Mantra to Burn $160 Million Worth of OM Tokens Following Price Crash, Aims to Boost Staking Rewards
Mantra, the platform specializing in tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs), has announced a significant move to burn up to 16.5% of its total token supply, valued at approximately $160 million, in an effort to boost staking rewards. This decision follows discussions with key partners and aims to restore confidence after a dramatic price drop earlier this month.
The proposal calls for burning up to 300 million OM tokens out of the platform’s total 1.8 billion supply, which will reduce the bonded ratio from 31.47% to 25.30%. Among the tokens to be burned, a confirmed 150 million OM tokens, worth about $80 million, belong to the platform’s founder, John Patrick Mullin. The remainder consists of tokens owned by “ecosystem partners,” although specific details were not disclosed in Monday’s update.
Mullin’s tokens are part of his initial team allocation, which was staked when the network launched in October 2024. The burning process, which requires these tokens to be unstaked, is set to conclude by April 29, when the tokens will be sent to the network’s burn address.
“The process of unstaking 150 million tokens from the Team and Core Contributor bucket has now begun,” the Mantra team said.
This move comes on the heels of a 90% crash in the OM token’s price on April 13, wiping out more than $5 billion in market value in just a few hours. The Mantra team attributed the collapse to “reckless liquidations” by exchanges, speculating that some investors were forced to liquidate their positions amid heavy selling.
Mantra, which allows users to tokenize real-world assets such as real estate and commodities, has positioned its OM token as both a facilitator for transactions and a tool for governance within the ecosystem. In January, the platform formed a partnership with DAMAC Group, a UAE-based conglomerate, to tokenize $1 billion worth of assets, including real estate, hospitality, and data centers. This partnership initially helped drive up the OM token’s value.
Despite this announcement, OM’s price has dropped by 3.3% in the past 24 hours, reflecting ongoing investor skepticism. The token had previously seen impressive gains in 2024, rising more than 400%, but the recent market turmoil has significantly impacted investor confidence.
