Mantra CEO offers to burn his team token allocation as OM remains 88% down from weekly high

JP Mullin, CEO of Mantra, said he plans to burn his entire 772,000 OM token allocation in response to criticism over the project’s recent collapse and insider activity allegations. 

His statement follows an intense three days of scrutiny after the Mantra (OM) token plunged over 90% from its recent high, wiping out $5 billion in value. Mullin made the declaration via X on Apr. 15. He was replying to a community member who had suggested the Mantra team should delay its upcoming token unlocks, originally set to begin in April, as a show of long-term commitment.

Mullin responded by clarifying that team tokens don’t begin vesting until 2027, 30 months after Mantra Chain’s October 2024 mainnet launch. He added that he intends to burn his entire team allocation and would leave it up to the community to decide if he has earned it back in the future. 

The assertion sparked debate. Crypto Banter founder Ran Neuner said this approach “would be a mistake.” In his view, strong incentives are important to keep project teams motivated. Mullin responded that he was only referring to his personal allocation, and that the goal was to rebuild trust after the crash. He also floated the idea of placing the tokens into a community-controlled mechanism instead of burning them outright.

Mullin had previously shared a screenshot showing his 772,081 OM staked on Fluxtra, noting that he was “100% staked” on the platform. The team’s total 300 million OM allocation is locked until April 2027. According to Mullin, restoring the OM token’s value is the project’s top priority, with strategies like buybacks and token burns on the table.

The situation further escalated after popular online scam investigator Coffeezilla posted a summary of his YouTube interview with Mullin. He claimed that the Mantra team sold $25–$45 million worth of tokens in over-the-counter deals, at a 30–50% discount, and later used $5–$10 million to buy back OM. Coffeezilla argued this was a form of price manipulation, which Mullin denied.

The crash itself, according to an Apr. 15 report by crypto.news, was worsened by low liquidity and forced liquidations. Market depth on OM dropped from $290 million to just $473,000. Around $21 million in long positions were liquidated on OKX alone. OM token remains under heavy pressure, trading at $0.7479 at press time, down 88% in the past 7 days.