By the end of Sunday, OM’s total market cap had actually dropped an astounding $5.431 billion. This monumental crash rocked the entire crypto space. The value tanked from well over $6.11 billion to a mere $683.3 million in just a few hours. This unprecedented decline sparked international outcry and accusations of scientific malpractice.
JP Mullins, CEO of Mantra, alleges that reckless forced closures initiated by centralized exchanges on OM account holders triggered the dramatic downturn. He asserts that the Mantra team took no actions that would have contributed to the collapse of OM's native token.
Mullins expressed his concerns on X, arguing that centralized exchanges should be held accountable for this sudden collapse. He went on to detail the circumstances of the crash, alleging that the exchanges had conspired against the coin. They liquidated huge positions during hours of low liquidity, adding to the chaos. Mullins thinks the timing of these closures, which have come during low-liquidity hours on a Sunday evening UTC, might point to a greater degree of negligence. Or it could be a calculated strategy by centralized exchanges for market positioning. He pointedly excluded Binance as one of the exchanges that may have played a role.
The forced closures were compounded by the fact that the collapse came at a time of very low market liquidity. At the time of writing, OM is trading at $0.51, down 91.2% on the day.
The CEO’s allegations of fraud raises urgent and serious questions. Second, they question the role and responsibility of centralized exchanges in trading and risk management as well as market stability. In less than a year, OM’s market cap has plummeted by 98%. This is another sobering reminder of the volatility, unpredictability, and danger associated with cryptocurrency investment.
Centralized exchanges made big moves when we were in a liquidity crunch. These steps surely deepened the deterioration of OM’s market valuation. The Mantra team continues to insist that they did not do anything that caused the collapse.
