Mantra Price Drops 90% in One Hour — Another Crypto Collapse?

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Olga Primakova

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Olga Primakova

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Olga started writing about cryptocurrency and finance in 2021.

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Elena Bozhkova

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Elena Bozhkova

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Elena is the Features Lead at Cryptonews.com. With a Master's degree in science journalism from City University, London, she is passionate about exploring complex topics in the world of technology.

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Last updated:

April 14, 2025 08:36 EDT

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Key Takeaways

• Mantra lost 90% of its value in one hour, wiping out $6 billion in market cap despite no confirmed attack on the network.
• On-chain data suggests large token movements before the crash, with some addresses possibly linked to investors—raising questions about insider activity.
• The team reportedly controlled up to 90% of the token supply, a figure that had previously raised concerns among some investors.

Mantra (OM), once considered a promising crypto project, dropped by 90% within a single day. The team has stated that the project remains stable.

Mantra is positioned as a Real World Assets (RWA) protocol, focused on the tokenization of crypto assets. Before the collapse on Apr. 13, OM ranked among the top five RWA tokens by market capitalization.

On April 13, OM’s price fell sharply from $6.10 to $0.40. The token lost almost all of its value. Market capitalization dropped by $6 billion in just 30 minutes. Less than two months earlier, on Feb. 23, OM had reached its all-time high of $8.99.

The crypto community quickly began comparing the crash to events like Terra (LUNA) or the collapse of FTX. The comparison stems in part from OM’s status as one of the top 30 cryptocurrencies by market cap. Some analysts have since pointed out that there were early warning signs around the project that were previously overlooked.

‘We Want to Assure You That MANTRA Is Fundamentally Strong’

On April 13, the official X account of the project posted that nothing had happened to Mantra and that the collapse was caused by “reckless liquidations.”

The project’s founder, John Patrick Mullin (JP Mullin on X), did not immediately respond, which raised concerns. On April 12, he shared a post suggesting he was on a long-haul flight from France to Seoul.

According to Mullin, the crash was linked to a liquidity issue and the actions of a single whale holding OM on a centralized exchange (CEX).

Social media posts began to circulate from investors reporting major losses following the OM crash. For example, Max Brown, who has over 80,000 followers on X, claimed he lost $1.3 million.

Another user, JB, addressed both the project and Binance, stating that he had invested $3.5 million in OM and was left with about $200,000.

Binance also issued a statement noting that a warning had been placed on the OM trading page since January 2025, citing dramatic changes in the tokenomics and increased token supply:

Since October of last year, Binance has implemented various risk control measures including reducing the leverage levels, with regard to the $OM token. Binance constantly monitors leverage levels and makes adjustments according to market conditions for risk controls to help reduce volatility.

Why Did the Price of Mantra Collapse?

As of now, there is no confirmed reason for what caused the collapse. Mantra maintains that the platform is operating normally and that there was no attack on the network. Meanwhile, parts of the crypto community suspect insider trading and point to the project team as a possible cause.

One of the major red flags cited is token distribution. According to Mantra’s official website, 16.8% of OM tokens are held by the team. Additional allocations are reserved for the Mirror Bucket and upgrade mechanisms, which are also considered internal. In practice, this places a large share of the supply under team control.

Lookonchain reported that 17 addresses moved a total of 43.6 million OM to exchanges just before the crash. Two of these addresses are believed to be linked to Laser Digital, one of Mantra’s known investors.

Laser Digital responded, stating that the wallets in question are not associated with the company and that their investment remains locked.

There is currently no official investigation by the Mantra team or by independent crypto analysts. However, many in the community believe the token may have been sold privately at a discount. Some estimates suggest the team controlled as much as 90% of OM.

There were also reports that the project’s Telegram channel had been deleted. However, it is currently active, and users continue to post messages.

What Are the Consequences?

Regardless of what happened with Mantra, this is a worrying signal for the crypto community. OM was one of the largest tokens by market cap, yet its price dropped by 90% in just one hour.

The crash has already drawn comparisons to major collapses like Terra (LUNA) and the FTX exchange. It’s also a reminder that red flags should not be ignored. Despite repeated warnings about the risks of a team controlling around 90% of the total supply, many investors continued to believe in the project and put money into it.