$MOVE Scandal: Binance Exposes $38M Token Dump

Movement Network rocked as Binance uncovers $38M $MOVE token dump linked to Web3Port Labs.

SMooTH

Posted on Mar 26, 2025

A few hours ago, the Movement Network Foundation dropped a bombshell statement revealing that a market maker associated with their $MOVE token had been caught in a major scandal.

After Binance conducted an investigation, it turned out that the $MOVE market maker had offloaded a massive amount of tokens without fulfilling their agreement to provide liquidity on both sides of the trading pair.

As a result, the Movement Network Foundation swiftly cut ties, recovering funds and launching a 38M $USDT buyback to stabilize the ecosystem.

Influential voices on Twitter, like ZachXBT, are speculating that Web3Port Labs is the notorious market maker behind the misconduct and warning users to steer clear of their projects.

What happened?

On March 11, Binance alerted the Movement Network Foundation that one of their market makers had been manipulating the $MOVE token market. The investigation uncovered that the market maker had sold around 66 million $MOVE tokens the day after its Token Generation Event (TGE) in December 2024, without placing meaningful buy orders. This resulted in a substantial profit of 38 million USDT for the market maker—profits Binance has since frozen.

Movement Network Foundation, blindsided by the scandal, quickly severed ties with the rogue market maker and coordinated with Binance to recover the funds. They also notified other major exchanges to prevent further misconduct.

The recovered 38M USDT will be used to repurchase $MOVE from public markets over the next three months, establishing the Movement Strategic Reserve to ensure liquidity and stability. All purchased tokens will be transparently moved to an on-chain wallet for public oversight.

ZachXBT tweeted that Web3Port Labs might be the market maker behind the scandal and warned investors to avoid working with them. Simon Dedic, co-founder of Moonrock Capital, chimed in, criticizing the broader issue of market makers manipulating token markets. He pointed out that many founders may be aware of market manipulation but choose to ignore it when it benefits their treasuries (talking from personal experience, perhaps?).

IcoBeast.eth added to the conversation, highlighting the suspicious language in Web3Port Labs’ bio, which boasts about helping founders "exit".

Web3Port’s X bio has since been changed to a less controversial description of their services.

Old bio

New bio

Coincidence, surely?

What does this mean for Web3?

This incident is a harsh reminder that even prominent projects with solid reputations are vulnerable to market manipulation by third parties. The revelations have sparked conversations about the ethics of market-making in the crypto space, where some market makers may prioritize quick profits over the long-term stability of the token ecosystem.

For traders and investors, this development could cause volatility in $MOVE prices as the buyback program unfolds. Devs and project founders may also take a harder look at their own liquidity strategies, reassessing the trustworthiness of their market-making partners. The scandal raises questions about how much project teams really know about market activities behind the scenes and whether feigning ignorance when things go wrong is just damage control.

The statements from Simon Dedic reflect a more skeptical view of market makers as a whole, highlighting how few of them can be trusted.

The community is growing increasingly wary of market makers employing predatory practices — and equally suspicious of projects that knowingly partner with them for their own gain, a sentiment echoed in recent Ethos reviews.

Reviews of Movement

Recent review of Web3Port

What’s next?

While the Movement Foundation is pushing ahead with its buyback strategy, projects associated with Web3Port Labs are now under a microscope, as users and investors alike are rethinking their involvement.

List of projects Web3Port provides services for.

This scandal has set a precedent for how centralized exchanges like Binance handle shady market-making practices, and it might encourage other platforms to follow suit.