Following its airdrop, the ERC-20 token OMNI from the Omni Network experienced a significant decline of more than 55%, effectively halving its market capitalization within 18 hours.
Simultaneously, a counterfeit token bearing the same name executed a “rug pull” maneuver, causing its value to plummet by 100%.
The layer-1 testnet blockchain, designed to interconnect Ethereum rollups, allocated 3 million OMNI tokens—equivalent to 3% of its total token supply of 100 million—to its community contributors on April 17, commencing at 11 am UTC. At the time, OMNI boasted a market cap of $560 million.
In a rapid turn of events, OMNI experienced a nearly 30% decrease in value within just thirty minutes, dropping from $53.80 to below $39, and continued its downward trajectory to approximately $24—an astounding decline exceeding 55%.
According to CoinGecko, the current market capitalization stands at $267.5 million, resulting in a fully diluted valuation of approximately $2.57 billion.
The price of OMNI has continued its descent since the airdrop, as depicted by data from CoinGecko.
The airdrop allocated 50%—equivalent to 1.5 million OMNI tokens—of the latest distribution to early testnet users, developers, and community contributors, amounting to approximately $36.2 million in value. Eligibility was determined through a snapshot taken on April 3.
The remaining tokens were distributed among EigenLayer restakers and various non-fungible token (NFT) projects, including Pudgy Penguins, among others.
As of April 15, Omni Network disclosed that 9.27 million OMNI tokens, constituting 9.27% of the total supply, were designated as public launch tokens for “launch pools and liquidity.”
The token distribution plan for OMNI, as illustrated by Omni Network, reveals that the largest portion—29.5 million OMNI, accounting for 29.5% of the supply—will be allocated for “ecosystem development” and initially dispersed at the discretion of the blockchain’s supporting entity, the Omni Foundation.
Furthermore, 23.3 million OMNI tokens were earmarked for investors and advisors. Advisors received 625,000 OMNI tokens valued at $15 million, with an additional 875,000 OMNI tokens scheduled for release after one year, followed by 437,500 OMNI tokens every six months for two years.
Investor tokens are subject to a three-year unlocking schedule, with nearly 6.7 million tokens, valued at nearly $161 million, set for release after 12 months, followed by gradual unlocking every six months until the allocation is exhausted.
In a parallel development, a counterfeit OMNI token, utilizing the same ticker, perpetrated an exit scam totaling $398,000.
Blockchain security firm PeckShield reported in an April 18 post that the fraudulent token, upon deployment, immediately dumped over 1.7 quadrillion tokens for 132 Wrapped Ether (WETH).