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Mantra CEO Denies Insider Token Dump

Mantra CEO John Mullin has denied reports suggesting large-scale token transfers by major Mantra investors prior to the OM token's 90% crash. Speaking in an AMA hosted by Cointelegraph on April 14, Mullin stated:

"The Mantra association, our key investors, our advisers — no one has sold, and we are going to categorically deny and also provide verifiable proof onchain that this is the case."

Reports Contradicted by Blockchain Data

Blockchain analytics platforms suggested that Laser Digital, a strategic Mantra investor, was among 17 wallets that moved a combined 43.6 million OM tokens (worth about $227 million) to exchanges before the crash.

According to Arkham data:
One Laser Digital-linked wallet reportedly moved about 6.5 million OM tokens ($41.6 million) to OKX in seven transactions since April 11
Another wallet sent about 2.2 million OM (worth $13 million) to Binance in a series of transfers starting April 3
Laser Digital may have started reducing its OM holdings as early as February

Laser Digital, a digital asset business backed by Nomura, has subsequently denied these allegations, claiming that the referenced wallets did not belong to them.

Exchange Activity Under Scrutiny

The Mantra team believes exchanges forcibly closing positions without notice may have triggered the crash, with one currently unnamed exchange potentially to blame.

"We have determined that the OM market movements were triggered by reckless forced closures initiated by centralized exchanges on OM account holders," Mantra co-founder John Mullin wrote in an April 13 statement.

Mullin indicated they believe one exchange "in particular" was responsible, but they were still "figuring out the details." He specifically stated that the centralized exchange in question wasn't Binance.

Token Price Movement

The Mantra token (OM) crashed from $6.30 to below $0.50 on April 13, losing over 90% of its $6 billion market cap. The price has since rebounded somewhat, crossing back over $1.

According to the Mantra team: "One thing we want to be clear on: this was not our team. We are looking into it and will share more details about what happened as soon as we can."

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