Mantra CEO blames 90% OM token crash on forced exchange liquidations

Mantra chief executive officer JP Mullin claims OM’s price crash was caused by forced liquidations by centralized exchanges.

The price of Mantra (OM) plunged over 90% on Apr. 13, falling from around $6.30 to below $0.50 within hours. In an Apr. 14 post on X, Mullin said the sharp drop in OM’s price was caused by forced liquidations triggered by centralized exchanges. He explained that these actions were taken suddenly and during low-liquidity hours on Sunday evening UTC, which may have amplified the market impact. 

Mullin clarified that the sell-off was not due to any token sales by the Mantra team or its investors, noting that OM tokens remain locked according to the project’s vesting schedule. He also reaffirmed the project’s long-term commitment and called for continued support from the community.

However, several independent analysts have made contradictory claims. One crypto analyst, Max Brown, claimed that the sell-off started when 3.9 million OM tokens were deposited on OKX by a wallet that was thought to be connected to the Mantra team. Given that the team allegedly controls almost 90% of the total supply, this move alarmed the market and triggered a sell-off.

The sharp sell-off erased more than $5.5 billion in market capitalization, shrinking OM’s market cap from $6 billion to below $485 million at its lowest point. The token is trading at $0.8623 as of press time, down 90% from its February all-time high of $8.99. OM’s trading volume has jumped more than 2,500% in the last 24 hours, reaching $1.9 billion, as per crypto.news price tracker.

Launched as a regulatory-compliant real world asset-focused layer-1, Mantra has made headlines in recent months for its partnerships and regulatory progress. In January, it signed a $1 billion deal with real estate giant DAMAC to tokenize assets. Mantra was also greenlighted to operate lawfully in the UAE after being granted a virtual asset service provider license by Dubai’s VARA in February. 

Even so, the crash has renewed earlier criticism of the project. Wu Blockchain, a popular X news channel, reposted a 2021 warning about Mantra’s founding team, linking them to a gambling website and previous false investment claims. Some traders have expressed concerns about transparency and exchange processes, comparing the crash to past collapses like that of Terra.