Movement Labs Leadership Overhaul: Co-founder Terminated, Token Price Falls 10%

TLDR

• Movement Labs terminated co-founder Rushi Manche and rebranded as Move Industries
• Co-founder Cooper Scanlon stepped down as CEO, replaced by Torab Torabi with Will Gaines as President
• The MOVE token has plummeted 34% in the past week, currently trading at $0.16
• Recent scandal involved market maker Rentech allegedly selling 66 million MOVE tokens for 38 million USDT profit
• Protocol has promised more transparency, improved vetting systems, and a $38 million USDT buyback

Movement Labs has undergone a major transformation, rebranding itself as Move Industries following a leadership shakeup triggered by a market maker scandal. The protocol announced on May 7 that it had terminated co-founder Rushi Manche and would operate under a new leadership structure.

The company’s other co-founder, Cooper Scanlon, has voluntarily stepped down as CEO. Torab Torabi will now lead Move Industries as CEO and ecosystem architect, with Will Gaines serving as President and Chief Marketing Officer.

“This next chapter will ensure we continue building world-class infrastructure, world-class businesses and a world-class movement,” Gaines stated in an official press release about the changes.

Movement Labs has terminated Rushi Manche. Movement will continue under different leadership.

Details on leadership changes and a revamped governance structure will be coming soon.

— Movement (@movementlabsxyz) May 7, 2025

Market Maker Scandal Explained

The leadership changes come in the wake of a scandal involving market maker Rentech. In December 2024, Rentech allegedly sold 66 million MOVE tokens, generating an estimated profit of 38 million USDT. Binance reported the issue in March 2025, freezing the funds and notifying Movement Foundation and Movement Labs.

The scandal resulted in Movement Labs’ native token being delisted from Coinbase, which suspended all related trading pairs. Prior to the termination announcement, Movement Labs had suspended Manche while the protocol underwent investigations from third-party reviewer Groom Lake regarding organizational governance and the market maker incidents.

The protocol has since severed all ties with Rentech and pledged a $38 million USDT buyback through a new reserve fund in an attempt to make amends with investors and the community.

Moving Forward Under New Leadership

Torabi describes the rebrand as “the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the Movement” and has committed to improving the ecosystem, strengthening the community, and supporting projects built on the network.

The protocol plans to focus on technology and community as its “north stars” moving forward. Move Industries has also promised more transparent town halls and improved vetting and verification systems to prevent similar issues in the future.

Despite these promises, the MOVE token continues to struggle. At press time, it has fallen nearly 10% in the past 24 hours and is trading at $0.16. Over the past week, the token has plummeted more than 34%.

Interestingly, while the price has dropped, daily trading volume has risen by 141.4% compared to the previous trading day, indicating increased market activity amid the restructuring announcement.

The investigation by Groom Lake continues as Move Industries attempts to rebuild trust with its user base. The company has emphasized transparency as a key priority going forward.

The token dump in December 2024 and subsequent revelations about Rentech have damaged investor confidence in the project. The new leadership team faces the challenge of restoring faith in the protocol while implementing stronger governance measures.

The rebrand to Move Industries represents an effort to distance the project from recent controversies and start fresh under new management. Whether these changes will be enough to reverse the token’s downward trend remains to be seen.

With Torabi and Gaines now at the helm, the company hopes to refocus on its core mission of building infrastructure for the Movement ecosystem. The new leadership has emphasized their commitment to supporting existing projects on the network while improving systems to prevent future scandals.

The $38 million USDT buyback initiative represents a concrete step toward addressing the damage caused by the market maker scandal. This program aims to provide some relief to investors who were affected by the token dump last December.

For now, the protocol’s immediate focus appears to be on stabilizing the project and implementing promised governance reforms. The MOVE token’s price action in the coming weeks will likely serve as an indicator of market confidence in the new leadership team.