Coinbase Disables Trading of Movement’s MOVE Token Amid Controversy

Coinbase is shutting down trading for Movement’s MOVE token amid a heated controversy surrounding the project.

The exchange announced Thursday that it would disable trading of the token on May 15, following a routine listing standards review, which found that MOVE no longer meets Coinbase’s requirements.

“Coinbase has decided to suspend trading in Movement (MOVE) token on May 15. As part of this change, we’re shifting MOVE order books to limit-only mode immediately. We’ll be disabling all market orders and setting the minimum limit order size to 100,000 tokens,” the company stated in a post on X.

The token dropped 20% to $0.18 following the announcement—its lowest point since launch—according to Binance data. At press time, MOVE saw a modest rebound to $0.20.

Coinbase did not explicitly cite a reason for the suspension. However, the company noted that the decision followed a routine listing standards review, which found that MOVE no longer met Coinbase’s requirements.

The news comes as the Movement blockchain has faced growing scrutiny in recent months. Back in March, Binance identified and froze the profits of a market maker allegedly liquidating large quantities of MOVE tokens.

In response, the Movement Network Foundation cut ties with the market maker and announced a $38 million USDT buyback program to establish the Movement Strategic Reserve.

Movement Labs and the Movement Network later confirmed a third-party investigation into the matter, after Binance removed the market maker for misconduct, Blockworks reported last month.

A new report from CoinDesk this week sheds more light on the controversy. The release revealed that Movement Labs was allegedly misled into signing a market-making agreement that gave a middleman, Rentech, control over 66 million MOVE tokens.