# Movement Labs (2022 – 2026)

- URL: https://girisimcikafasi.com/en/startup-graveyard/movement-labs/
- Sector: Crypto and blockchain
- Country: United States
- Total funding: unknown
- Unicorn: yes, peak valuation $3 billion
- Main cause: Team problems

## What did it do?

Movement Labs was founded in San Francisco in 2022 by Rushi Manche and Cooper Scanlon, who left Vanderbilt to build an Ethereum layer-2 network using Move, the programming language developed at Meta. It raised USD 38 million in April 2024 in a round led by Polychain. The MOVE token and the network's beta launched in December 2024. Reports in January 2025 said a USD 100 million round led by CoinFund and Brevan Howard's Nova Fund was close to completion at a valuation of about USD 3 billion.

## Why did it file for bankruptcy?

The trouble started when 66 million MOVE tokens, about 5% of supply, went to the market maker Web3Port. Web3Port's sale of the holdings reportedly created about USD 38 million of selling pressure and led to an independent investigation. The company suspended co-founder Rushi Manche in May 2025, and Coinbase halted MOVE trading the same month. In December 2025 development and operations passed to Move Industries. MVMT Labs filed for Chapter 11 under Subchapter V in Delaware on 15 July 2026, listing up to USD 10 million in liabilities. Move Industries chief executive Torab Torabi says the case covers only Movement Labs and that Move Industries is operating normally.

## The story

Movement Labs began with two university dropouts. Rushi Manche and Cooper Scanlon wanted to bring Meta's Move language to the Ethereum world. They raised USD 38 million in April 2024 and launched the MOVE token in December 2024. In January 2025 Fortune and Reuters reported that a USD 100 million round was close to completion at a valuation of about USD 3 billion.

The break came from an unexpected place: a market-making agreement. Web3Port had received 66 million MOVE, and when those tokens were sold they created about USD 38 million of pressure. The company opened an independent investigation, Manche was suspended in May 2025 and Coinbase halted MOVE trading.

In December 2025 development and operations moved to a separate entity, Move Industries. On 15 July 2026 MVMT Labs took the streamlined small-business route through Chapter 11 in Delaware. Cointelegraph reported that MOVE had fallen more than 94% in a year, to about USD 0.01. Move Industries says the case covers only the old company and that its own work goes on.

## Lessons

- Do not treat a market-making deal as a founder's side project. Sixty-six million tokens were 5% of supply; sign that without board scrutiny and one contract can shake the company.
- Once you issue a token, its price becomes your reputation. Limit selling pressure in advance with lock-ups and disclosure rules, so you are not opening an investigation afterwards.
- Do not leave separating the protocol from the company until a crisis. The handover to Move Industries came in December 2025; design that split early and users are shielded from corporate trouble.

## Sources

- [Movement Labs files Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid MOVE token turmoil](https://cointelegraph.com/news/movement-labs-files-chapter-11-bankruptcy-move-token-turmoil)
- [Movement Labs files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy](https://thedefiant.io/news/blockchains/movement-labs-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy)
- [Movement Labs Series B of USD 100 million with CoinFund and Brevan Howard](https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/01/08/movement-labs-series-b-100-million-coinfund-brevan-howard/)