Despite its ambitions and recent strides, including securing a coveted VASP license from Dubai's VARA to operate as a legitimate virtual asset exchange
In a surprising turn of events, Mantra, the crypto project that was making waves with its rapid growth and innovative approach to real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, has seen a dramatic decline in its market cap. Over the past year, Mantra soared to new heights with an impressive 640% gain. However, within a 24-hour period, this aspiring crypto colossus witnessed a fall from grace as its market cap plummeted from $6 billion to a meager $485 million. This spectacular crash has left crypto enthusiasts around the globe scratching their heads and rushing to unpack the startling series of events.
Despite its ambitions and recent strides, including securing a coveted VASP license from Dubai’s VARA to operate as a legitimate virtual asset exchange, Mantra now faces an uncertain fate. The company’s ecosystem fund, dubbed the MEF, had grand plans to nurture global RWA and DeFi projects, aiming to provide OM-token grants and strategic capital investments. The goal was to fortify the future of lending, trading, asset management, and more. Moreover, a landmark $1-billion tokenization venture with DAMAC Group was anticipated to revolutionize the real estate and hospitality sectors.
However, members of the crypto community, known for their keen observation and analysis, began raising concerns. A research analyst, who uses the pseudonym Choze, drew a stark comparison between Mantra’s downfall and the catastrophic collapse of the Terra ecosystem in May 2022. The analyst made unsettling allegations that the core OM team liquidated their entire holdings, a maneuver that saw 90% of the token’s circulating supply vanish into thin air. This move effectively wiped out over $3.5 billion in market cap.
To put this into perspective, the core OM team members, having joined with zero capital and no startup costs, managed to siphon off an estimated $3.42 billion in liquidity over the past 18 months. In contrast, projects like OpenAI, known for developing the advanced language model ChatGPT, secured a $10-billion valuation after five years of developing an LLM from scratch and amassing a user base of over 1,000.
Furthermore, rumors swirled online about Mantra abruptly shutting down their official Telegram group, adding another layer of skepticism from the crypto community. As one prominent figure put it, “It’s ironic how quickly they deleted their Telegram group after dumping 90% of their tokens and wiping out $3.5 billion in user funds.” Another critic, TrimBot, an advocate for real-world asset tokens, slammed the entire meltdown as “pure market manipulation.”
Amid the looming shadow of controversy, Mantra’s CEO Patrick Mullin, in a previous statement, had expressed optimism for the brand new MEF. He described the fund as an “on-ramp for the next wave of blockchain innovation.” Mullin also hinted at strategic partnerships with a spectrum of global capital partners who are ready to bolster emerging blockchain ventures. These partnerships will be crucial for providing liquidity and resilience to new projects in the face of market shifts.
Despite multiple attempts to reach out to Mantra and its associated partners like Three Point Capital for comment, communications have been limited. Efforts to contact them via email and Telegram have yet to yield any response. As the saga continues to unfold, only time will tell whether Mantra can recover from this precipitous collapse or if its dreams were merely castles in the air. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the volatile and unpredictable nature of the crypto universe.
