The workforce behind real-world tokenized asset blockchain Mantra says its native token’s sudden 90% plunge was attributable to exchanges forcibly closing positions with out discover, with one at present unnamed alternate doubtlessly guilty.
On April 13, Mantra (OM) worth dropped from $6.30 to beneath $0.50, quickly shedding over 90% of its $6 billion market cap.
“We have now decided that the OM market actions have been triggered by reckless compelled closures initiated by centralized exchanges on OM account holders,” Mantra co-founder John Mullin wrote in an April 13 assertion on X.
“The timing and depth of the crash recommend {that a} very sudden closure of account positions was initiated with out ample warning or discover,” he added.
Supply: John Mullin
“That this occurred throughout low-liquidity hours on a Sunday night UTC, early morning Asia time, factors to a level of negligence at greatest, or presumably intentional market positioning taken by centralized exchanges.”
Mullin advised an X person they imagine one alternate “specifically” was guilty however stated they have been nonetheless “determining the main points.” He advised others that the centralized alternate in query wasn’t Binance.
Mantra has an upcoming neighborhood join on X, the place Mullin says the workforce would share extra data.
Supply: John Mullin
Some merchants allege the token collapse was a rug pull, whereas others are speculating the Mantra workforce had used their tokens as collateral to take out a large mortgage from a centralized alternate and the workforce fell prey to a mortgage threat parameter change, then a margin name.
Mullin denied these theories in follow-up X posts, saying, “The workforce didn’t have a mortgage excellent” and have not orchestrated a rug pull.
“Tokens stay locked and topic to the printed vesting intervals. OM’s tokenomics stay intact, as shared final week in our newest token report. Our token pockets addresses are on-line and visual,” Mullin stated.
Supply: John Mullin
The value of OM staged a minor restoration within the aftermath of the value collapse, briefly returning above $1, however it’s again down and at present buying and selling round $0.7894, in accordance with CoinGecko.
The token hit an all-time excessive of just below $9 on Feb. 23 and is now down over 91% from that determine.
Supply: Star Xu
Tens of millions of Mantra tokens moved within the week previous to collapse
Blockchain analytics platform Spot On Chain stated in an April 14 put up to X that some OM whales moved 14.27 million tokens to the crypto alternate OKX three days earlier than the crash. In March, the identical whales picked up 84.15 million OM for $564.7 million.
“Now, after a brutal 90% drop, their remaining 69.08 million OM is value simply $62.2 million, placing their complete estimated loss at a staggering $406.3 million,” Spot On Chain stated.
“Nevertheless, they might have hedged the place elsewhere, and it’s potential they contributed to the sharp drop.”
Supply: Spot On Chain
On the identical time, blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain stated that since April 7, no less than 17 wallets deposited 43.6 million OM into crypto exchanges, representing 4.5% of the circulating provide.
Associated: Mantra unveils $108M fund to again real-world asset tokenization, DeFi
In January 2025, Mantra and funding conglomerate DAMAC signed a $1 billion deal to tokenize the funding conglomerate’s varied belongings.
In the meantime, Mantra introduced on Feb. 19 that it had obtained a digital asset service supplier license from Dubai’s Digital Belongings Regulatory Authority.
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