Movement Labs terminates co-founder Rushi Manche amid leadership restructuring

Movement Labs has terminated Rushi Manche, the project's CEO and co-founder, amid a leadership overhaul following recent controversies and a Coinbase delisting announcement."Movement Labs has terminated Rushi Manche. Movement will continue under different leadership," the company announced Tuesday on X, noting that a revised governance structure and leadership details would be shared "soon."The decision follows an ongoing third-party review by Groom Lake investigating internal governance issues and controversial dealings with a market maker.The project faced increased scrutiny after Binance disclosed in March that a market-making entity had sold tens of millions of MOVE tokens.A recent CoinDesk investigation revealed Movement Labs allegedly entered into a market-making agreement that gave a middleman, Rentech, control of 66 million MOVE tokens, valued at approximately $38 million.Rentech reportedly sold the tokens while serving as both an agent of the Movement Foundation and a Web3Port subsidiary, raising conflict-of-interest concerns.The situation raised questions about the potential undisclosed roles of Manche and other advisors, including Sam Thapaliya, in the transaction.Movement Labs attempted to address the crisis by announcing a $38 million USDT buyback and ending its relationship with the market maker.Last week, Coinbase announced it would suspend trading of Movement’s MOVE token on May 15, citing a failure to meet listing standards following a routine review. The exchange preemptively shifted MOVE to limit-only trading, prompting a 20% price drop to $0.18 before a modest rebound.The MOVE token is currently trading at around $0.16, down around 88% from its all-time high, per CoinGecko.