In brief
- Movement Labs has fired co-founder Rushi Manche after a 66 million MOVE token dump triggered a governance crisis.
- New entity Move Industries now leads the project with Torab Torabi as CEO and Will Gaines as President.
- MOVE is trading at $0.1606, down over 34% this week following the fallout.
Ethereum layer-2 startup Movement Labs has cut ties with co-founder Rushi Manche, capping a turbulent week of governance scandals, market maker fallout, and mounting community pressure.
“Movement Labs has terminated Rushi Manche. Movement will continue under different leadership,” the team posted early Wednesday on X.
Within minutes, the platform announced the launch of Move Industries, a new company rising from the wreckage of the project.
The new team described the shift as a return to “crypto’s radical roots,” pledging improved transparency, stronger internal governance, and a builder-first approach.
Manche declined to comment when contacted by Decrypt.
Movement Labs Suspends Co-Founder Amid Market Maker Controversy
Movement Labs, one of the most closely watched Ethereum layer-2 startups of the past year, is in freefall. On Thursday, the company announced it had suspended co-founder Rushi Manche as it grapples with the fallout from a controversial token arrangement that saw 66 million MOVE tokens dumped on the open market, sparking internal and public backlash. “This decision was made in light of ongoing events and as the third-party review is still being conducted by Groom Lake regarding organizational gov...
Torab Torabi, who joined Movement Labs in September 2023 as Director of Business Development, will serve as CEO of Move Industries, alongside longtime marketing head Will Gaines as President and CMO.
Manche’s termination follows his suspension last Thursday, when Movement Labs said the decision was made “in light of ongoing events,” involving market maker Rentech, which dumped 66 million MOVE tokens, 5% of supply, within 24 hours of the token’s launch last December.
Rentech, allegedly posing as an affiliate of Chinese trading firm Web3Port, executed the dump, despite legal concerns flagged by Movement’s own counsel.
Manche, who allegedly forwarded the controversial Rentech deal despite legal red flags, remained active in both Movement Labs and its nonprofit foundation, violating governance separation principles.
As fallout deepened, Binance froze $38 million in proceeds and offboarded the offending market maker, accusing it of flooding the platform with sell orders and little buy support.
Movement Plunges to All-Time Low After Coinbase Says It Will Delist Ethereum L2 Token
MOVE, the native token of Ethereum layer-2 network Movement, crashed to an all-time low price on Thursday after major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said that it will suspend trading for the token this month. “We regularly monitor the assets on our exchange to ensure they meet our listing standards. Based on recent reviews, we will suspend trading for Movement (MOVE) on May 15, 2025, on or around 2 PM ET,” the exchange said on X, formerly Twitter. MOVE is down nearly 14% on the day to a price...
Coinbase, citing a routine asset review, said it would suspend MOVE trading on May 15. MOVE plunged to $0.1579 following the announcement, its lowest ever.
At the moment, the MOVE token is trading at approximately $0.16, falling over 8.5% in the last 24 hours and a 34% decline over the past week, as per CoinGecko data.
Amid the chaos, Move Industries has insisted that “all previously announced initiatives are moving forward,” including MoveDrop, Parthenon, DeFi Spring, and “major updates to the network.”
A community AMA is scheduled for Friday to walk users through the changes, as per the platform’s official Telegram channel.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
