MANTRA Founder Initiates Burn of 150 Million OM Tokens
John Patrick Mullin, founder and CEO of MANTRA, has taken the bold step of burning his entire 150 million OM token allocation. This move comes as part of Mullin’s commitment to increasing transparency and rebuilding trust within the community.
The token burn, which permanently removes 150 million OM tokens from circulation, is a strategic effort to reaffirm MANTRA’s goal of establishing a decentralized and inclusive financial ecosystem driven by tokenization.
Token Burn Process
According to the project’s official statement, the process of unstaking the tokens has commenced and is expected to be completed by April 29, 2025. These tokens were initially staked during the mainnet launch of MANTRA Chain in October 2024 to secure the network.
Upon completion, the 150 million OM tokens will be transferred to the burn address “mantra1qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqcg2my8,” effectively reducing the total supply of OM tokens.
Transaction hashes associated with the unstaking process have been made public, allowing for on-chain verification of the token burn.
In addition to Mullin’s burn, MANTRA is working with ecosystem partners to coordinate a second burn of 150 million OM tokens, doubling the total burn amount to 300 million OM. This combined effort will significantly decrease the total supply of OM tokens from 1.82 billion to 1.52 billion.
Increased Staking Rewards
The burn of 150 million OM tokens from the team and core contributor allocation will reduce the staked tokens on the network from 571.8 million to 421.8 million OM. This adjustment will lower MANTRA Chain’s bonded ratio and lead to an increase in on-chain staking annual percentage rates (APRs).
Once the final burn transaction is confirmed on-chain, a comprehensive verification report will be published by MANTRA.
This move aligns with the industry trend of tokenized projects implementing transparent and deflationary supply mechanisms to enhance credibility and incentivize long-term participation.
OM Controversy
The decision to burn the tokens follows a tumultuous flash crash on April 13, which saw the price of OM plummet by over 90% in just one hour, resulting in significant value loss.
The crash was reportedly triggered by a $40 million token deposit into OKX from a wallet allegedly linked to the team, sparking concerns of insider selling. This prompted widespread panic fueled by rumors of undisclosed deals, delayed airdrops, and high token supply concentration.
In response to the crisis, Mullin announced the token burn as a gesture of transparency and community trust. Despite this initiative, the price of OM continues to experience volatility, remaining down by more than 90%.
