Mantra’s OM Crashes 90% in Bizarre Selloff as Team Alleges ‘Forced Liquidations’

Crypto traders were reminded of the Terra’s LUNA incident early Monday when the OM token from the trendy real-world asset platform Mantra plummeted by 90% within hours without any clear trigger, leading to a swirl of conspiracy theories and accusations in crypto communities.

The OM token fell from over $6 to approximately 40 cents late Sunday to early Monday during the typical low liquidity time of the crypto market, where sudden volumes can cause significant shifts in prices.

“We want to assure you that MANTRA is fundamentally sound,” the team stated in a post after the sharp decline. “Today’s activity was driven by reckless liquidations and has nothing to do with our project. To be clear, this was not initiated by our team. We are investigating and will provide updates as soon as possible.”

Mantra offers a platform for users to tokenize real-world assets (RWAs) such as real estate and commodities, enabling legal digital investments in physical assets. The OM token is used for transactions and governance within the ecosystem.

In January 2025, Mantra collaborated with DAMAC Group, a UAE-based conglomerate, to tokenize $1 billion worth of assets, including real estate and hospitality ventures.

OM was one of the top performers in the market in 2024, increasing over 400% amid relatively low social media chatter regarding cryptocurrencies, which caught the attention of traders and investors who were curious about the reasons behind such a surge.

Meanwhile, co-founder John Patrick Mullin speculated that the drastic price drop was likely attributed to exchanges closing out OM positions, affecting market exposure overall.

“We have found that the fluctuations in the OM token were a result of reckless forced closures implemented by centralized exchanges affecting OM account holders,” Mullin said. “The timing and scale of the crash imply that account positions were abruptly closed with insufficient notice.”

He also suggested there may have been “intentional market positioning by centralized exchanges.”

Futures tied to OM experienced over $50 million in long position liquidations, marking a record for the token. Open interest plummeted from $345 million to just above $130 million, suggesting a rapid withdrawal from unsettled futures positions.

However, some notable figures in the crypto space are skeptical of this explanation, with numerous dismissive comments beneath Mullin’s statements.

OKX founder Star Xu remarked in response to a separate tweet about over $220 million in token deposits to exchanges preceding the price crash, calling it a significant scandal for the entire crypto industry. He noted, “All on-chain unlock and deposit data is publicly available, and liquidation data from major exchanges can be scrutinized. OKX will prepare all reports accordingly,” Xu stated.