Token Crashes 90% as Team Blames Exchange Liquidations

TLDR

• MANTRA’s OM token crashed by 90% on April 13, plummeting from $6.30 to below $0.50
• Co-founder John Mullin blames “reckless forced closures” by centralized exchanges
• Blockchain data shows 43.6 million OM tokens (4.5% of circulating supply) were deposited into exchanges since April 7
• Some traders lost hundreds of millions, with one group’s estimated loss at $406.3 million
• The crash occurred during low-liquidity hours on Sunday evening UTC/early morning Asia time

MANTRA, a blockchain platform focused on real-world asset tokenization, experienced a catastrophic market event on April 13 when its native token OM crashed by 90% in a matter of hours. The sudden price collapse wiped out over $5 billion in market capitalization and triggered intense speculation about its cause.

The price drop occurred during what are typically low-liquidity trading hours – Sunday evening UTC and early morning Asia time. OM fell from $6.30 to below $0.50 in approximately 90 minutes, according to market data.

MANTRA co-founder John Patrick Mullin quickly addressed the situation on social media platform X. “We have determined that the OM market movements were triggered by reckless forced closures initiated by centralized exchanges on OM account holders,” Mullin wrote.

The team did not have a loan outstanding. This was only related to 3rd party investor positions on CEXs. https://t.co/Il3RFjie63

— JP Mullin (🕉, 🏘️) (@jp_mullin888) April 14, 2025

The timing of the crash raises questions. Mullin suggested that “a very sudden closure of account positions was initiated without sufficient warning or notice” by exchanges. He further stated this points to “a degree of negligence at best, or possibly intentional market positioning taken by centralized exchanges.”

Exchange Activity Before the Crash

Blockchain data shows unusual token movements in the days leading up to the collapse. According to analytics platform Lookonchain, at least 17 wallets deposited 43.6 million OM tokens into crypto exchanges starting April 7, representing 4.5% of the circulating supply.

Spot On Chain, another blockchain analytics platform, reported that some large OM holders moved 14.27 million tokens to the crypto exchange OKX three days before the crash. These same holders had purchased 84.15 million OM for $564.7 million in March.

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 financial impact on these holders appears severe. After the 90% price drop, their remaining 69.08 million OM tokens were worth just $62.2 million, suggesting a potential loss of $406.3 million. However, the analytics firm noted they may have hedged positions elsewhere.

OKX founder Star Xu commented on social media that “It’s a big scandal to the whole crypto industry. All of the onchain unlock and deposit data is public, all major exchanges’ collateral and liquidation data can be investigated. OKX will make all of the reports ready.”

Market Impact and Trading Data

The market response was swift and brutal. OM-tracked futures recorded over $50 million in liquidations on long positions alone, a record figure for the token. Open interest in OM futures contracts dropped from $345 million to just over $130 million, indicating a rapid exit by traders.

After the initial crash, OM briefly recovered above $1 but soon dropped again to trade around $0.78, according to CoinGecko data. The token hit an all-time high of just under $9 on February 23 and is now down over 91% from that peak.

Some community members have questioned the token’s fundamentals. Critics pointed to MANTRA’s total value locked (TVL) of only around $13 million compared to the token’s fully-diluted value of $9.5 billion before the crash, viewing this disparity as a potential warning sign.

Company Response

MANTRA quickly moved to defend its reputation amid the market chaos. “We want to assure you that MANTRA is fundamentally strong,” the team posted on X. “Today’s activity was triggered by reckless liquidations, not anything to do with the project.”

Mullin denied theories that the crash resulted from team selling or a so-called “rug pull.” He stated, “Tokens remain locked and subject to the published vesting periods. OM’s tokenomics remain intact, as shared last week in our latest token report.”

The project announced it would hold a community call on X where more information would be provided. The team has stated they are still working to determine which specific exchange may have been responsible for the situation.

MANTRA launched in 2020 and has established itself in the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization space. In January 2025, MANTRA and investment conglomerate DAMAC signed a $1 billion deal to tokenize various assets including real estate and data centers. The project also received a virtual asset service provider license from Dubai’s regulatory authority in February.

The OM token crash serves as a stark reminder of the volatility that can affect even established cryptocurrency projects, particularly during low-liquidity trading hours when large sell orders can have outsized market impacts.