The native token of Mantra, OM, suffered a dramatic collapse of more than 90% in the last 24 hours, falling from around $6.30 to below $0.50, according to data from CoinGecko. The sharp downturn wiped out over $6 billion in market capitalization, sending shockwaves through the crypto community.

In an official statement, Mantra CEO John Patrick Mullin addressed the situation, attributing the crash to “reckless forced closures initiated by centralized exchanges”. He clarified that the Telegram group was not deleted, and that team tokens remain in custody, verifiable on-chain at mantra1yejpacug78zuqkzwwuc94c0a2al4mz4yfqquam. Mullin emphasized that the tokenomics remain unchanged and that no team or investor wallet had sold tokens.

“The timing and depth of the crash suggest that a very sudden closure of account positions was initiated without sufficient warning or notice,” Mullin stated, suggesting negligence — or possibly market manipulation — on the part of centralized exchanges during low-liquidity Sunday hours.

Meanwhile, Binance Support acknowledged the volatility, noting that it was due to “cross-exchange liquidations.” The exchange revealed it had already taken risk control measures since October, including leverage reductions for OM and a warning notice issued in January highlighting changes to OM’s tokenomics that significantly increased supply.

Adding to the controversy, CryptoRover, a crypto influencer, shared on X that 17 wallets had deposited 43.6 million OM tokens (worth $227 million) to exchanges before the crash—roughly 4.5% of OM’s circulating supply. He alleged that two wallets were linked to Laser Digital, a strategic investor in the project.

Further fueling scrutiny, OKX CEO Star Xu called the incident a “big scandal to the whole crypto industry”, promising to make all collateral and liquidation data public.

Despite the chaos, Mantra leadership reaffirmed its commitment to the project, citing its resilience through multiple market cycles and highlighting its regulatory milestone as the first DeFi protocol licensed by Dubai’s VARA. A community space on X is scheduled to further clarify the developments.

The situation remains fluid as investigations continue into what appears to be a complex confluence of aggressive liquidations, increased token supply, and potential investor actions—raising fresh concerns about transparency and risk controls across centralized exchanges.