- On Sunday, Mantra’s token OM, saw a drop exceeding 90%, falling from $6 to below $0.40 in less than an hour, before recovering slightly to around $0.79.
- In the aftermath, Mantra has initiated an internal investigation to determine whether certain centralized exchanges facilitated or failed to prevent the rapid sell-off.
On April 13, the crypto market was rocked by a billion-dollar wipeout as the native utility token of the Mantra ecosystem, OM, experienced a catastrophic collapse. Within a single hour, OM plummeted by 98%, falling from nearly $6 to just $0.40, before slightly recovering to trade around $0.7941. The token’s market capitalization has bled 88.85% to settle at $679 million.
According to Mantra co-founder John Mullin, the crash was triggered by “reckless forced closures” initiated by centralized exchanges. He stated that the timing and depth of the crash indicated a very sudden closure of account positions without sufficient warning or notice. Mullin added that the fact this occurred during low-liquidity hours suggested, at best, a degree of negligence or possibly intentional market positioning by centralized exchanges.
The co-founder further emphasized ” To be clear, the team did not cause this dislocation, the MANTRA Chain Association, its core advisors, or MANTRA’s investors selling tokens. Tokens remain locked and subject to the published vesting periods. OM’s tokenomics remain intact, as shared last week in our latest token report. Our token wallet addresses are online and visible.” While Mullin promised a community meeting on X to address the issue, skepticism quickly emerged.
Speculation and Community Backlash
One notable voice, Maja, a veteran in the crypto space, criticized the vague accusations “Specifics Mullin? We are not in 2016 crypto. Which exchanges? How many accounts? What triggered the closure? Blaming ‘them’ entirely often signals a PR stunt or it shows OM is run by a very inexperienced team… Do better for the community and for this space.”
The larger crypto community reflected similar displeasures, one X user pointing out that the collapse of $OM had followed the now-familiar trajectory of system-wide repositioning by influential players who understand not just mechanics of markets, but also underlying architecture of belief which informs investment decision-making.
Adding yet another twist to the story, blockchain analysis firm Spot On Chain had also previously reported anomalous whale movements ahead of the collapse. According to their report, a group of major OM holders had purchased 84.15 million OM tokens on Binance in late March for approximately $564.7 million at a rate averaging $6.711. Shortly before the collapse, they transferred 14.27 million OM, valued at around $91 million, to the exchange OKX at an average price of $6.375. Following the sharp downturn, their remaining 69.08 million OM tokens were worth just $62.2 million, resulting in a staggering estimated loss of over $406.3 million.
Despite the upheaval, a minority of investors felt there was potential. While OM’s worth dropped precipitously, volume surged over 3000%, indicating a rush to buy the token at a reduced price. This influx suggests that while many lost huge sums, others are betting on OM’s rebound.
