OM Token Faces Turbulent Week: Crash, Recovery Efforts, and Community Response
April 20, 2025 – The cryptocurrency market was rocked last week by a dramatic 90% crash of Mantra’s $OM token on April 13, plummeting from $6.30 to under $0.50 in mere hours, wiping out over $5 billion in market capitalization. The sudden collapse sent shockwaves through the crypto community, sparking allegations of market manipulation, insider dumping, and liquidity issues. Here’s a roundup of the latest developments surrounding the OM token saga.
### The Crash: What Happened?
On April 13, blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reported that 17 wallets, including two allegedly linked to Mantra investor Laser Digital, moved 43.6 million OM tokens—worth approximately $227 million—to centralized exchanges just before the crash. This triggered a liquidity crisis, exacerbated by low trading volume during a weekend, causing the token’s price to nosedive.
Speculation ran rampant on platforms like X, with some users claiming the Mantra team had orchestrated a mass sell-off or abandoned the project entirely. One post on X alleged that the team “unloaded its entire volume,” while others pointed to private over-the-counter (OTC) deals at steep discounts as a potential catalyst. However, Mantra’s CEO, John Mullin, swiftly denied these claims, asserting that no project-affiliated wallets sold tokens and that the team was investigating the incident.
Further analysis revealed that Mantra and its market makers may have exploited vulnerabilities in data aggregators’ self-reporting systems to inflate OM’s liquidity metrics. By cycling tokens among controlled addresses, they allegedly created the illusion of robust trading activity, which collapsed when a large holder attempted to liquidate their position.
### Mantra’s Response: Buybacks and Burns
In an effort to restore confidence, Mantra released a statement on April 16, emphasizing that the crash did not involve team token sales and outlining plans for greater transparency. On April 17, CEO John Mullin announced a forthcoming token buyback and supply burn program to stabilize the market and boost OM’s value. A post on X from April 19 indicated that these initiatives had already begun, with Mullin actively promoting the measures to the community.
Mantra also pledged to build a dashboard displaying live balances of tokenomics buckets to enhance market transparency. “To the community of OM traders, you have long believed in MANTRA,” Mullin stated, signaling a long-term commitment to the project.
### Market and Community Sentiment
As of April 14, OM’s price had slightly recovered to between $0.65 and $0.80, though trading volume remained low, reflecting shaken investor trust. Reports surfaced of 1.2 million OM tokens being moved to an unknown address, fueling fears of further selling. Exchanges like HTX and Poloniex were mentioned in connection with ongoing OM-related activities, though details remain unclear.[]
The crypto community on X has been vocal, with sentiments ranging from outrage to cautious optimism. Some users criticized the team’s handling of the crisis, pointing to the deletion of Mantra’s Telegram channel as a red flag. Others, however, praised the project’s fundamentals, citing its $1-billion deal to tokenize Dubai-based Damac Group’s real estate and a Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) license as signs of long-term potential.
### Broader Implications
The OM token crash has exposed critical vulnerabilities in the crypto market, particularly around liquidity and transparency. Industry figures have called for mandatory disclosure of market-making agreements to prevent similar incidents, highlighting the need for stronger regulatory oversight.
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