Mantra Is Torch-Throwing OM Tokens Into the Void—Here’s Why Everyone’s Panicking

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What to know:

  • The real-world asset project Mantra is about to set fire to its OM tokens in the kind of “comprehensive burn program” that must have started as a joke but quickly got out of hand, according to the project’s CEO, John Mullin.
  • Mullin leapt into action (well, he replied to a post), after someone suggested burning team tokens was the only thing to restore trust—presumably after OM fell faster than a cup of Earl Grey left on the dashboard of a spaceship during a sudden hyperspace jump.
  • Mullin’s explanation for the drop, which involved mysterious “exchanges” and closed positions, failed to convince everyone—since he wasn’t wearing a bathrobe or wielding a towel at the time, this was to be expected.

The cosmic engineers at Mantra (presumably sipping Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters) have made official plans to incinerate OM tokens, announcing a “comprehensive burn program.” CEO John Mullin took to X (which, for those born after the smartphone, is like Twitter but with more existential dread), after OM’s value demonstrated gravity is alive and well in crypto markets.

Following OM’s vanishing act—down more than 90% overnight, spontaneously and without reason, like most good things—Mullin assured everyone with: “To be 100% clear, I am burning MY team tokens…” (Caps lock, the preferred voice of urgency on the internet). There were also vague promises to organize similar bonfires for other bits of OM’s supply. 🔥

For those just joining this planet: “token burns” mean deleting digital coins forever—a bit like hiding your embarrassing teenage poetry from the universe—on the theory that what’s left becomes more valuable. Sometimes it works. Sometimes you simply have less poetry.

OM started life at a princely $6, only to plummet to $0.45 faster than you can say “Don’t Panic.” The reason, according to Mullin: exchanges. The actual reason? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Detractors were not impressed. OKX founder Star Xu, possibly while running in circles with arms flailing, described the fiasco as “a big scandal.”

So where’s OM now? Hovering indecisively around $0.81; or, in other words, at the bottom of the digital equivalent of a towel closet. That’s still 87% down from its previous glory before Tuesday’s events, but hey—at least there’s still a towel left.

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2025-04-16 17:13