Mantra (OM) collapsed a whopping 90% in the past 24 hours as doubts of a rug pull flooded the crypto market.
The crypto market was shaken over the weekend as Mantra’s OM token OM $0.79 24h volatility: 32.4% Market cap: $777.40 M Vol. 24h: $1.49 B , once a poster child for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, suffered a catastrophic collapse, plunging over 90% within 24 hours.
From a lofty valuation above $6, OM is now trading at under $0.80, with its market cap shrinking from $6 billion to just $748 million, CoinMarketCap data shows.
The Catalyst Behind OM’s Crash
The trading volume of OM surged over 3,000%, with over $50 million in long positions liquidated, as the token crashed from around $6.3 to $0.42 during early trading hours on April 14.
According to data analytics platform Lookonchain, 17 wallets deposited over 43.6 million OM tokens (valued at $227 million at the time) onto centralized exchanges between April 7 and the crash, representing 4.5% of the circulating supply.
Who dropped the price of $OM?
Before the $OM crash(since Apr 7), at least 17 wallets deposited 43.6M $OM($227M at the time) into exchanges, 4.5% of the circulating supply.
According to Arkham’s tag, 2 of these addresses are linked to Laser Digital.
Laser Digital is a strategic… pic.twitter.com/zB8yAPRPSO
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 14, 2025
Two of the wallets are allegedly linked to Laser Digital, a strategic investor in Mantra.
These large token deposits and subsequent dump-like behavior have led many to suspect a coordinated sell-off or worse — a rug pull.
Popular market commentator Gordon described the event as “the biggest rug pull since LUNA/FTX” and expressed disbelief at the severity and suddenness of the crash.
Seems like the Mantra team were holding a large amount of supply and market sold everything.
Team needs to address this or $OM looks like it could head to zero.
Biggest rug pull since LUNA/FTX?? https://t.co/fU0Hk0uOGr pic.twitter.com/xSz5zP1QrH
— Gordon (@AltcoinGordon) April 13, 2025
Mantra Responds: Not Our Doing
In response to the mounting speculation, JP Mullin, CEO and co-founder of Mantra, addressed the community, claiming that forced liquidations by centralized exchanges were responsible for the downward spiral.
Sherpas, OMies, and broader crypto community,
First off, the team and I greatly appreciate the support that we have received over the past several hours, which we believe is a testament to the strong support MANTRA has among its investors and community.
We have determined that…
— JP Mullin (🕉, 🏘️) (@jp_mullin888) April 13, 2025
He pointed to reckless forced closures by exchanges, suggesting these actions were initiated during illiquid hours without proper oversight.
Mullin added that OM’s tokenomics remain intact, all team and advisor tokens are locked, and that the project remains committed to long-term development.
On the other hand, OKX CEO Star Xu called the crash a major scandal for the crypto industry and promised transparency.
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! https://t.co/YYnb1ByUGL
— Star (@star_okx) April 14, 2025
He noted that all on-chain unlocking, recharge, and liquidation data is available for audit and assured the public that OKX would prepare and release relevant reports.
Meanwhile, Ondo Finance Quietly Gains Momentum
While OM plunged into chaos, Ondo Finance ONDO $0.83 24h volatility: 5.0% Market cap: $2.63 B Vol. 24h: $150.97 M emerged as an unlikely winner.
Network activity on the ONDO protocol nearly doubled over the past week, and its native token surged nearly 30%, even as it cooled slightly in the last 24 hours to trade at $0.8711.
In contrast to OM’s questionable tokenomics and centralization risks, ONDO has been riding a wave of positive fundamentals:
- Recently listed on Binance
- Boasts a strategic partnership with BlackRock
- Championing the “Made in USA” RWA narrative
- Part of President Trump’s World Liberty Financial’s crypto portfolio
$ONDO Chief Strategy Officer says, 'The appetite for tokenization right now is very high & he expects a lot of crypto exchanges to offer stocks and the like this year.'$ONDO is leading that charge—bringing stocks and ETFs onchain.
Bullish news for $ONDO pic.twitter.com/8PmhsunDTS
— Grey BTC (@greybtc) April 13, 2025
Analysts like AMCrypto believe that once ONDO clears the psychological barrier of $1.10, it could enter a parabolic rally — propelled by a mix of macro narrative and exchange listings.
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