22-4-2025 – MANTRA’s founder and chief executive John Patrick Mullin has embarked on a significant token reduction initiative, commencing the permanent removal of his entire 150 million OM token allocation from circulation.
The dramatic development follows a catastrophic market event on 13 April, when the OM token experienced a devastating flash crash, shedding over 90% of its value within sixty minutes. The precipitous decline was allegedly triggered by a substantial 40 million token deposit on the OKX exchange, which market observers linked to an address purportedly associated with the project’s inner circle.
Market tremors intensified amidst swirling speculation about undisclosed private trading arrangements and delayed token distributions, culminating in widespread forced liquidations across trading venues. Despite Mullin’s swift intervention, the token continues to trade at a fraction of its former value.
The technical process of unstaking these tokens, which have been securing the MANTRA Chain network since its October 2024 launch, commenced this week. The procedure is slated for completion by 29 April 2025, whereupon the tokens will be irreversibly dispatched to a designated burn address.
In a compelling development, MANTRA’s leadership is orchestrating discussions with ecosystem partners regarding an additional 150 million token reduction, potentially doubling the scope of the initiative to 300 million OM. This expanded action would markedly alter the project’s tokenomics, reducing the total supply from 1.82 billion to 1.52 billion OM.
The reduction initiative carries significant implications for network participants. The removal of 150 million staked tokens will decrease the network’s bonded ratio from 31.47% to 25.30%, consequently enhancing staking rewards for remaining participants.
MANTRA’s strategy aligns with an emerging trend among blockchain projects, where token supply reduction mechanisms are increasingly employed to foster community trust and encourage sustained participation. The organisation has committed to publishing comprehensive verification documentation once the burn procedure concludes.
To ensure transparency, MANTRA has made public the transaction identifiers associated with the unstaking process, enabling independent verification through blockchain explorers.
