OM (Mantra) plummeted 90% in 24 hours to an intraday low of $0.4222 before bouncing to $0.7162. The dump caused chaos across the crypto markets, wiping out millions of open positions and leaving traders looking for answers.
Binance, the largest crypto exchange, stepped in to calm the panic. In an April 14 statement on X (formerly Twitter), the exchange said the drop was due to massive cross-exchange liquidations – a domino effect where leveraged positions were forced to close, causing a cascade of sell-offs across platforms.
What Happened to OM?
While market volatility is nothing new in crypto, this was a big one. According to Lookonchain, 17 wallets sent $227 million worth of OM tokens to exchanges in the hours leading up to the crash – that’s 4.5% of OM’s total supply.
That influx of tokens created extreme sell pressure and caused:
- $66.97 million in liquidations in 12 hours
- A wave of withdrawals
- Price drops across multiple exchanges
Rumors of a rug pull started circulating with some investors accusing the project team of not preventing or even orchestrating the dump. While that’s unproven, it’s certainly eroded trust.
Tokenomics and Leverage: A Deadly Combo
Binance pointed to recent changes in OM’s tokenomics, specifically a increase in circulating supply, as the vulnerability. Since January, the platform had been showing risk warning pop-ups for OM, telling users to be careful.
Even with prior warnings – reduced leverage limits and stricter risk controls – the exchange couldn’t prevent the crash. The sell pressure overwhelmed the market safeguards and showed how quickly confidence can disappear in crypto.
One Trader Lost $3.3M – And He’s Not Alone
The human cost has been brutal. A well known trader, JB, shared his story on X. He invested $3.5 million in OM. After the crash? $200,000 left.> “I believed in real-world assets (RWAs),” he posted.
“I was wrong.”
And he’s not alone. Reports say traders lost more than $400 million. Even with Binance explaining what happened, OM investor sentiment is still in the red and trust will be hard to regain.
Bottom Line:
- OM dropped 90% to $0.4222 before bouncing
- $227M in token dumps and $66.97M in liquidations caused the crash
- Binance says it was cross-exchange liquidations and tokenomics changes
- One trader lost $3.3M, total losses may be $400M
- Investor sentiment is very bearish despite exchange transparency
Final Words
The OM dump is a painful reminder of how crazy crypto markets can be – especially when leverage, low liquidity and token dumps collide. Binance’s transparency is appreciated but for traders and investors, this is a wake up call: do your homework and understand the tokenomics before you get in.
