Breaking: Trump Backed Movement Labs Faces Allegations Over Insider Token Deal

Movement Labs, which is backed by the Trump-linked World Liberty Financial (WLFI), is again facing backlash following allegations over a deal that the team made with early insiders. Documents show that the MOVE team failed to disclose this deal to investors, a move that could lead to accusations of misrepresentation. Amid this saga, the MOVE price has dropped over 6% in the last 24 hours.

Movement Labs Accused Of Shady Deal With Early Insiders

According to the Journalist Sam Kessler, the crypto startup quietly promised early insiders access to up to 10% of the supply of the MOVE token. The journalist cited documents that CoinDesk obtained, noting that the team didn’t disclose this deal to investors.

The documents show that Movement Labs allocated a large portion of its token supply to two shadow advisers, including Zebec CEO Sam Thapaliya, during early funding rounds in 2023. Kessler revealed that some of the documents promised nearly $2 million annually in compensation.

The agreement also showed that the MOVE team agreed to allocate 5% of the token’s total supply to Thapaliya Trust for “marketing, market making, and exchange alignment.” Kessler alleges that Thapaliya later transferred this same amount to Web3Port, a Chinese firm that allegedly dumped $38 million worth of tokens after launch.

Interestingly, the Movement Labs allegedly gave Thapaliya another 2.5% of the MOVE token’s supply. Meanwhile, the team promised Vinit Parekh, another early adviser, 2.5% of the token’s supply for every $1 million that the team raised.

The MOVE token price is $0.2, down over 6% in the last 24 hours. This news comes just days after Coinbase suspended MOVE trading on its platform amid market manipulation allegations.