Mantra Burns $160M of OM Tokens, Representing 50% of DAO Founder's Stake, After Price Drops 90%
The tokens are part of the John Mullin team's distribution that was completed during the initial network launch in October 2024.
Shaurya Malwa | Edited by Sheldon Rebeck on April 22, 2025, 7:29 AM
Key points:
- Mantra intends to burn 300 million OM tokens, including 150 million from founder John Patrick Mullin, in order to increase staking rewards.
- The token burning process followed a sharp 90% decline in the value of OM, which the platform attributed to careless liquidations on exchanges.
- Despite the burn announcement, OM prices fell 3.3%, indicating a decline in investor confidence.
Mantra, a real-world asset tokenization platform whose OM token crashed earlier this month, is seeking to burn up to 16.5% of its total supply, equivalent to about $160 million, in a bid to increase staking rewards after discussions with key partners.
The proposal to burn up to 300 million of the 1.8 billion tokens would reduce the bond ratio from 31.47% to 25.30%. This includes a committed tranche of 150 million OM, or about $80 million, held by founder John Patrick Mullin, as well as an additional set of tokens held by “ecosystem partners.” Details were not disclosed in Monday’s update.
Mullin's tokens are part of his team's distribution that was carried out when the network first launched in October 2024. The burn process, which requires the placement to be cancelled, will be completed by April 29, when the tokens will be sent to the network's burn address.
“The process of withdrawing 150 million tokens from the Team and Core Members sections has already begun,” the team said.
The move comes after OM’s price plunged 90% on April 13, wiping out more than $5 billion in market value in just a few hours. The Mantra team attributed the crash to “careless liquidations” on exchanges as some investors sold off their positions.
Mantra allows users to tokenize real-world assets (RWAs) such as real estate and commodities, facilitating compliant digital investments in physical assets. Its OM token facilitates transactions and governance.
In January, Mantra signed a partnership with DAMAC Group, a UAE-based conglomerate, to tokenize $1 billion worth of assets including real estate, hospitality, and data centers, which contributed to the rise in the value of the OM token.
OM has been one of the leading players in the market in 2024, growing by over 400% amid relatively low levels of social media discussion around cryptocurrencies. The effectiveness of this move has caught the attention of both traders and investors.
OM price is down 3.3% in the last 24 hours despite the burn announcement, indicating a significant drop in investor confidence.
