Mantra founder commits to burning $82 million in OM tokens
MANTRA founder to burn $82M in OM tokens
In the wake of a dramatic collapse in the value of the OM token, John Patrick Mullin, the founder and CEO of real-world asset-focused Layer 1 blockchain MANTRA, has announced plans to burn 150 million of his personally allocated tokens—currently valued at $82 million.
The move is intended to restore investor confidence and stabilize the project after the token lost over 90% of its value in a matter of hours on April 13, erasing more than $5 billion in market capitalization, reports The Block.
Mullin stated the burn is meant to “rebuild trust” and “demonstrate unwavering focus” on growing the MANTRA ecosystem. According to a statement, MANTRA is also in active discussions with key partners to potentially double the burn total to 300 million tokens, representing approximately 16.5% of the token's total supply of 1.8 billion.
Community teaction and technical details
A poll posted by Mullin on social platform X garnered over 8,000 votes, with 81% in favor of burning the tokens immediately. The tokens are currently staked and will be transferred to the network’s burn address after April 29, once the unstaking process is complete.
The proposed token burn is also expected to affect network dynamics. MANTRA claims the strategic reduction in circulating tokens will decrease the bonded ratio from 31.47% to 25.30%, thereby increasing staking APR—a key incentive for token holders to remain engaged with the protocol.
Unresolved questions remain
Despite reassurances from the MANTRA team and investor Laser Digital, which denied involvement in the price collapse, the exact cause of the token’s crash remains unclear. Mullin noted that “reckless liquidations” were behind the sudden fall and expressed hope that further information from centralized exchange partners would clarify the situation.
As of now, OM has seen a minor recovery but remains down 2.7% over the past 24 hours, highlighting lingering market uncertainty.
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