TLDR
- MANTRA’s OM token crashed 90% in hours on April 13, 2025
- Team blames “reckless liquidations” by exchanges, denies rug pull
- Blockchain data shows large token movements before the crash
- At least 17 wallets deposited 43.6 million OM tokens to exchanges since April 7
- MANTRA recently partnered with DAMAC for $1 billion in real estate tokenization
The cryptocurrency world was shocked on Sunday, April 13, when MANTRA’s native token OM crashed over 90% in just 90 minutes. The token, which powers the real-world asset (RWA) focused Layer 1 blockchain, plummeted from $5.21 to around $0.50 between 6:20 PM and 7:50 PM UTC.
Just within 3 days before the crash, this group of fresh $OM whales moved 14.27M $OM (~$91M) to #OKX at an average price of $6.375.
Back in late March, they had jointly scooped up 84.15M $OM from #Binance for ~$564.7M (avg. $6.711).
Now, after a brutal ~90% drop, their… https://t.co/H7EASdsZaG pic.twitter.com/VsePiGlStV
— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) April 14, 2025
The crash wiped out most of MANTRA’s market capitalization. Before the collapse, OM had a fully-diluted value of about $9.5 billion according to DefiLlama data.
MANTRA’s team was quick to respond to the crisis. Their official X account posted: “Today’s activity was triggered by reckless liquidations, not anything to do with the project.”
Exchange Actions Under Scrutiny
John Patrick Mullin, MANTRA’s co-founder, provided more details in his statement. “We have determined that the OM market movements were triggered by reckless forced closures initiated by centralized exchanges on OM account holders,” he wrote.
Mullin specifically pointed to the timing of the crash. He noted it happened “during low-liquidity hours on a Sunday evening UTC, early morning Asia time.”
The team believes one particular exchange may be responsible. Mullin clarified it wasn’t Binance, but the team is still “figuring out the details.”
He promised more information would be shared in an upcoming community connect session on X. Mullin strongly denied allegations of a rug pull.
He also rejected theories that the team had used their tokens as collateral for loans. “The team did not have a loan outstanding,” Mullin stated.
Ok, what do I think happened?@MANTRA_Chain team had a massive loan from one of the centralised exchanges, using their tokens as collateral.
Centralised exchange's risk department woke up today and was like, holy fcuk, this loan is based on an obscene $OM valuation of 16bn.… pic.twitter.com/8Re6YonQXB
— Ed | AirdropGlideApp (@AirdropGlideapp) April 13, 2025
Suspicious Token Movements
Blockchain analytics reveals concerning activity before the crash. According to Lookonchain, at least 17 wallets deposited 43.6 million OM tokens into crypto exchanges since April 7.
This represents 4.5% of the circulating supply. Such large movements often precede major price actions.
Spot On Chain, another analytics platform, identified specific whale activity. They reported that some large holders moved 14.27 million tokens to OKX three days before the crash.
These same whales had acquired 84.15 million OM for $564.7 million in March. After the 90% drop, their remaining 69.08 million tokens were worth just $62.2 million.
This represents a potential loss of $406.3 million. However, Spot On Chain noted they may have hedged positions elsewhere.
Project Background and Concerns
MANTRA has been operating since August 2020. The project focuses on real-world asset tokenization on blockchain.
In January 2025, MANTRA and investment conglomerate DAMAC signed a $1 billion deal. This partnership aimed to tokenize DAMAC’s various assets, including Dubai real estate.
The project has faced previous controversies. Mullin had previously rebuffed accusations that the MANTRA team controlled most of the OM token’s circulating supply.
Some investors had flagged warning signs. They pointed to MANTRA’s total value locked (TVL) of only around $13 million. This seemed disproportionate compared to its multi-billion dollar valuation.
Six members of the MANTRA DAO had previously been ordered by a Hong Kong court to disclose financial records. This came after accusations of misappropriating DAO assets in a lawsuit.
The token price briefly recovered above $1 after the crash. It has since fallen again and currently trades around $0.79 according to CoinGecko.
This represents a 91% decline from its all-time high of just under $9, reached on February 23, 2025.
