Update (April 14, 1:15 pm UTC)
This article has been updated to add comments by Mantra CEO John Mullin from an AMA event hosted by Cointelegraph.
CEO Denies Large-Scale Token Transfers
Mantra CEO John Mullin denied reports suggesting there were large-scale token transfers by major Mantra investors in the days leading up to the sharp collapse of the OM token, in an AMA hosted by Cointelegraph on April 14.
“The Mantra association, our key investors, our advisers — no one has sold, and we are going to categorically deny and also provide verifiable proof on chain proof that this is the case,” Mullin stated in the AMA.
Previous reports suggested that Laser Digital, a strategic Mantra investor, cashed out large portions of Mantra (OM) tokens before the cryptocurrency collapsed on April 13.
At least two wallets linked to Laser Digital were among 17 wallets that moved a combined 43.6 million OM tokens — worth about $227 million at the time — to exchanges before the crash, the blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reported on April 13, citing Arkham Intelligence data.
Laser Digital Not Involved in Millions in OM Transferred to Binance, OKX
Laser Digital is a digital asset business backed by Nomura. The firm announced a strategic investment in Mantra in May 2024.
According to Arkham data, one Laser Digital-linked wallet has moved about 6.5 million OM tokens ($41.6 million at the time) to OKX in seven transactions since April 11.
The last recorded transaction from the wallet occurred on April 11 at around 10:00 pm UTC, days before the Mantra crash, which took place on April 13 at roughly 7:00 pm UTC, according to data from CoinGecko.
Another wallet sent about 2.2 million OM (worth $13 million) to Binance in a series of transfers starting April 3.
The data also indicates that Laser Digital may have started reducing its OM holdings as early as February. The wallets linked to the firm reportedly received a large portion of their OM from crypto trading firm GSR in 2023.
Laser Digital Denies Involvement in OM Volatility
Laser Digital subsequently denied reports alleging its involvement in the OM volatility, claiming that the referenced wallets did not belong to it.
“Laser has no involvement in the recent price collapse of $OM,” Laser said in an X post on April 14. “Assertions circulating on social media that link Laser to ‘investor selling’ are factually incorrect and misleading,” the firm added.
Arkham did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request to comment on Laser Digital’s wallets’ tags.
Action from Other Mantra Investors
Laser Digital wasn’t the only Mantra investor active before the OM collapse.
According to Lookonchain data, a wallet associated with Shane Shin, a founding partner of Shorooq Partners, received 2 million OM tokens on April 13 at 11:52 am UTC, hours before the crash.
The tokens came from a previously dormant wallet that received 2.75 million OM in April 2024, Lookonchain reported.
Both Laser Digital and Shorooq were among the investors in the $109 million Mantra Ecosystem Fund (MEF) announced on April 7.
“It is important to note up front that Shorooq (its funds and founding partners) and Mantra (management and team members) have not sold OM tokens in the lead up to, or during, this crash,” a spokesperson for Shorooq told Cointelegraph.
The representative also emphasized that Shorooq is an equity investor in Mantra, not solely a token investor. “This means that our focus is on the long-term growth of the project,” the spokesperson added.
Cointelegraph contacted Mantra regarding the OM token collapse and its implications for the MEF but had not received a response by the time of publication.
‘We Don’t Know Who Those Wallets Belong To,’ Says CEO
Binance attributes OM collapse to “cross-exchange liquidations.”
As OKX and Binance were among exchanges that saw significant OM activity before and during the crash, both exchanges addressed the issue directly. OKX founder Star Xu called the incident a “big scandal to the whole crypto industry.”
While Mantra CEO John Mullin attributed the OM crash to one exchange, Binance hinted at “cross-exchange liquidations.”
“Our initial findings indicate that the developments over the past day are a result of cross-exchange liquidations,” Binance said in an announcement on April 14.
In an update on April 14, OKX said that Mantra’s tokenomics had gone through major changes since October 2024 and flagged suspicious activity across multiple exchanges.