John Mullin, CEO of blockchain project Mantra, has pledged to burn the team’s entire token allocation in a bid to regain the community’s trust following the sharp collapse of the Mantra (OM) token on April 13.
In a statement posted to X on April 16, Mullin said, “I’m planning to burn all of my team tokens, and when we turn it around, the community and investors can decide if I have earned it back.”
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Mantra Reserved 300 Million OM Tokens for Team and Core Contributors
Mantra had previously allocated 300 million OM tokens—roughly 16.88% of its total supply of nearly 1.78 billion—for its team and core contributors.
These tokens, valued at approximately $236 million based on OM’s current price of $0.78, were originally locked and scheduled for release between April 2027 and October 2029. Prior to the crash, their value was estimated at $1.89 billion.
OM’s price plummeted from around $6.30 to as low as $0.52, wiping over $5.5 billion in market value, according to CoinGecko.
While some in the community praised Mullin’s move as a bold gesture of accountability, others expressed concern it might weaken the team’s long-term incentive to build the real-world asset tokenization platform.
Crypto Banter founder Ran Neuner criticized the decision, stating, “Burning the incentive may seem like a good gesture but it will hurt the team motivation long term.”
Mullin has suggested that a decentralized community vote could ultimately decide the fate of the 300 million team tokens.
This would be a mistake. We want teams that are highly incentivized. Burning the incentive may seem like a good gesture but it will hurt the team motivation long term.
My suggestion;
Just keep building.
— Ran Neuner (@cryptomanran) April 15, 2025
In the aftermath of the crash, Mullin said the Mantra team is already working on recovery plans, including the use of its $109 million Mantra Ecosystem Fund for potential OM buybacks and burns.
Mantra has strongly denied allegations of insider trading or holding 90% of OM’s supply. The project attributed the crash to “reckless liquidations,” not any actions taken by the team.
Exchanges OKX and Binance, where most OM trading occurred prior to the collapse, also denied wrongdoing. They pointed to an October tokenomics change and extreme volatility as the causes behind the massive cross-exchange liquidations that occurred on April 13.
Binance is aware that $OM, the native token of MANTRA, has experienced significant price volatilities. Our initial findings indicate that the developments over the past day are a result of cross-exchange liquidations.
Since October of last year, Binance has implemented various…
— Binance Customer Support (@BinanceHelpDesk) April 14, 2025
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Mantra Collapse Sparks New Fears Over DeFi Hype and Transparency
The sudden collapse of Mantra (OM) on April 13, which erased 90% of its value and wiped out $6 billion in market cap, has reignited debates over trust, governance, and sustainability in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.
The crash occurred without any confirmed hacks or security breaches, shaking confidence in hype-driven DeFi projects.
Mantra, once a top-five Real World Asset (RWA) protocol with ambitious goals to tokenize real-world assets, saw its token fall from over $6 to $0.40 in a single day.
"Transparency is a word that can get thrown around like glitter – particularly in this space. But I'm going to use it. We will do everything in our power to convey accurate, timely information as soon as we have it and verify it. This is a responsibility to our community we… https://t.co/B3pJyPaOwm
— MANTRA | Tokenizing RWAs (@MANTRA_Chain) April 15, 2025
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Key Takeaways
- Mantra CEO John Mullin pledged to burn the team’s 300 million OM tokens to regain community trust after OM’s sudden collapse.
- The token crash wiped out over $5.5 billion in value, raising concerns about hype-driven DeFi projects and governance transparency.
- Mantra denies insider trading allegations and plans recovery efforts, including potential buybacks using its $109 million ecosystem fund.
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