MANTRA's OM Token Plunges 90% in 24 Hours, Losing $6 Billion

On April 13, 2025, the native token of the MANTRA blockchain project, OM, experienced a dramatic plunge of over 90% within a single day. The price of OM dropped from around $6.30 to below $0.50, resulting in the erasure of over US$6 billion from its market capitalization in less than 24 hours. This sudden collapse occurred during a period of thin weekend trading, which amplified its impact across the broader decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.

Some traders and observers described the event as an apparent rug pull, drawing comparisons to past market collapses such as Terra’s LUNA and the FTX fallout. Investor Gordon, who posted on X, suggested that the MANTRA team may have been holding a large amount of the token’s supply and that the market “sold everything.” He warned that OM could “head to zero” unless the team responds decisively.

The MANTRA team has denied allegations of insider trading or intentional wrongdoing. In a statement, the project attributed the crash to “reckless liquidations.” The team claimed that the protocol’s core fundamentals remain intact and that “Today’s activity was triggered by reckless liquidations, not anything to do with the project.”

JP Mullin, CEO and co-founder of MANTRA, offered further explanation. He claimed that a major OM holder faced a forced liquidation on a centralized exchange, which triggered a cascade of sell-offs. Mullin said the closures were initiated suddenly and without adequate warning, during low-liquidity hours in Asia. He suggested this may point to negligence by exchanges or possibly deliberate market manipulation. Mullin also stated that the sell-off did not involve the MANTRA core team, its foundation, advisors, or early investors.

Ran Neuner, a prominent crypto commentator, pushed back against claims of a classic rug pull. “I’m not telling anyone to buy but if it’s not a rug, this is not a natural dump,” he said, implying deeper structural issues may be at play. MANTRA is known for its focus on real-world asset tokenization and operates as a permissionless Layer 1 blockchain. The platform attracted investors looking for exposure to tokenized real estate, infrastructure, and other off-chain assets.

However, this week’s collapse casts doubt on its future. It also raises concerns about projects with concentrated token supply and reliance on centralized liquidity. The team has said a detailed post-mortem will follow. For now, OM continues to trade near multi-month lows as traders await clarity.