Mantra’s OM Token Loses 99% in 2025 – Why the Team Attributes It to OKX

Mantra’s OM token experienced a dramatic price decline of approximately 99% in 2025, a collapse that the Mantra DAO team has publicly linked to operational disruptions on the centralized exchange OKX. This attribution brings into focus the risks associated with heavy dependency on centralized exchanges for token liquidity and raises broader questions about token resilience and investor vulnerability in the evolving crypto ecosystem.

What happened

In 2025, Mantra’s OM token saw its market value plummet by around 99%, a collapse that unfolded amid significant operational challenges at OKX, one of the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. The Mantra DAO team identified the root cause primarily as liquidity issues stemming from OKX’s suspension of OM token withdrawals and trading. This suspension was imposed amid regulatory and operational difficulties faced by OKX during the year.

OKX’s decision to halt withdrawals and restrict trading on the OM token effectively trapped a substantial portion of the token’s circulating supply, as centralized exchanges like OKX hold significant custody over OM tokens. This action precipitated a severe liquidity crunch, constraining market participants’ ability to transact freely and causing a rapid price decline.

The correlation between OKX’s operational restrictions and the OM token’s price collapse has been emphasized by both the Mantra team and market observers. Reports from Chainalysis confirm that a large share of OM tokens were held on centralized exchanges, magnifying the impact of OKX’s suspension. CoinDesk analyses further highlight how centralized exchange operational risks, such as withdrawal freezes, can trigger sharp downward pressure on token prices, particularly when decentralized liquidity is limited.

While the Mantra DAO team’s public statements squarely place responsibility on OKX’s actions, independent data on the exact volume of liquidity trapped or the role of other trading venues during the suspension remains unavailable. There is also no official disclosure from Mantra DAO or OKX detailing the internal mechanics behind the collapse.

Why this matters

The OM token’s steep decline and the attribution of its collapse to OKX’s operational decisions underscore a critical vulnerability in the crypto ecosystem: the dependence of many tokens on centralized exchanges for liquidity and price discovery. When a significant portion of a token’s supply is concentrated on a few centralized platforms, the operational risks faced by those platforms can cascade directly into market disruptions and severe price volatility.

This case illustrates that tokens heavily reliant on centralized exchanges are exposed to risks beyond typical market fluctuations, including regulatory interventions, exchange-specific operational failures, or policy changes that can abruptly restrict access to liquidity. Such events can generate liquidity crunches that decentralized exchanges (DEXs) or other trading venues may not be able to offset, especially if decentralized liquidity pools are underdeveloped or fragmented.

The Mantra-OKX episode signals the importance for token projects and investors to consider liquidity diversification as a factor in token resilience. Research from Messari highlights how diversified liquidity sources—including DEXs and cross-chain bridges—can mitigate the impact of centralized exchange disruptions. Conversely, concentrated custody on centralized platforms heightens investor risk by creating single points of failure.

From a broader market and policy perspective, the incident raises questions about the systemic risks posed by dominant centralized exchanges and the regulatory scrutiny they face. It also points to the need for greater transparency around token custody, liquidity distribution, and exchange operational protocols to better understand and manage these vulnerabilities.

What remains unclear

Despite the publicly stated connection between OKX’s operational restrictions and the OM token’s collapse, several key aspects remain unresolved or insufficiently documented:

The extent to which other market dynamics—such as a general downturn in the crypto sector, tokenomics challenges within the Mantra DAO project, or internal governance issues—may have contributed to the price decline beyond the OKX suspension is not clarified by available sources.
Precise data on the proportion of OM token liquidity trapped on OKX during the withdrawal suspension is absent, making it difficult to quantify the direct impact of the exchange’s actions on overall liquidity.
The response of decentralized exchanges and alternative trading venues during the OKX suspension period is not detailed in existing reports, leaving open whether they provided significant liquidity relief or trading alternatives.
No official filings, audit reports, or independent forensic investigations have been published by either Mantra DAO or OKX that explain the internal factors or sequence of events leading to the token’s collapse.
The influence of broader macroeconomic or sector-wide crypto trends during 2025 on the OM token’s price movement is not explicitly addressed, creating uncertainty about the interplay of systemic factors.

What to watch next

Disclosures or official reports from Mantra DAO or OKX that could shed light on the internal mechanics of the token collapse and clarify the extent of liquidity trapped during the withdrawal freeze.
Regulatory developments affecting centralized exchanges like OKX, which may influence operational stability and the handling of token custody in the future.
Data and analysis on trading volumes and liquidity provision for OM token across decentralized exchanges and other venues during and after the OKX suspension period.
Any governance updates or strategic responses from Mantra DAO addressing liquidity diversification, tokenomics adjustments, or risk management to enhance token resilience.
Broader market trends in the crypto sector throughout 2025 that could contextualize the OM token’s collapse within wider asset price movements and investor sentiment.

The collapse of Mantra’s OM token and the team’s attribution of the event to OKX’s operational disruptions highlight the fragility of tokens heavily dependent on centralized exchanges for liquidity. While the direct link to OKX’s suspension of withdrawals is clear, unresolved questions about other contributory factors and the full liquidity landscape remain. This episode underscores the evolving challenges in crypto markets related to exchange risk, liquidity concentration, and token resilience—issues that continue to demand greater transparency and diversified infrastructure to safeguard investor interests.

Source: https://ambcrypto.com/mantras-om-extends-2025-loss-to-99-why-the-team-blames-okx/. This article is based on verified research material available at the time of writing. Where information is limited or unavailable, this is stated explicitly.