Movement Labs Files Chapter 11 With Up to $10M in Liabilities
Tech & Launches ·
The Ethereum layer-2 developer behind the MOVE token has entered bankruptcy months after a market-making arrangement triggered a token dump, an internal probe and a Binance ban.
Movement Labs, operating under the legal name MVMT Labs, Inc., has filed for Chapter 11 protection, listing up to $10 million in liabilities against assets of only $100,000 to $500,000, according to court filing details reviewed by The Block. The case, tracked on PacerMonitor, shows fewer than 1,000 creditors named in the petition.
The bankruptcy caps a year of turmoil tied to the December launch of the MOVE token. An investigation reported by CoinDesk found that a market-making agreement gave one counterparty outsized control over MOVE's circulating supply, allowing 66 million tokens to hit the market a single day after debut and driving a sharp price decline.
That arrangement centered on Rentech, an intermediary linked to Chinese market maker Web3Port, with executives later questioning whether the foundation had been misled about the relationship between the two firms; Rentech has denied wrongdoing. Binance subsequently banned the market-making account involved, and Movement launched a token buyback while bringing in outside firm Groom Lake to review what happened.
Among the largest claims in the bankruptcy is a $1.6 million filing from ousted co-founder Rushi Manche, who separated from the company in May, alongside claims from the Delaware Division of Revenue and Anchorage Digital. A separate entity, Move Industries, had attempted a pivot earlier this year