Another Day, Another Billion-Dollar Crypto Wipeout That Puts This Industry’s Reputation at Stake

MANTRA’s native token, OM, cratered more than 90% within 24 hours on April 13, plummeting from US$6.3 (AU$10) to under US$0.50 (AU$0.80)

Another day, another billion-dollar crypto wipeout that puts this industry’s reputation at stake, I guess.

MANTRA’S native token, OM, cratered more than 90% within 24 hours on April 13, plummelling from US$6.3 (AU$10) to under US$0.50 (AU$0.80) and erasing over US$6B (AU$9.6B) in market value, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

The collapse sent shockwaves across the crypto space, with several community members labelling it the biggest rug-pull since the infamous LUNA and FTX disasters.

At press time, the token is… well, you just have to look at the chart:

In a pinned message in the project’s Telegram group (which has since been locked to new members), community lead Dustin McDaniel told users the team is “aware of concerns” and is actively investigating the situation.

Moments later, MANTRA’s official X account posted a statement blaming “reckless liquidations”, not project-related wrongdoing (wink):

Co-founder John Patrick Mullin added that the chaos stemmed from a “massive forced liquidation from a large OM investor on a CEX”, though he didn’t name the exchange. Classic.

But traders, investors, and many community members are sceptical of the “reckless liquidation” narrative, citing the suspiciously fast and deep plunge, as well as the token’s thin liquidity. Others have demanded a full post-mortem to determine whether the drop was caused by poor risk management, internal selling, or another orchestrated dump.

Yet, too soon to know if there’s a recovery plan. There is not even a detailed post-mortem and no confirmed timeline for… well, anything. Until then, it looks like MANTRA’s OM joins the very long list of tokens buried in the crypto cemetery.

Moreover, the project has faced allegations over insiders holding a disproportionate control over the token’s circulating supply. Concerns started spreading when crypto user Anon Vee on X (formerly Twitter) shared that MANTRA’s team controls 90% of circulating supply.

Mullin dismissed those concerns in a post on X, stating that OM has been in circulation since August 2020, “longer than most of these people have been in crypto”, he added.

It doesn’t stop there. A Hong Kong court ordered six MANTRA DAO members to disclose financial records amid accusations of misappropriating DAO assets back in August 2024, according to reports.

It’s also quite an insane moment for this to happen to MANTRA. Earlier this year, MANTRA signed a US$1B (AU$1.60B) tokenisation deal with DAMAC, the Dubai-based investment giant, to bring real estate, data centers, and other physical assets onto its blockchain.

A month later, the project secured a virtual asset service provider license from Dubai’s VARA, opening the door to a range of regulated services in the UAE.