Mantra’s OM Crashes 90% in Bizarre Selloff as Team Alleges ‘Forced Liquidations’

Crypto merchants had been reminded of Terra’s LUNA early Monday as stylish real-world asset upstart Mantra’s OM token dropped 90% inside hours on no sudden catalyst — with conspiracy theories and allegations operating abound amongst crypto circles.

OM plunged from over $6 to only over 40 cents late Sunday to early Monday in sometimes low liquidity hours for the crypto market — the place outsized volumes can set off huge value actions in both course.

“We want to assure you that MANTRA is fundamentally strong,” the workforce mentioned in an X put up following the value drop. “Today’s activity was triggered by reckless liquidations, not anything to do with the project. One thing we want to be clear on: this was not our team. We are looking into it and will share more details about what happened as soon as we can.”

Mantra lets customers tokenize real-world belongings (RWAs) like actual property and commodities, enabling compliant digital investments in tangible belongings. Its OM token facilitates transactions and governance.

In January 2025, Mantra partnered with DAMAC Group, a UAE-based conglomerate, to tokenize $1 billion in belongings, together with actual property, hospitality, and knowledge facilities.

OM was among the many greatest market gainers in 2024, rising greater than 400% on comparatively low public dialog on crypto-related social media – which intrigued merchants and buyers alike on the power of the transfer.

Meanwhile, co-founder John Patrick Mullin alleged the motion was doubtless resulting from exchanges closing OM positions, which impacted all market publicity.

“We have determined that the OM market movements were triggered by reckless forced closures initiated by centralized exchanges on OM account holders,” Mullin mentioned in an X put up. “The timing and depth of the crash suggest that a very sudden closure of account positions was initiated without sufficient warning or notice.”

He additional alleged “intentional market positioning taken by centralized exchanges.”

OM-tracked futures recorded over $50 million in liquidations on the lengthy aspect, a file determine for the tokens. Open curiosity slumped from $345 million to only over $130 million, indicating a fast exit for unsettled futures bets.

Some outstanding crypto voices aren’t shopping for that narrative, nonetheless, with scores of dismissive replies underneath Mullin’s posts.

OKX founder Star Xu added in a response to a separate put up that flagged over $220 million in token deposits to exchanges earlier than the value crash.

“It’s a big scandal to the whole crypto industry. All of the onchain unlock and deposit data is public, all major exchanges’ collateral and liquidation data can be investigated. OKX will make all of the reports ready,” Xu mentioned.