Mantra Token Plummets 90%: Team Blames Exchange Liquidations as Market Cap Shrinks to $683 Million

On Sunday evening, Mantra's OM token experienced a catastrophic crash, plunging more than 90% in a matter of hours and triggering over $71.8 million in liquidations. The token, which was trading around $6.30 yesterday, now sits at approximately $0.70, with its market capitalization drastically reduced from nearly $6 billion to just $683.09 million.

Source: CoinMarketCap Mantra Price

OKX Exchange Issues Statement on Price Collapse

The exchange noted that the initial price drop occurred around 2:28:32 am (UTC+8) on April 14, with "a rapid price drop and increased trading volume first appearing on other exchanges, followed by a sharp drop of more than 80% in the entire market in a short period of time."

OKX's analysis indicates potential structural issues with the token, stating that "based on the on-chain public data and the internal data of the exchange, the project token economic model has undergone major changes since October 2024." The exchange also revealed that "since the beginning of March, multiple on-chain addresses with similar operation modes have experienced large deposits and withdrawals from various exchanges."

In response to these risks, OKX has "adjusted a series of risk control parameters" and added risk warnings on the OM token page. The exchange emphasized that "recent market risks are relatively high, and some tokens may have significant changes in token supply, which will have significant fluctuations and impacts on token prices."

Forced Liquidations Blamed

Mantra's co-founder, John Patrick Mullin, quickly addressed the situation through the project's official channels, attributing the collapse to "reckless forced closures initiated by centralized exchanges on OM account holders" rather than any action by the team.

"The timing and depth of the crash suggest that a very sudden closure of account positions was initiated without sufficient warning or notice," Mullin stated in a post on social media platform X. He pointed out that the incident occurred "during low-liquidity hours on a Sunday evening UTC (early morning Asia time)," suggesting "a degree of negligence at best, or possibly intentional market positioning taken by centralized exchanges."

According to data from Coinglass, the crash resulted in more than $74.7 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, with ten positions each experiencing liquidations exceeding $1 million.

Source: Coinglass

Team Denies "Rug Pull" Allegations

Market investor Gordon compared the situation to previous crypto disasters, writing: "[The] team needs to address this or OM looks like it could head to zero, biggest rug pull since LUNA/FTX?"

Mantra executives have firmly denied these allegations, with Mullin providing verification addresses for the team's token holdings to prove they remain locked as scheduled. "To be clear, this dislocation was not caused by the team, the MANTRA Chain Association, its core advisors, or MANTRA's investors selling tokens. Tokens remain locked and subject to the published vesting periods," the team stated in their community update.

Arkham Intelligence data indicates Mantra DAO had burned approximately 21 million OM tokens in separate transactions on April 2, though this appears unrelated to the current crisis.