$6B Wiped Out: Mantra Token Collapse Sparks Controversy

Mantra’s Price Crashes Over 90% in One Day

On April 13, the price of the Mantra (OM) token dropped from $6.30 to under $0.50. This wiped out over $6 billion from the project’s market cap in just a few hours. It shocked many in the crypto space. A drop this steep is not common. It raised questions across the community.

Source: CoinGecko

Some traders believed this wasn’t a normal price correction. Instead, they suspected it was a pump-and-dump—where a token’s price gets driven up fast, then quickly sold off for profit, leaving others with big losses. The pattern matched previous incidents where small tokens saw sudden spikes before crashing hard.

Investor Anon Vee said the crash looked like a textbook pump-and-dump. He believed market makers had teamed up with the Mantra project to push the price up. He explained that this often happens with lesser-known tokens. According to him, once the price climbs and retail investors buy in, those behind the pump start selling and take profits.

He contrasted Mantra with Tellor (TRB), an other token that rose from $6 to more than $600 before plummeting. He said that Mantra’s rise from $0.013 to $9 followed a similar path. The token’s valuation went from $20 million to $11 billion before crashing back to under $0.50. He pointed out that insiders holding most of the supply made this kind of manipulation easier. Anon Vee believed the whole move was planned in advance.

The discussion didn’t stop at market makers. Crypto influencer Leonidas added more fuel to the fire. He believed Binance was involved. According to him, Binance had promoted OM in at least 11 posts. He said this helped create hype and encouraged retail investors to jump in.

Leonidas explained that after the price peaked, market makers and exchanges offloaded their tokens. He said they worked together to dump on investors who came in late. He stressed that this was the real reason behind the crash. His words reflected a wider distrust in how centralized exchanges handle these smaller projects.

A Major Investor Takes a Heavy Loss

The crash hit some investors hard. One investor reportedly put $3.5 million into OM. After the token collapsed, their investment dropped to just $200,000. This kind of loss is devastating. It also raised more concerns about how these price movements happen so quickly and without warning.

Arthur, founder of DeFiance Capital, voiced his concern as well. He warned that market makers often work closely with project teams to maintain inflated prices. He said this creates an illusion of real value. Arthur explained that this practice hides the actual market demand and makes it hard to trust the numbers.

Source: X

He added that without transparency, many tokens remain risky. He said that the crypto market is like a black box in some areas. Investors can’t always see how prices are controlled or who’s behind major moves. Arthur called for better oversight and accountability. He believed that without these changes, large parts of the market would stay uninvestable.

Mantra co-founder John Mullin addressed the criticism. He denied that the crash was caused by insider trading. He said the collapse happened because of forced closures by certain centralized exchanges. He explained that the crash took place during a low-liquidity time, specifically a Sunday night, which made the situation worse.

Mullin suggested that one specific exchange may have been responsible. He didn’t name it directly but stated that it wasn’t Binance. His explanation didn’t ease doubts across the community. Many people believed there were deeper issues behind the scenes.

Investor Duo Nine said the crash looked like a large player deciding to exit, no matter the impact. He explained that when someone sells more than the market can handle, it causes a price crash. He also said market makers will often pull their liquidity to avoid further losses. According to him, this made the crash even worse.

At the time of writing, OM is trading around $0.60. That is still more than 90% less than it was two days ago. While some called for caution, others saw a buying opportunity. For example, Carl Moon, founder of Moon Capital, revealed that he had purchased $100,000 worth of OM after the drop. His move showed that not everyone had lost faith in the project.