- Mantra CEO John Mullin denied insider dumping before OM’s crash, promised on-chain proof, and outlined early-stage recovery plans, including token buybacks and burns.
- Allegations surfaced that VC backers and known figures like Reef’s founder sought loans against OM ahead of the crash.
- Mullin claims 90% of OM is distributed and blamed Arkham for mislabeling wallets.
After Mantra’s OM token tanked over 90% in a day, CEO John Patrick Mullin finally stepped in to address the wreckage.
During an AMA hosted by Cointelegraph on April 14, Mullin attempted to soothe the community with talk of recovery plans, transparency, and what others view as deflecting blame.
The message was a bit of “We’ve got this. Sort of.” The founder said the team is working on a recovery plan that includes potential token buybacks and a burn mechanism but stressed that nothing is finalised.
We’re still in the early stages of putting together this plan. The token’s recovery is Mantra’s preeminent and primary concern right now.
Mantra CEO John Patrick MullinRelated: Pennsylvania Man Admits Hiding Millions in CryptoPunks NFT Income, Faces Tax Fraud Charges
Here We Go Again
On-chain sleuth ZachXBT published on X that he spoke to several people who were offered loan deals against OM in the days leading up to the crash, and two particular names rang the most:
The two names I keep hearing tied to the Mantra incident are Denko (Reef Finance founder) and Fukogoryushu as they had allegedly been reaching out to a number of people asking for massive loans against their OM in the days leading up to the -90% crash. For those unfamiliar REEF had similar market manipulation incidents in the past before a Binance delisting in Oct 2024 and $80M OTC deal with Alameda in 2021.
ZachXBT, on-chain sleuthAt the time of the AMA, OM had rebounded slightly from its crash low of US$0.58 (AU$0.92) to around US$0.73 (AU$1.15), only to go back to US$0.58, as per CoinGecko data. Still, it is a far cry from its pre-crash level of US$6.30 (AU$9.93) and a long road back—assuming there even is a road back.
Long before OM’s Sunday collapse, critics had already flagged issues. A 2023 Hong Kong court ordered six Mantra DAO members—including CEO Mullin—to turn over financial records after being accused of misusing funds and treating the DAO like a personal piggy bank.
Mullin later told DL News that the dispute was resolved amicably, but doubts lingered about how the token’s valuation was propped up.
According to on-chain data, one blockchain wallet holds around 77% of OM’s circulating supply. Critics argue the remaining publicly available tokens (worth around US$500M, or AU$790M) were the only thing propping up the multibillion-dollar valuation. Mullin insisted the tokens in that massive wallet are “dummy tokens” used for multi-chain tracking and claims that 90% of OM has been distributed.
Adding fuel to the fire, a wallet tagged by Arkham Intelligence as belonging to Laser Digital, a crypto VC firm that backed Mantra last year, transferred over US$41M (AU64.8M) worth of OM to OKX just two days before the crash.
Related: Michael Saylor Signals New Bitcoin Buying Spree amid ‘No Tariff’ Tweet
Credit: Source link
