OM Token Recovers 30% After Devastating 90% Crash

MANTRA's token OM has staged a partial recovery, climbing approximately 30% after suffering a devastating 90% crash over the weekend.

MANTRA’s token OM has staged a partial recovery, climbing approximately 30% after suffering a devastating 90% crash over the weekend. At press time, OM is trading at approximately $0.78, according to both Coingecko and BeInCrypto. The token reached an intraday high of $0.91 on Tuesday, suggesting renewed buying interest despite ongoing market uncertainty.

At the beginning of the weekend, the token was trading above $6.30. Within hours, it plummeted to around $0.52, erasing over $5.5 billion in market capitalization. By Monday morning, the token had fallen further to lows of $0.47.

The dramatic price collapse triggered widespread speculation across the crypto community, with some accusing the team of orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme. MANTRA responded on social media that the crash resulted from large-scale forced liquidations, claiming these were unrelated to the project’s performance or internal operations.

No external hack or technical failure has been confirmed in connection with the price drop.

CEO Pledges Personal Token Burn and Buyback Program

John Patrick Mullin, MANTRA’s co-founder and CEO, took to social media to address the situation.

“We are preparing a full breakdown of what happened starting early Monday morning in Asia. The data will tell the full story—on-chain and off-chain,” Mullin stated in a post.

In a move to restore investor confidence, Mullin announced plans to burn his personal allocation of 772,000 OM tokens, representing 0.25% of the team’s share.

“I’m planning to burn all of my team tokens, and when we turn it around, the community and investors can decide if I have earned it back,” he wrote.

Mullin also promised a token buyback program and a reduction in overall supply once the post-mortem report is made public. No specific timeline or amount has been shared regarding these proposed actions.

The CEO highlighted that the team’s entire allocation of 300 million OM tokens (16.88% of the 1.78 billion total supply) remains locked under a vesting schedule until April 2027, with full vesting expected by October 2029.

“None of the OTC sales that we’ve had actually been executed yet. So the tokens are all still locked,” Mullin explained during an interview.

The teams token allocation are actually vesting only starting in 2027, which is 30 months from mainnet launch (Oct. 24).

I’m planning to burn all of my team tokens and when we turn it around the community and investors can decide if I have earned it back. 🫡🕉️https://t.co/ZQR1H5xAqF

— JP Mullin (🕉, 🏘️) (@jp_mullin888) April 15, 2025

Industry Reactions Mixed

Not everyone agrees with Mullin’s proposed token burn strategy. Crypto Banter founder Ran Neuner expressed concerns about the plan, suggesting it could harm long-term team motivation.

“This would be a mistake. We want teams that are highly incentivized. Burning the incentive may seem like a good gesture but it will hurt the team motivation long term,” Neuner stated.

In response to Neuner’s comment, Mullin clarified that his plan would initially apply only to his personal token allocation, with the possibility of allocating tokens to a community-controlled dispersal mechanism.

Meanwhile, Nomura’s Laser Digital, which has been an investor in MANTRA since 2024, issued a statement refuting claims that early backers triggered the drop.

“There have been no large withdrawals or coordinated sales from our side. Our position in MANTRA remains unchanged. We continue to be interested in the development of the project and engaging with the community,” the company said.

Previous Concerns Resurface

Following the crash, earlier concerns about MANTRA’s token supply distribution have resurfaced. Critics argued that the team holds too much of the token’s float, potentially making the market more vulnerable during price swings.

However, Mullin vehemently denied any involvement in price manipulation.

“We do not manipulate the price, and we’ve been transparent about how the token is structured. There’s no malicious intent or anything like that,” he asserted.

The CEO also acknowledged that the MANTRA Chain Association has made over-the-counter transactions totaling $25-$30 million to fund business operations. However, he emphasized that these tokens remain locked with vesting periods beginning later this month.

Jean Rausis, co-founder of SMARDEX, suggested that the collapse highlights the vulnerabilities of newer blockchain projects.

“This is a reminder that projects launched with