The MANTRA crypto project faced controversy as the OM token dropped 90% on Sunday. Investors accused insiders of dumping their held tokens, leading to a market cap evaporation of around $5 billion.
MANTRA blames the historic crash of the OM token on 'reckless liquidation.'
MANTRA is known for tokenizing real-world assets (RWA) and its collaborations with Google Cloud and DAMAC Group. Its OM token fell from over $6 to $0.37 in less than 24 hours. The token peaked at $9 in early 2025 and was trading at around $1.03 as of 7:40 PM EST. Social media posts claimed that the team or related market makers sold 90% of the circulating tokens, but MANTRA denied any involvement.
This drop is the largest single-day decline in the history of cryptocurrencies, prompting allegations of market manipulation. Critics accuse the team or insiders of dumping tokens in over-the-counter (OTC) trades and deleting MANTRA's Telegram group, cutting off communication with investors. Social media is rife with various fraud allegations, with some comparing it to the collapse of Terra Luna in 2022.
MANTRA's X account attributes this to the 'reckless liquidation' by external actors and promises to release details soon. 'MANTRA community—we want to assure you that the foundation of MANTRA is very solid. Today's event was triggered by reckless liquidation and is unrelated to the project,' the team stated. 'One thing we want to clarify: this is not the doing of our team. We are investigating this matter and will share more details as soon as possible.'
Onchain detective ZachXBT responded: 'The market cap of OM plummeted over 90% from $5.9 billion in just a few days, down to $500 million, what kind of statement is that?' Another user wrote: 'Reckless liquidation is still fresh to me.'
Investors are calling for legal action, with some referring to the incident as a 'scam.' As the investigation continues, the event highlights the volatility risks associated with certain decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, especially those linked to traditional assets. MANTRA's response—or lack thereof—could affect its future development and the broader trust in the tokenized ecosystem.#币安投票上币
