The native token $OM of MANTRA experienced a historic market collapse on April 13, 2025, when its value plummeted over 90% during the day and vaporized $5.4 billion market capitalization. Within a short period on April 13, 2025, $OM lost more than 90% of its value, resulting in over $5.4 billion being erased from market capitalization. The cryptocurrency space formerly considered $OM a promising asset within the RWA and DeFi ecosystem until its recent devastating market drop triggered extensive community-wide worry.
What Triggered the Collapse?
1. Forced Liquidations on Centralized Exchanges (CEXs)
MANTRA co-founder John Patrick Mullin identifies forced liquidations on centralized exchanges as the main factor behind the crash occurring during periods of low market liquidity. The chain reaction of liquidations created an escalating price trend that unleashed a continuous market decline. Mullin stressed that neither the team nor early investors were involved in directly dumping tokens.
2. Insider Activity and Large Transfers
Despite reassurances, on-chain data revealed that major $OM holders transferred around 14.27 million tokens (worth roughly $91 million) to OKX just days before the collapse. The wallets purchased more than 84 million $OM tokens worth $564 million throughout March of 2025. The large and time-sensitive actions made by these wallets generated suspicions about insider trading, although the evidence remained inconclusive.
3. Centralized Governance Concerns
Further controversy surrounds MANTRA’s governance structure. Critics allege that the team retained excessive control over DAO proposals, using pseudonymous wallets to sway voting outcomes. This undermines the core principle of decentralization and has eroded trust in MANTRA’s integrity as a community-driven project.
Market Reaction
$OM managed a short-term recovery after the event, which enabled it to reach a $0.70-$0.80 price stability. The impact from this event had already been delivered. The market exodus by investors forced the broader crypto community to compare the failure to well-known cases.
The aftermath exposed ongoing cryptographic weaknesses related to exchange control and poor liquidity, and unclear tokenomics principles and distribution. The market collapse serves as a warning sign that demonstrates how crucial transparency, decentralization, and strong liquidity management practices are for both investors and project teams.
What Happens Next for MANTRA?
While MANTRA’s team is working to regain trust, including hosting AMAs and planning buybacks, the road to recovery remains uncertain. Investors will be watching closely to see whether the project can truly decentralize and rebuild community confidence.
As crypto matures, events like the fall of $OM remind us that hype and short-term gains cannot replace sustainable growth, transparent governance, and trust.
Final Thoughts
The $OM collapse served the market as more than an economic event but functioned as a vital alert. The crash revealed weaknesses in decentralized systems while exposing centralized exchange management threats, along with making the community rethink its trust in developer and initial investor power. Massive token transfers coupled with sudden liquidations demonstrated that influence continues to concentrate behind the scenes.
The incident further proved that businesses must perform thorough preliminary investigations and due scrutiny. Rapid gains through hype do not conceal fundamental weaknesses of projects. Real decentralization projects alongside transparent governance structures and clear tokenomics management demand investors to analyze on-chain data for long-term utility, excluding price action alone. The market crash of $OM shows us that hype-based speculative behavior fails to deliver lasting value in a trend-driven setting.
