Coinbase Halts Movement Token Trading Amid Controversy
Coinbase has announced it will stop trading the Movement token (MOVE) on May 15 at 2:00 p.m. ET. The decision follows a routine asset review to ensure listing standards are met.
MOVE’s order books are now in limit-only mode. This means users can only place or cancel limit orders,not trade at market price. The token’s value fell by about 20%, from $0.25 to $0.20, after the news.
MOVE has faced scrutiny over its market activity and governance. In April,co-founder Cooper Scanlon took a leave of absence. Reports also surfaced about “market maker abnormalities.”
These issues are now part of an inquiry into a possible pump-and-dump scheme involving Web3Port, a market maker. Internal documents show Web3Port, a China-based firm, was given over 5% of MOVE’s total supply. This was allegedly routed through Rentech, an obscure entity.
On December 9, when MOVE launched on Binance, Web3Port sold 66 million tokens, making $38 million.This caused a sharp price drop. Today, those tokens are worth about $15.7 million.
Both the Movement Foundation and Web3Port have links to World Liberty Financial Inc., a crypto venture backed by the Trump family. Coinbase hasn’t directly mentioned the pump-and-dump allegations but says it regularly checks assets for compliance.
