Mantra (OM) token crashes 90% as CEO plans to burn team's tokens to win back community trust

Mantra CEO John Mullin said he is planning to burn all of his team's tokens in order to win back the trust of the network's community

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) fell below the $84,000 mark on April 16, despite recent reports of increased interest in the flagship cryptocurrency from U.S. President Donald Trump and the sovereign wealth funds.

According to data from CoinDegen, the BTC price dropped to $83,991 after bouncing above the $84,000 level throughout the previous week. The decrease in the BTC price followed a report by Trump, who stated that his administration is working on a new bill to tie the U.S. dollar to Bitcoin in a bid to curb inflation.

However, Trump’s comments sparked mixed reactions, with some expressing skepticism about the feasibility of the bill and others welcoming the initiative.

Meanwhile, a report from Coinbase researchers highlighted that the crypto market is likely to experience a strong second half of 2025, especially with institutions gradually allocating funds to digital assets.

“We have actually received quite a number of approaches by a few governments and sovereign wealth funds on the establishment of their own crypto reserves,” said Richard Teng, the CEO of Binance in an interview with the Economic Times.

The development comes as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly dropped its case against crypto exchange Coinbase. Earlier this year, the SEC sued Coinbase and other crypto firms for selling unregistered securities to U.S. investors.

However, the SEC agreed to drop the case in February, a decision that surprised many in the crypto community.

Later, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced plans to sue Coinbase for selling unregistered securities to the state’s residents. According to Rayfield, his office will file the lawsuit despite the SEC dropping its federal case.

The news comes as the SEC continues to take a harsh stance against the crypto industry, with the agency’s chair Gary Gensler stating that most digital assets, including Ether (ETH), are securities.

The SEC’s actions have drawn criticism from some lawmakers, who believe the agency is stifling innovation with its regulations.

The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ihodl.

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Mantra CEO plans to burn team’s tokens in bid to win community trust

The co-founder and CEO of Mantra is planning to burn all of his team’s tokens in order to win back the trust of the network’s community following the sudden collapse of the Mantra (OM) token on April 13.

"I'm planning to burn all of my team tokens and when we turn it around the community and investors can decide if I have earned it back," JP Mullin posted to X on Monday.

Mantra set aside 300 million OM, 16.88% of the token’s nearly 1.78 billion total supply, for its team and core contributors. They are currently locked and were scheduled to be released in stages between April 2027 and October 2029, according to an April 8 blog post.

The news comes as the founders of Mantra have been adamant that the network’s collapse was due to a malicious actor draining liquidity pools and not a rug pull or scam.

"It appears that a single actor has systematically targeted and exploited several projects in a coordinated campaign of malicious intent to destabilize the ecosystem," the founders said in a joint statement on April 13.

However, despite the founders’ claims, many community members expressed skepticism, with some accusing the team of scamming investors.

Oregon targets Coinbase after SEC drops federal lawsuit

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield is planning a lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped its federal case against the exchange.

According to Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) chief legal officer Paul Grewal, the lawsuit will be an exact "copycat case" of SEC’s 2023 lawsuit. The federal agency agreed to drop the case in February, Grewal added.

"In case you think I’m jumping to conclusions, the attorney general’s office made it clear to us that they are literally picking up where the Gary Gensler SEC left off — seriously. This is exactly the opposite of what Americans should be focused on right now."

The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The news comes as the SEC continues to take a harsh stance against the crypto industry, with the agency’s chair Gary Gensler stating that most digital assets, including Ether (CRYPTO:ETH), are securities.

The SEC’s actions have drawn criticism from some lawmakers, who believe the agency is stifling innovation with its regulations.

Earlier this year, the SEC sued Coinbase and other crypto firms for selling unregistered securities to U.S. investors.

But the agency agreed to drop the case in February, a decision that surprised many in the crypto community.

The agency is also investigating several other crypto firms, including Binance and Circle