Movement Labs, the development firm behind the Movement network, has officially severed ties with co-founder Rushi Manche following troubling revelations regarding undisclosed token deals and a highly criticized market-making agreement. The shakeup in leadership has caused the price of the network’s native MOVE token to plummet to a new all-time low.
The announcement of Manche’s dismissal was made on May 7 via a post on the official X account of Movement. However, the communication provided little context beyond confirming his immediate departure and promising future governance changes.
A Sudden Fall from Grace
Manche’s ousting came in the wake of a CoinDesk article that uncovered secret agreements associated with the launch of the MOVE token. These included undisclosed advisor payments and questionable allocations to market makers.
According to the publication, internal documents and investor communications revealed that Manche played a pivotal role in coordinating a deal between the Movement Foundation and an entity known as Rentech, allegedly led by Singapore-based financier Galen Law-Kun.
Rentech was engaged to enhance liquidity through the Chinese market maker Web3Port. The terms of the deal were controversial, with Movement transferring 66 million MOVE tokens—representing about 5% of the circulating supply—under conditions that raised eyebrows within the industry.
One particularly contentious provision reportedly permitted the market maker to liquidate its holdings once the valuation of MOVE reached $5 billion, with profits split between the market maker and the Movement Foundation. Legal analysts have condemned the agreement as reckless, citing it as inherently incentivizing market manipulation.
As reported by CryptoPotato, Manche was placed on administrative leave on May 2 while an external review by governance consultancy firm Groom Lake was conducted. Internal discussions had seen the foundation’s general counsel, YK Pek, criticize the Rentech deal, labeling it “the worst deal I have ever seen.” Yet, despite these warnings, a renegotiated agreement was finalized.
In response to the fallout, Manche acknowledged a lapse in judgment, attributing his actions to being misled by internal advisors and “opportunistic administrators” who, he claimed, acted as shadow decision-makers throughout the process.
In the wake of the controversy, other names have emerged, including Zebec founder Sam Thapaliya, who, while denying direct involvement in the token launch, was reportedly copied on sensitive communications and was present during crucial meetings at Movement’s San Francisco office.
In a personal statement shared on April 30, Manche expressed:
“This has been a brutal few weeks,” and acknowledged, “Mistakes were made. We trusted wrong advisors, mms, and folks going into a bear market.”
He further denied benefiting personally from the token sales, asserting that all market-making decisions received collective approval from the foundation. Manche hinted at internal power struggles and misaligned incentives, promising further disclosures moving forward.
Price Carnage
The fallout has been dramatic for MOVE. Just hours before this writing, the token reached a new all-time low of $0.1566, according to data from CoinGecko, a stark decline from its $1.45 peak recorded in December 2024.
Currently, the cryptocurrency is trading at $0.16, reflecting an 8.9% drop in the last 24 hours. Over the past week, MOVE has lost approximately 34.9% of its value, contrasting sharply with a modest 1.4% gain in the larger crypto market during the same timeframe.
This is indeed a challenging period for Movement Labs and the MOVE token, as stakeholders await further developments in governance and market strategy.
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