OM Token Crash Sparks Mantra–OKX Dispute Over Alleged Price Manipulation
Mantra’s governance token OM plunged over 99% in April 2025 after allegations that large, concentrated accounts — reportedly linked to team or major holders — borrowed significant USDT using OM as collateral to inflate the token price. OKX’s risk team froze implicated accounts and liquidated OM positions, which triggered cascading sell-offs and an immediate ~80% drop after the freeze, wiping out earlier gains of around 600% from late 2024 to early 2025. OKX frames the actions as risk-management measures to protect users, citing unusually large concentrated holdings and USDT loans; Mantra CEO JP Mullin denies direct litigation between Mantra and OKX and says legal claims involve other large traders. At press time OM traded near $0.07 with bearish derivatives sentiment (over 70% shorts on CoinGlass) and roughly 36,000 holders remain. Separately, Mantra plans to migrate OM (ERC‑20) to a Layer‑1 MANTRA token, with migration completion targeted by 15 January 2026 — an operational risk that could affect exchanges and holders during the transition. Key implications for traders: elevated volatility and liquidity risk in OM, persistent negative futures positioning, concentrated on‑chain holder risk, potential for further exchange intervention or legal actions affecting withdrawals/listings, and migration-related operational risks. Traders should monitor on‑chain concentration, exchange custody actions, derivatives flows, and migration progress for signs of renewed selling pressure or temporary liquidity squeezes.
Bearish
The news points to sustained negative pressure on OM across multiple fronts, making a bearish outlook appropriate. Short-term impact: immediate and severe selling followed the OKX account freezes and liquidations, leading to extreme volatility, deep liquidity vacuums, and heavy short positioning (>70% shorts), which increases probability of further downside if concentrated holders sell or exchanges take custody actions. Derivatives sentiment and large concentrated holdings raise the risk of cascade liquidations or forced sales. Mid-to-long term: migration to a Layer‑1 MANTRA token (completion target 15 Jan 2026) adds operational and counterparty risk — migrations can fragment liquidity, cause temporary delistings, or introduce smart-contract and custodian errors. Legal disputes and exchange disputes increase uncertainty and may deter market makers and custodians, prolonging depressed price discovery and low liquidity. Overall, both immediate on‑exchange interventions and structural risks (holder concentration, derivatives flow, migration) point to continued downside risk for OM until clear resolution on custody, litigation, and successful, broadly supported migration.