The crypto world witnessed one of its worst disasters when the Mantra token crashed. This catastrophic event erased £4.2 billion in market value within hours. The token’s price took a devastating hit as it fell from £6.3 to less than £0.50, making it one of the steepest single-day drops in crypto markets this year.
This collapse rivals the notorious LUNA disaster, with Mantra’s OM token losing 90% of its value. Blockchain data showed a concerning pattern – a single wallet held 792 million OM tokens, which represented 90% of all tokens. Only 10-20% of tokens were available for trading. This unprecedented crash rattled the crypto community and raised red flags about real-life asset tokens and how centralised exchanges operate.
Mantra Token Plunges 90% as £4.2B Vanishes in Hours
Mantra’s OM token crashed on April 13, 2025. The price fell from £5 to under £0.40 in just hours. This crash wiped out £4.2 billion of market value as investors helplessly watched their investments disappear.
Trading volume shot up by 3,425% to £2.1 billion on various exchanges. Traders lost over £55 million to liquidations in just 12 hours. Many people drew parallels between this crash and 2022’s LUNA collapse.
The blockchain data showed suspicious activity days before the crash. A group of 17 wallets moved 43.6 million OM tokens to exchanges. These tokens were worth £180 million at that time. The amount represented 4.5% of tokens in circulation and hinted at possible insider selling.
The token’s weakness became clear during the crash. The project team owned up to 90% of all tokens – about 792 million OM tokens. This left only 10-20% available for trading. Such high concentration made the market unstable and unable to handle heavy selling.
Network activity exploded at the peak of the crisis. Transfer count reached 1,400 transactions in just 10 minutes. Active addresses jumped to 574, which showed panic selling across the network rather than just a few sellers. On top of that, rumours spread about OTC deals offering tokens at half price before the crash. This made the market even more nervous.
OKX exchange later reported the price drop started at 2:28:32 am (UTC+8) on April 14. They noted “a rapid price drop and increased trading volume first appearing on other exchanges, followed by a sharp drop of more than 80% in the entire market in a short period of time”.
CEO Mullin Denies Rug Pull Claims After OM Token Freefall
The Mantra token experienced a devastating 90% crash, prompting CEO John Patrick Mullin to quickly reject accusations of a rug pull. He blamed the collapse on what he called “reckless forced closures” by centralised exchanges. Mullin released an official statement claiming sudden liquidations of OM token positions without proper warning triggered the price collapse.
Mullin took the situation to social media platform X to explain. “The timing and depth of the crash suggest that a very sudden closure of account positions was initiated without sufficient warning or notice,” he wrote. The liquidations happened “during low-liquidity hours on a Sunday evening UTC, early morning Asia time,” which he suggested showed “a degree of negligence at best, or possibly intentional market positioning taken by centralised exchanges”.
The CEO told users they suspected a specific exchange was responsible but were “still figuring out the details.” He made it clear that Binance wasn’t involved. The official MANTRA account supported this stance: “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”.
User scepticism remained high due to the project’s controversial history. A Hong Kong court ordered six Mantra DAO members—including Mullin—to disclose financial records at the time of April 2023. They faced accusations of misappropriating funds and treating the DAO as personal property. Blockchain records revealed more concerning details, showing a single wallet on the Mantra blockchain controlled about 77% of all circulating tokens.
Previous questions about these concentration issues led Mullin to explain that the wallet contained “dummy tokens” used to track token data in a variety of blockchains. He has managed to keep his stance that more than 90% of the OM token has been “distributed”.
Mullin stood firm in his final statement: “To be clear, this dislocation was not caused by the team, the MANTRA Chain Association, its core advisors, or MANTRA’s investors selling tokens. Tokens remain locked and subject to the published vesting periods”.
Blockchain Analysis Exposes What Really Triggered the Mantra Collapse
Blockchain analysis has revealed the key weaknesses that caused Mantra’s dramatic collapse. Unlike typical market corrections, OM crashed because we concentrated too much on the supply. Data shows a single wallet held up to 90% of tokens—roughly 792 million OM. Only 10-20% of tokens circulated freely, which created a fragile market structure.
On-chain forensics found no major exchange inflows right before the crash, which disproved the original rug pull theories. But Glassnode data showed a huge spike in exchange activity after prices started falling—about 38 million OM tokens moved to exchanges once the price had dropped to £0.56. This suggests investors panicked and sold rather than insiders dumping coordinated.
The top 1% of holders reduced their OM supply control slightly from 96.4% to 95.6% before the crash. This small change triggered a devastating chain reaction in OM’s thinly traded market. The token’s realised capitalization then dropped by £586 million (20%) in just nine hours.
Network activity exploded as the meltdown happened. Transfer transactions shot up to 1,400 within a 10-minute window. Active address count jumped to 574, which proved widespread market participation rather than isolated selling.
“Control the Supply, Control the Narrative—Until It Breaks,” captures the biggest problem. MANTRA’s tight control of circulating supply, aggressive market making, and delayed airdrop distributions artificially suppressed selling pressure while creating false stability. The cascade effect became inevitable due to shallow market depth once major liquidations started.
Cross-exchange liquidations made the collapse even worse. “Our initial findings indicate that the developments in the last day are a result of cross-exchange liquidations,” Binance noted. OKX also spotted suspicious activity on multiple platforms and observed that “the project token economic model has undergone major changes since October 2024”.
Wrapping Up
The catastrophic collapse of Mantra serves as a wake-up call about crypto market vulnerabilities. A single wallet held 90% of all tokens, which created an unstable foundation that proved fatal. The market couldn’t handle the shock when cross-exchange liquidations kicked in.
Blockchain evidence contradicts CEO Mullin’s claims about “reckless forced closures” and shows extreme token concentration instead. The whole ordeal exposed major flaws in MANTRA’s token economics. Their tight supply control and aggressive market-making created false stability that crumbled under pressure.
Traders now question the practices of centralised exchanges and token distribution models. While blockchain analysis showed people panic selling rather than coordinated dumping, the damage spread faster across multiple platforms. This crash teaches us about the dangers of concentrated token ownership and low market liquidity.
The Mantra disaster mirrors past crypto catastrophes like LUNA and shows how billions in value can disappear when market structures break down. This event will shape how we think about token distribution, exchange practices, and crypto market stability in the years ahead.