Binance suspends market maker for MOVE and SHELL tokens​

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has suspended another market maker for misconduct, causing millions of dollars in losses to users. The suspension relates to the organisation behind the Movement (MOVE) cryptocurrency trading market from 10 December to 18 March, which illicitly made a profit of $38 million.

According to Binance, the unidentified market maker sold 66 million Movement (MOVE) tokens shortly after they were listed on the platform on 10 December, raising around $38 million by 18 March. Binance said it had frozen all of the market maker's profits. The Movement Network Foundation, which is responsible for the project, has discontinued all cooperation with the organisation involved and has initiated a buy-back plan for the same amount over the next three months.

Since listing on Binance on 10 December, MOVE's price has held between $0.62 and $1.22 for a month, peaking at $1.41 on 11 December. From the beginning of January, MOVE prices started to decline, reaching a low of $0.37 in early March. The lowest price coincided with the purchase of the MOVE token by a crypto project supported by the family of former US president Donald Trump: on 5 March, World Liberty Financial (WLF) purchased 3.42 million MOVE tokens for $0.438 ($1.5 million).

Binance suspends market maker while MOVE token rises

According to Binance's data from 25 March, MOVE is trading at $0.45. The announcement of the market maker's suspension coincided with the token's price rising 10%, reaching $0.477 within minutes.

"Binance will take further action against any authorised market maker projects that fail to comply with or violate these principles and rules, in order to best protect its users," the platform said.

This is the second time Binance has blocked a market maker since the beginning of March. As with MOVE, the exchange said it had identified irregularities in its operations and confiscated profits from the service to compensate affected users. Previous cases involved crypto projects GoPlus Security (GPS) and MyShell (SHELL).

Binance pointed out that both incidents are related. According to analyst Kuai Dong, quoted by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, the market makers involved are associated with Spark Digital Capital, a venture capital firm founded by entrepreneur Mei Liu.

Both GPS and SHELL tokens have suffered significant declines since their listing on Binance between late February and early March. As of 25 March, token prices had fallen by 60% and 77% respectively.

In general, the drop in token prices after the start of trading on Binance is nothing new. According to Dune's analytical panel, out of 25 projects, only two (NEIRO and JUP) showed a positive trend, while all the others experienced losses of more than 90% after the start of trading.