference, supports his stance. He also expressed surprise at the reporting of the news.

“Weird reporting. I’m on a temporary leave of absence from Movement Labs and had my company Slack briefly deactivated, which is strange given I’m still fully engaged with the project in a leadership capacity and we’re actively working on new developments for the Labs,” said Manche.

The co-founder’s ability to maintain visibility and address concerns will be crucial as the investigation unfolds.

Investors will be watching closely to see how the dust settles on this latest chapter in the world of crypto.