The CEO of Mantra, JP Mullin, asserts that the recent price decline of OM was the result of forced liquidations by centralized exchanges.
On April 13, the value of Mantra (OM) plummeted by over 90%, dropping from approximately $6.30 to under $0.50 in just a few hours. In a post on April 14, Mullin attributed this dramatic fall to sudden forced liquidations occurring during hours of low liquidity on a Sunday evening UTC, which he suggested may have exacerbated the market reaction.
Mullin emphasized that the sell-off was not linked to any token sales from either the Mantra team or its investors, affirming that OM tokens are still locked as part of the project’s vesting plan. He also reaffirmed the project’s commitment for the long term and requested ongoing support from the community.
Nevertheless, several independent analysts have presented opposing views. Analyst Max Brown suggested that the sell-off was initiated when a wallet, believed to be linked to the Mantra team, deposited 3.9 million OM tokens on OKX. Given that the team is reported to control nearly 90% of the total supply, this action sparked market alarm and led to a rapid sell-off.
This drastic sell-off wiped out over $5.5 billion in market capitalization, reducing OM’s total market cap from $6 billion to below $485 million at its lowest. Currently, the token is valued at $0.8623, a 90% decrease from its all-time high of $8.99 in February. OM’s trading volume surged over 2,500% in the past 24 hours, reaching $1.9 billion, as reported by price trackers.
Initially launched as a compliant layer-1 aimed at real-world assets, Mantra has garnered attention in recent months for its partnerships and regulatory advancements. In January, it finalized a $1 billion agreement with DAMAC, a prominent real estate firm, to tokenize assets. Furthermore, in February, Mantra was authorized to operate legally in the UAE after obtaining a license from Dubai’s VARA for virtual asset services.
Despite this progress, the crash has reignited prior critiques of the project. A notable news channel on social media shared a 2021 warning about Mantra’s founding team, citing connections to a gambling site and past unproven investment claims. Some traders have raised concerns regarding transparency and exchange protocols, likening the crash to previous collapses such as that of Terra.