Key Takeaways
- OM’s price dropped from $6.21 to below $0.49, triggering panic and speculation of a potential rug pull.
- Analysts allege that the MANTRA team, controlling 90% of OM’s supply, dumped their holdings.
- The magnitude and suddenness of the decline have drawn parallels to the infamous 2022 LUNA crash.
- Past accusations resurfaced, including a February 2025 prediction and 2021 fraud claims from Wu Blockchain.
- MANTRA claimed the crash was due to a forced liquidation by a large OM holder on a centralized exchange
- Interested in buying or selling MANTRA OM? Read our review of the best exchanges to buy and sell MANTRA.
The OM token, native to the MANTRA ecosystem, has plunged by over 90%. During the intraday trading session on Sunday, April 13, OM’s price was $6.21.
In less than an hour, the cryptocurrency, one of this cycle’s top-performing assets, briefly plunged below $0.49.
The sudden crash has triggered widespread speculation of a potential rug pull, with the broader market questioning the integrity of the MANTRA team.
While the actual cause of the collapse remains unclear, the market has drawn comparisons to the infamous LUNA crash of 2022. As uncertainty looms, CCN breaks down what we know so far — and why the token’s decline is painting a worrying picture.
MANTRA Goes From Top Performer to Collapse: Why?
OM’s price crash took the crypto market by surprise. For a token with nearly all holders in profits some weeks back, the 90% crash reversed most of these gains.
The token collapse is also surprising, considering recent developments in the MANTRA ecosystem. Just days ago, the project launched a $108 million fund to support the Real World Assets (RWA) project.
Initially, the MANTRA team did not address what caused the plunge. However, speculation across the market is spreading that the team engineered this decline, with many tagging it a “rug pull.”
Some have also compared it to the LUNA/USD crash of 2022. For instance, pseudonymous research analyst Choze mentioned that the MANTRA team, which owns 90% of the total supply, sold all its allocation.
“Welcome to Terra Luna V.2. For those wondering, the $OM team dumped their entire allocation. That’s 90% of the total circulating supply gone. They also deleted Mantra’s official Telegram group. Just like that, $3.5 billion in market cap vanished,” Choze wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Adding fuel to the fire, Master of Crypto reported that the MANTRA team allegedly sent approximately $590 million worth of tokens to exchanges. The report suggests that shortly after the transfer, the core team resigned, deepening fears of a coordinated exit scam.
“This project had full supply control, possible OTC dumps, and zero transparency. It looks like insiders got out, and the community paid the price,” The analyst revealed .
Higher Volume, Lower Prices
Following the development, OM’s trading volume skyrocketed from $70 million to nearly $700 million. Typically, such a spike in volume might suggest growing interest.
OM Volatility Hits Peak
But in this case, it indicates rising selling pressure amid the price collapse. If this trend continues, it could reinforce the bearish trend, potentially driving OM’s price even lower.
Amid this drop, on-chain data shows that the volatility around the MANTRA token has spiked to an all-time high. Volatility shows how much and how quickly the price of a cryptocurrency changes over time.
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High volatility equals big price swings (up or down). Low volatility, on the other hand, indicates a stable price and little movement. Therefore, these sudden spikes suggest that OM’s price might continue to experience large price swings downwards.
Meanwhile, on-chain sleuth ZachXBT has weighed in on the matter, stating that he has yet to pinpoint the exact cause of the crash. He also noted that while some have speculated the collapse was due to token unlocks; there is no concrete evidence to support that claim at this time.
“I wonder if a few large wallets got hacked or an exploit (there were a few large OM holder thefts recently). Mantra is a Cosmos chain, which makes it very difficult to analyze quickly for large CEX deposits bc there are few analytics tools for anything in the IBC. Everyone is saying it’s the unlocks, but those do not happen for a few days. (Don’t take any of this as fact, just thinking aloud, Zach stated .
OM Price Analysis: Not Here or There
From a technical point of view, OM’s price action invalidated the bullish structure that had been formed earlier. Data from the daily chart also shows that the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has dropped below 30.00. This led to a drop below $0.60 before it recently bounced to $0.78.
The RSI measures momentum and shows whether an asset is overbought or oversold. Readings above 70.00 indicate overbought levels, while those below 30.00 indicate oversold.
It appears to be the same situation with the Money Flow Index (MFI), which is below 20.00. This decline in the MFI indicates rising selling pressure.
If this remains the same, OM’s price could fall to $0.38. However, if the MANTRA team comes out to clarify the situation, the token could see a bullish reversal.
OM’s price might climb toward the 0.236 Fibonacci level at $2.45 in that scenario. However, reaching higher levels might depend on the market sentiment in the coming days.
Red Flags From Scratch
While the recent crash might shock some people, others issued a warning earlier on. For instance, CCN’s thorough investigation showed that a certain X (formerly Twitter) user had predicted a rug pull. On Feb. 15, the user with the handle “Not Telling” disclosed that the MANTRA project was manipulated.
In 2021, the Wu Blockchain team also disclosed that the MANTRA project was a fraud after Binance listed it. Meanwhile, in its defense, ex-Binance CEO Chanpeng Zhao (CZ) mentioned that exchanges should not have a listing process as they should provide access to all tokens while traders decide what to trade.
In the meantime, the MANTRA team has addressed the situation. According to co-founder J.P. Mullin, a forced liquidation involving a large holder caused the sharp decline in OM’s price.
However, Mullin noted that full details surrounding the event had not yet been disclosed at the time of writing.
“Guys, I’ve just woken up, and I’m getting the complete breakdown of what’s going on. There was a massive forced liquidation from a large OM investor on a CEX. Still working on the details, but we are here, and we’re fixing this,” Mullin explained .
Disclaimer:
The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as, financial advice. We do not make any warranties regarding the completeness, reliability, or accuracy of this information. All investments involve risk, and past performance does not guarantee future results. We recommend consulting a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
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