Author: Fairy, ChainCatcher
Editor: TB, ChainCatcher
"This is even worse than LUNA."
In the early morning of Beijing time today, a sudden plunge left many crypto investors sleepless. The MANTRA token OM plummeted by about 10% within a short hour, then directly crashed from $5.21 to $0.50, a drop of up to 90%.
The community was shocked, with sharp comments: "Many people were still holding OM to earn interest, without even time to escape. This is even more fatal than LUNA's flash crash back then."
This sudden plunge was not just a technical issue, but more like a long-buried mine finally exploding.
Controversial Past Exposed?
In the Web3 world, project valuation deviating from fundamentals is not uncommon, but when a DeFi protocol has only $4 million in TVL yet boasts a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $9.5 billion, it's hard not to raise market doubts about its rationality.
MANTRA's collapse may not be without trace, with numerous controversies in recent years:
High Project Control. Crypto analyst Mosi stated that MANTRA controls most of the $OM circulation. The project team concentrates 90% of $OM (7.92 million tokens) in a single wallet address, manipulating market price and liquidity.
An Endless Token Relay Game. Crypto KOL Rui pointed out that OM's underlying logic is more like a carefully packaged OTC fund game. Reportedly, over the past two years, OM raised over $500 million through OTC sales. Its operation involves continuously issuing new OTC tokens to absorb previous investors' selling pressure, forming a "new takes old, old exits new" cycle. Once liquidity dries up or unlocked tokens can't be absorbed by the market, the entire system may collapse.
The project team would also "cash out" during each price rise, opening contracts and coordinating with market movements to gain additional profits.
Middle Eastern Capital Acquires Project Shell. In 2023, OM's FDV dropped to less than $20 million, nearly abandoned. Subsequently, a Middle Eastern capital acquired the OM project through a middleman, retaining only the original CEO and replacing the entire team. This capital, owning real-world assets like mansions and resorts, packaged OM as an RWAfi concept project. Leveraging RWA themes and high control tactics, OM achieved over 200x growth in 2024.
Legal Disputes, Accused of Asset Misappropriation. According to the South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong High Court once required six MANTRA DAO members to disclose financial information, stemming from accusations of DAO asset misappropriation.
Defaulting on Numerous Promised Fees and Tokens. Crypto KOL Phyrex stated he participated in the project early but never received promised Tokens. Even after winning a lawsuit in 2023, the MANTRA team never executed the court judgment, claiming they "moved from Hong Kong to the US". He accused: "Not a single penny or Token was ever paid."
Airdrop Operations Widely Criticized. According to IceWorm, MANTRA frequently modified rules from early airdrop activities, gradually postponing token unlock schedules, ultimately disappointing user expectations. During airdrop distribution, the project lacked transparency, coldly treating community doubts and even implementing a "witch trial" elimination mechanism, revoking user airdrop qualifications under the preisetext Sybililil" without ever disclosing specific criteria or data.
Collapse Truth Unveiled: Forced Liquidation and Whale Exodus
After OM's price experienced a cliff-like plunge, quickly triggering community panic and questioning, the MANTRA team urgently responded within hours, attempting to clarify that the project was not directly related to this market volatility. Multiple analyses and and speculations circulated in the market,
Forced Liquidation Triggering Market Volatility
According to MANTRA co-founder JPMOM's violent fluctuation was caused by reckless forced liquidation of OM account holders by centralized exchanges. He noted these position liquidations occurred very suddenly without sufficient prior warning or notification.
Data shows that in the past 12 hours, OM's collapse led to over $66.97 million in forced liquidations, with 10 positions cleared exceeding $11 million each.
Strategic Investors' Mass Exodus
According to Lookonchain, before OM's collapse, at least 17 wallets transferred 43.6 million OM (worth about $227 million at the time), representing 4.5% of circulating supply. Two wallet addresses were related to MANTRA's strategic investor Laser Digital.
Additionally,19 spot On Chain monitmonitored that 19 wallets, possibly belonging to the entity, group transferred .1427 millions $91 million) at an average price of $6.375 to OKX three days before OM's collapse. As early as late March, these wallets purchased 84.15 million OM from Binance for about $564.7 million, at an average price of $6.711. wallets might have hedged positions on other platforms, which further exacthis crash.'s
> 90% plunge once again validates the brutal reality of "harvesting logic" in the crypto market. OM is not the first project to encounter this fate, nor will it be the last. In the crypto industry, where opportunities and bubbles coexist, maintaining vigilance and rational investment is key to steadsteadily navigating the complex and changing market environment.
