Movement Labs, Foundation conducts ‘investigation’ into ‘market maker abnormalities’
Movement is “conducting an internal investigation stemming from recent events,” according to a company Slack message
Movement Labs co-founder Rushi Manche | Permissionless III by Mike Lawrence for Blockworks
Movement Labs and Movement Network are conducting an investigation following last month’s market maker issues, when Binance removed an unnamed market maker after “misconduct” around MOVE’s token, Blockworks has learned.
A Movement Labs spokesperson confirmed a third-party review when reached by Blockworks.
In internal Slack messages seen by Blockworks, a profile belonging to Movement co-founder Cooper Scanlon said the investigation into “recent events” has “various routes […] [that] are still being explored,” and “nothing is definitive yet.” The third party involved in the investigation was not named.
In a message to Blockworks, a Movement Labs spokesperson said:
“Movement Network Foundation is conducting a third-party review following recent market maker abnormalities — a standard best practice to ensure full transparency and accountability. It would be inappropriate to speculate on the outcome of the review or any actions that may or may not result. Operations continue normally as the review is conducted.”
Additionally, Movement Labs co-founder Rushi Manche took a temporary leave from the company for an undetermined amount of time, multiple sources told Blockworks.
One source said Scanlon announced Manche’s “temporary leave of absence” during a company all-hands on Monday. The company held an onsite in San Francisco last week which Manche did not attend, according to people familiar.
Manche told Blockworks today that he was “still at” Movement Labs, though neither Manche nor Movement Labs specifically responded to a question asking to confirm if he’d been on leave.
A spokesperson told Blockworks that operations “are continuing as normal” at the firm.
The reason or length of Manche’s leave was not immediately made clear. Employees had noticed Manche’s profile was no longer in the company Slack on Friday and Monday, according to multiple sources. However, Blockworks was told by a source that Manche’s Slack account was reactivated by the end of the day on Monday.
Manche told Blockworks that he’s “still in Slack and [has] been doing ecosystem calls all week.”
On Monday afternoon — the same day Manche’s leave was announced internally — he took to X to advertise “weekly ecosystem syncs” with developers alongside his co-founder, Cooper Scanlon.
The investigation comes a few weeks after Binance disclosed that it had investigated the MOVE token for market-making irregularities. Last month, Binance announced that it offboarded an entity behind “misconduct” around MOVE, Movement’s native token.
Binance didn’t return multiple requests for comment regarding the market maker.
A screenshot of Web3Port reposting a Movement Labs post from February. The repost was seemingly removed later.
Movement declined to name the market maker at the time, though crypto sleuth ZachXBT had been told the project was linked to Web3Port. An examination by Blockworks revealed that Web3Port had engaged with Movement Labs’ social media posts in the past few months.
Disclosure: Blockworks co-founder Jason Yanowitz is an angel investor in Movement Labs.
Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
- The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
- 0xResearch: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst.
- Empire: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.
- Forward Guidance: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.
- The Drop: Apps, games, memes and more.
- Lightspeed: All things Solana.
- Supply Shock: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.
