Key Points
- Yesterday, the price of OM collapsed by 90%, triggering controversial discussions around the cause of the decline.
- While the project was accused of being a scam, the team blamed “reckless forced closures” initiated by CEXs.
On April 13, Mantra (OM)’s price recorded a significant crash of approximately 90% in a short amount of time, triggering discussions about the potential reasons in the industry.
Mantra is an L1 built for institutions and developers that offers a permissionless blockchain for permissioned applications.
OM Price Collapsed by 90%
On April 13, OM was trading at around $6,13 with a market cap of over $5,9 billion, but its price experienced a severe crash of approximately 90% in a relatively short amount of time.
The digital asset’s market cap dropped to $419 million, and OM dipped to $0.43, before a slight recovery to current levels today.
At the moment of writing this article, OM is trading above $0.7, with a market cap of over $1,2 billion.
OM’s sharp price decline triggered controversial discussions on X, with some voices in the industry blaming the project for being a scam, while the team defended its legitimacy, while accusing “reckless forced closures” initiated by centralized exchanges on OM account holders.
Mantra Team Defended the Project
On the evening of April 13, the team behind the Mantra project shared a post via X, saying that they wanted to assure the community that Mantra is fundamentally strong, and the recent price decline was triggered by reckless liquidations, and not anything to do with the project.
They noted that the liquidations were not triggered by the project’s team, and they were looking into the issue.
MANTRA community – we want to assure you that MANTRA is fundamentally strong. 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…
— MANTRA | Tokenizing RWAs (@MANTRA_Chain) April 13, 2025
A few hours later, Mantra’s founder, JP Mullin, also shared a message via X, saying that the team behind Mantra appreciates the support received following the event, highlighting that it’s a testament to the strong support of the community and investors.
Mantra’s Results on OM Market Movements
He also said that Mantra has determined that OM market movements were triggered by forced closures initiated by CEXs on OM account holders. According to him, the timing and depth of the crash suggested that a sudden closure of account positions was initiated without sufficient warning or notice, during low-liquidity hours on a Sunday evening.
He noted that the event’s timing points to a degree of negligence or intentional market positioning taken by CEXs.
The founder of the project also said that the event was not triggered by the team, the Mantra Chain Association, its core investors, or Mantra investors selling tokens. They also highlighted that the tokens remain locked and OM tokenomics intact, with token wallet addresses online and visible.
The project’s founder concluded his message by saying that Mantra survived and operated throughout multiple market cycles, and highlighted recent achievements such as becoming the first DeFi protocol licensed by Dubai’s VARA and others.
Mantra, Accused of Being a Scam
Earlier, the team at Wu Blockchain shared a message on X, revealing that they had warned about the risk of Mantra DAO in 2021, highlighting that it’s composed of core members of the online gambling platform 21Pink.
They also noted that OM once falsely claimed to have received FTX investments, but FTX denied the information. However, FTX’s credibility is not 100% viable.
WuBlockchain warned the risk of MANTRA DAO in 2021. It is composed of several core members of the online gambling platform 21Pink. OM once falsely claimed to have received FTX investment but FTX later denied the information. https://t.co/N1SeACx7A5
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) April 14, 2025
Meanwhile, Binance also issued its own statement.
Binance’s Official Statement on OM Crash
In an official post via X, the Binance Customer Support issued a message saying that OM has recorded intense price volatility, and the exchange’s initial findings show that it was caused by cross-exchange liquidations.
Binance stated that since October 2024, the exchange has implemented various risk control measures, including reducing the leverage levels of OM to reduce volatility.
The exchange also noted that since January 2025, it issued a pop-up warning for OM on its spot trading page to inform users that it has undergone significant changes to its tokenomics, increasing its supply.
Binance said that it will continue to monitor the situation.
Binance is aware that $OM, the native token of MANTRA, has experienced significant price volatilities. Our initial findings indicate that the developments over the past day are a result of cross-exchange liquidations.
Since October of last year, Binance has implemented various…
— Binance Customer Support (@BinanceHelpDesk) April 14, 2025
About an hour ago, the Mantra’s founder said that the team has been in touch with Binance, and the exchange was communicative, helpful, and supportive, offering gratitude for its help.
Binance was previously accused of listing OM – a controversial project.
CZ Defends Binance’s Listing Process
When Binance was accused on X due to its due diligence process regarding project listings, CZ stepped up and defended the exchange, saying that he doesn’t run it anymore, but in his opinion, CEXs and DEXs should not even have a listing process – they should provide access to all projects, and traders should decide what they want to trade.
I don’t run Binance anymore, but I actually think the reverse, ie, CEX (and DEX) should not have a listing process. They should provide access to all tokens in the universe. Traders decide what they want to trade.
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) April 13, 2025
As a conclusion, Binance does have a strong due diligence process for the tokens to be listed on the exchange, and riskier projects are flagged with Seed Tags or Monitoring Tags so that users know when a token is more volatile.
The exchange has been working hard to protect users, even if this means not listing some of the projects that it considers scams. Riskier projects are still listed on the exchange, but with tags to notify users about potential volatility.
Meanwhile, OKX also issued an official statement, citing major changes to OM’s tokenomics since October 2024. The exchange flagged suspicious large-scale activity since March, warning users.
