Mantra Plans to Burn $160M OM Tokens After Price Plunge, Including Founder’s Allocation
Mantra, the blockchain platform focused on real-world asset tokenization, has revealed a plan to burn up to 16.5% of its OM token supply, totaling approximately $160 million, in an effort to recover from a significant price crash earlier this month. The move, aimed at increasing staking rewards and restoring investor confidence, follows a dramatic 90% drop in OM’s value.
The proposed burn will involve a total of 300 million OM tokens, which represents a reduction in the bonded ratio from 31.47% to 25.30%. A substantial portion of this, about 150 million OM (around $80 million), belongs to Mantra’s founder, John Patrick Mullin, and was initially staked when the network was launched in October 2024. In addition, a portion of the tokens will come from ecosystem partners, although specific details have not yet been disclosed.
“We have begun unstaking 150 million tokens from the Team and Core Contributor pool,” Mantra said in its Monday update. The burn process is scheduled to be completed by April 29, with tokens being sent to the network’s burn address by that time.
This decision follows the sharp decline of OM’s value on April 13, which saw the token lose over $5 billion in market capitalization within just a few hours. The Mantra team attributed this crash to “reckless liquidations” by exchanges, with speculation that some investors were forced to sell their positions in the wake of the price drop.
Mantra’s platform allows users to tokenize tangible assets like real estate and commodities, facilitating compliant digital investments in these real-world assets. The OM token serves as the platform’s primary utility token for transactions and governance.
Earlier this year, Mantra formed a partnership with DAMAC Group, a UAE-based conglomerate, to tokenize up to $1 billion in real estate, hospitality, and data center assets. This partnership helped boost the OM token’s value significantly, but the recent crash has shaken investor confidence.
Despite the burn announcement, the OM token has seen a 3.3% decline in the past 24 hours, suggesting that investor sentiment remains cautious. The token had previously experienced a remarkable 400% surge in 2024, but its value has since been under pressure.
