OM Token from Mantra Plunges 90% Amid Bizarre Market Activity, Team Points to ‘Forced Liquidations’

Mantra’s OM token has experienced a dramatic 90% plunge in a matter of hours, drawing unsettling comparisons to the collapse of Terra’s LUNA as the crypto community reels from the sharp sell-off. The sudden drop, which occurred without any clear catalyst, has led to a flurry of speculation and accusations, particularly regarding forced liquidations by centralized exchanges.

OM’s price fell sharply from over $6 to around 40 cents between late Sunday and early Monday, a period of low liquidity in the crypto market, which tends to amplify price swings when large volumes are traded. The rapid drop triggered confusion among investors and ignited widespread conspiracy theories.

Following the crash, the Mantra team took to X to address the situation, assuring users that the project itself remains strong. “Today’s activity was the result of reckless forced liquidations, not any issues related to the project,” they stated. “We want to be clear: this was not our team’s doing. We are investigating the cause and will share more details when we have them.”

Mantra’s platform allows users to tokenize real-world assets (RWAs) such as real estate and commodities, providing a way for investors to make digital investments in physical assets. The OM token is integral to the platform’s operations, enabling transactions and governance.

In January 2025, Mantra partnered with UAE-based DAMAC Group to tokenize up to $1 billion in assets, including real estate, hospitality, and data centers. The OM token was one of the best performers in 2024, increasing over 400%, a rise that caught the attention of both traders and investors, despite limited online discussion about the project.

However, co-founder John Patrick Mullin suggested that the price collapse may have been caused by centralized exchanges forcibly liquidating OM positions, which led to a wider market impact.

“We have determined that the significant movement in OM was caused by reckless forced closures carried out by centralized exchanges on OM account holders,” Mullin explained in a post. “The rapid nature and depth of the crash suggest that positions were closed suddenly, without sufficient warning or notification.”

Mullin also pointed to “intentional market positioning by centralized exchanges” as a possible factor in the crash.

OM futures saw a massive $50 million in liquidations on the long side, setting a new record for the token. Open interest dropped sharply from $345 million to just over $130 million, indicating a swift exit from futures positions.

Despite these claims, not everyone in the crypto community is buying Mullin’s explanation. Some have criticized the narrative, dismissing it with skeptical replies to his posts.

In a separate response, Star Xu, founder of OKX, pointed out that over $220 million in token deposits had been flagged on exchanges before the price drop.

“This is a huge scandal for the crypto space,” Xu commented. “All on-chain unlock and deposit data is publicly accessible, and all major exchanges’ collateral and liquidation data can be analyzed. OKX will make the full reports available.”