Mantra token crashes 90% in hours

On April 13, OM — the native token of the Mantra project — experienced a dramatic collapse, losing nearly 90% of its value in just a few hours. The token, which had been trading around $6.3, dropped below $0.5 before slightly rebounding to ~$0.8. As a result, the project’s market cap shrank by over $5.5 billion to $765 million.

Manipulation, Panic, and Liquidations

The crypto community was quick to suspect a rug pull. One X (formerly Twitter) user called OM’s price crash the biggest since LUNA and FTX, urging the team to act immediately to prevent the token from «sliding to zero.»

Well-known investor Sjuul accused Mantra of lacking transparency. According to him, the team controlled roughly 90% of OM’s total supply and also:

• used market makers to artificially support the price;
• quietly changed the tokenomics without public notice;
• delayed the promised airdrop.

These issues severely damaged community trust. A critical turning point was a transfer of 3.9 million OM to OKX — believed to be from a wallet connected to the project. The move triggered fears of a large-scale sell-off and caused a wave of panic liquidations involving OM as collateral.

Team Responds: «This Is Not a Hack»

Mantra CEO John Patrick Mullin denied any malicious intent in an official statement. He clarified the following:

• there was no hack involved;
• no insider or major investor sold tokens amid the crash;
• none of the team members profited from the price drop.

Mullin attributed the collapse to «reckless liquidations» of OM-backed positions. Regarding the large transfers to OKX and Binance, he explained that they were part of internal bridge operations involving treasury wallets.

What is Mantra? It’s a Web3 platform focused on tokenizing real-world assets (RWA). Previously, the project had set ambitious goals to become a major player in the decentralized finance space. However, the recent crisis raises serious concerns about investor trust going forward.