Mantra CEO John Mullin Addresses Key Concerns from the Community Following the Sharp Decline in the OM Token

John Mullin reassured users that Mantra and its partners are actively working to support the recovery of the Mantra (OM) token

Mantra CEO John Mullin addressed key concerns from the community following the sharp decline in the Om (OM) token during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session hosted by Cointelegraph on April 14.

As the price of Om fell to lows of $0.52 on April 13 at around 7:30 pm UTC, according to data from CoinGecko, community members took to social media to express their worries, particularly regarding large transactions and the status of the Mantra Ecosystem Fund (MEF).

In response, Mullin reassured users that Mantra (pronounced "om") and its partners are actively working to support the recovery of the Om token, though he noted that details around token buybacks and potential burns are still being developed.

“We’re still in the early stages of putting together this plan for potential buyback of tokens,” the CEO said, adding that the Om token recovery is Mantra’s “preeminent and primary concern right now.”

At the time of writing, Om is trading at $0.73, slightly higher than its post-collapse low of $0.52.

“We’re still in the early stages of putting together this plan for potential buyback of tokens and also looking at the possibility of burning tokens to reduce the supply. But we’re actively working with our partners and investors to determine the best course of action.”

In addition to denying reports claiming that key Mantra investors dumped the Om token pre-crash, the Mantra CEO also addressed allegations that the Mantra team controls 90% of the token’s supply.

“I think it’s baseless. We posted a community transparency report last week, and it shows all the different wallets,” Mullin said, highlighting the “two sides” of Mantra’s tokenomics.

“You have the Ethereum side and you have the mainnet side. The Ethereum-based token is hard capped and has been around since August 2020. We’ve always said that the original Om, which is the one that’s listed on Binance, is a snapshot of the mainnet token. So, when the mainnet launched on March 30, there was a mapping of the balances from Ethereum to mainnet.”

According to Etherscan records, the biggest holder of Om on exchange is Binance, which aligns with Mullin’s statement. However, the top Om wallet is currently held by crypto exchange OKX, which controls 14% of the circulating supply, or roughly 130 million tokens.

Moreover, Mullin addressed the Mantra Ecosystem Fund, which was launched on April 7 in collaboration with major strategic investors, including Laser Digital and Shorooq. Other investors in the fund also included Brevan Howard Digital, Valor Capital, Three Point Capital, Amber Group, Manifold, UoB Venture, Damac, Fuse, LVNA Capital, Forte and others.

According to Mullin, the fund does not solely consist of Mantra’s Om token and has “dollar commitments and dollar contributions.”

“We’re still in the early stages of putting together this plan for potential buyback of tokens and also looking at the possibility of burning tokens to reduce the supply. But we’re actively working with our partners and investors to determine the best course of action. We’ll continue to invest and support the ecosystem as part of this recovery plan.”

The interview also touched upon a 38-million-Om transaction to the Binance cold wallet that occurred on April 14, which community members observed post-crash.

“It was actually Binance. They had Om tokens on the exchange that they were using for a staking program. So, they just returned them because the staking program ended. The transactions that you’re referring to post-crash were also largely related to an unnamed exchange making collaterals. Effectively, those tokens were being used as collateral on an exchange. Then, the exchange decided that it was not the position they wanted to maintain anymore, for whatever reason.”

In response to a question about a statement from a community member who claimed to have lost $100,000 in savings due to the Om crash, Mullin offered his deepest regrets.

“I can’t express how sorry I am for everyone who lost money or savings. We’re doing everything we can to recover from this incident and support our community through it. We’re committed to continuing this conversation with the community and keeping everyone updated on our progress.”

As Mantra navigates this uncharted territory, the company remains committed to addressing the situation as transparently as possible.

“We’re not running from anything. We’re trying to deal with it head-on. It’s a very unfortunate situation, and we’re doing our best to mitigate the damage and support those who have been affected.”