Josh Weiner
$5 Billion Vanishes Overnight as Investors Demand Answers and Accountability
The crypto world was shaken on Sunday after the OM token—core to the MANTRA ecosystem—plunged nearly 90% in value, erasing roughly $5 billion from its market cap and triggering a wave of accusations from investors.
Once hailed as a leader in tokenizing real-world assets and known for its collaborations with Google Cloud and Dubai’s DAMAC Group, MANTRA is now battling claims of insider selling and market manipulation.
The OM token freefell from over $6 to just $0.37 in under a day. Although it has since rebounded slightly, trading near $1.03 by Sunday evening, the damage was already done. The token had previously reached a high of $9 earlier this year.
Rumors flooded social media, accusing the MANTRA team or affiliated market makers of offloading massive amounts of OM—up to 90% of the circulating supply—through over-the-counter (OTC) deals. Allegedly, shortly after the sell-off, MANTRA’s Telegram group was shut down, severing a key channel of investor communication and fueling panic. Comparisons were quickly drawn to infamous collapses like Terra Luna.
In an official post on X (formerly Twitter), the MANTRA team denied any involvement and pointed fingers at “reckless liquidations” by external entities.
“We want to assure the MANTRA community that the project remains fundamentally strong. Today’s volatility was not caused by the team, but by aggressive, external liquidations. We are actively investigating the situation and will provide updates shortly.”
The statement, however, did little to calm nerves. Prominent blockchain investigator ZachXBT criticized the vague explanation, posting:
“What kind of statement is this? OM dropped over 90%, wiping $5.9B in value in a single candle.”
Investors are now calling for legal investigations and regulatory oversight, with some going so far as to label the incident a “scam.” The situation underscores the fragility of decentralized finance projects, particularly those positioned at the intersection of traditional finance and tokenized digital assets.
As scrutiny intensifies and the investigation unfolds, MANTRA’s credibility—and the broader trust in tokenization platforms—hangs in the balance.
