Mantra CEO John Mullin addressed the recent collapse of the OM token in an AMA session.
Mantra CEO John Mullin addressed the recent collapse of the OM token in an AMA session. The token’s value plummeted from $0.73 to a low of $0.52 on April 13, sparking concerns within the community about potential insider trading and transparency in Mantra's operations.
Mullin denied allegations that key Mantra investors, including Laser Digital, sold large amounts of OM tokens before the price drop. He emphasized that the company and its partners had not engaged in any insider selling. “The Mantra association, our key investors, our advisers—no one has sold,” Mullin stated. Blockchain analysis from Arkham Intelligence suggested that Laser Digital-linked wallets moved millions of OM tokens to exchanges, but Laser Digital denied any involvement in the transactions, calling the claims misleading.
Mullin also rejected claims that Mantra controls 90% of the OM token supply, which had been circulating on social media. He pointed to a community transparency report that was posted the previous week, which listed all of Mantra's token holdings and detailed the different wallets.
He speculated that much of the selling pressure came from an unnamed exchange that had used OM tokens as collateral. When the exchange liquidated the positions, it caused a wave of sell orders, contributing to the token’s price crash.
Mullin also discussed the $109 million Mantra Ecosystem Fund (MEF), launched in collaboration with investors like Laser Digital and Shorooq Partners. The fund was intended to support the broader ecosystem, and Mullin said that it would continue to invest in the recovery of the OM token. The MEF includes contributions in both OM tokens and dollars, and Mullin reassured the community that the company would remain committed to the ecosystem's long-term growth.
Regarding transactions that had raised suspicions, Mullin addressed the involvement of wallets linked to Shorooq Partners, another investor in the MEF. A wallet associated with Shorooq’s Shane Shin received a transfer of OM tokens before the crash, but Shin denied any involvement in selling the tokens. He clarified that it was a wallet-to-wallet transaction and not a sale to an exchange.
Mullin concluded by stressing that Mantra is focused on addressing the situation transparently. The company is in the early stages of developing a plan to recover the OM token, which may include buybacks and potential token burns.
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