Mantra CEO Mullin Proposes Burning 772,000 OM Tokens to Restore Confidence After 30% Surge

In response to the recent collapse of the Mantra (OM) cryptocurrency, CEO John Patrick Mullin has proposed a bold plan to burn the team’s OM tokens in an effort to restore investor confidence. This move comes as the OM token shows signs of recovery, surging by double digits over the past day. Mullin revealed his plans in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “I’m planning to burn all of my team tokens, and when we turn it around, the community and investors can decide if I have earned it back.”

Mullin explained that all team allocations, totaling 300 million OM (16.88% of the 1.78 billion total supply), remain locked under a vesting schedule until April 2027. After the cliff period, the tokens will begin to vest gradually, with full vesting expected to be completed by October 2029. However, Crypto Banter founder Ran Neuner has voiced concerns about the plan, cautioning that burning the incentive may seem like a good gesture but could hurt the team’s motivation in the long term. Neuner suggested that the team should focus on improving the project and its value, which would naturally restore investor confidence over time.

Mullin clarified that his plan would initially apply only to his personal share of tokens, which he recently disclosed to be 772,000 OM tokens. He also proposed an alternative, which could involve allocating the tokens to a community-controlled dispersal mechanism. “Regardless, we keep building,” he added. While the plans are still being finalized, Mullin revealed that the team will share further details about a proposed OM crypto token buyback program and a supply burn initiative after releasing a comprehensive post-mortem report. The report will address what went behind the OM crash.

On April 13, it was reported that OM’s price plunged from $6.3 to below $0.5, erasing over $5.5 billion in market capitalization. The collapse has significantly eroded investor trust, with Mantra now facing serious allegations of orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme. Despite this, Mullin maintains that the team had nothing to do with it. In a recent interview, the Mantra CEO confirmed that the team did not sell a single OM token. He explained that the team had published a transparency report the previous week outlining all the team wallets and holdings, stating that the team’s tokens are long-vested and have not been moved. “We don’t have leverage position on exchanges. We don’t do that,” he said.

Mullin also acknowledged that the Mantra Chain Association has made over-the-counter (OTC) transactions totaling $25-$30 million to fund business operations. However, he detailed that these tokens remain locked, with vesting periods starting later this month. “None of the OTC sales that we’ve had have actually been executed yet. So the tokens are all still locked,” Mullin remarked. Meanwhile, the OM crypto token appears to be recovering in the aftermath of the crash, surging by 30% over the past 24 hours. At the time of reporting, OM was trading at $0.78.