Highlights:
According to OKX, colluding accounts manipulated the OM price with borrowed USDT, and all the losses are paid by its $724M Security Fund.
Evidence is presented to the regulators, with numerous lawsuits and investigations ongoing.
MANTRA team was accused of propagating false stories as the token was about to migrate its tokens 1:1000.
Cryptocurrency exchange OKX publicly discussed the April 2025 MANTRA ($OM) price crash, saying that the event was caused by a planned market manipulation attack involving several related accounts.
As reported, such accounts with abnormally high token holdings pledged to borrow large sums of USDT artificially pumped up the price of the token and then crashed.
OKX asserts that its internal risk systems identified the unusual activity at the earliest, and account holders were contacted and requested to take corrective actions. The exchange gained control of the accounts to contain risk when they supposedly declined to cooperate.
Although MANTRA token was liquidated only in a small part, the sudden price fall resulted in significant losses, which were completely covered by the Security Fund, worth $724 million as of Q3 2025.

Source: Official X
Since then, the exchange has provided full documentation and evidence to regulators and law enforcement agencies, and several legal actions are being undertaken. This announcement is made amid a new conflict between OKX and the MANTRA team before the tokens are to migrate their 1:1000 tokens later this month.
The exchange in its statement pointed out that the OM crash was not due to its actions but to the intentional manipulation.
The collaborating accounts had a disproportionate amount of the token supply, which casts grave doubts on the distribution and the origins of the token.
The exchange claimed that it was merely trying to contain risks and not to liquidate aggressively.
Very few holdings were sold, and the exchange took all the resulting losses to save users.
The Security Fund, which was observed, did not fail in its purpose in the crisis.
Third-party audits quoted indicate that off-exchange perpetual futures trading, rather than spot trading on the platform, caused almost 70% of the price fall, and thus, the exchange is further away from the crash itself.
The platform ensured that regulators and other law enforcement bodies are currently investigating the evidence provided.
Several lawsuits concerning the tokens incident have been filed, although no particular jurisdiction parties were revealed.
The exchange accused the MANTRA team of not answering questions about the origin of big $OM holdings and publicly accusing OKX instead. According to the crypto exchange, such conduct was very unprofessional and emphasized that the main focus was on transparency and accountability.
The debate has re-emerged with MANTRA in readiness to migrate its 1:1000 tokens. On December 9, the CEO of MANTRA requested users to pull $OM off OKX, claiming false timelines and inconsistencies. OKX responded by restating its stand and citing the unresolved manipulation issues currently being investigated.
The Market reaction are highly polarized and emotionally colored. Some are accusing OKX of manipulability, absence of transparency, and accountability of its holdings in the form of MANTRA tokens
Others defend the position of OKX by referring to the risk management, the presence of regulators, and the Security Fund.
The crypto crash illustrates that there are persistent risks of token concentration, leverage abuse, and transparency, as regulators question centralized exchanges and project teams as legal and governance issues intensify.
Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. Please DYOR before investing. CoinGabbar is not responsible for any financial losses. Crypto assets are highly volatile, and you can lose your entire investment.
Sakshi Jain is a crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in industry research, financial analysis, and content creation. She specializes in producing insightful blogs, in-depth news coverage, and SEO-optimized content. Passionate about bringing clarity and engagement to the fast-changing world of cryptocurrencies, Sakshi focuses on delivering accurate and timely insights. As a crypto journalist at Coin Gabbar, she researches and analyzes market trends, reports on the latest crypto developments and regulations, and crafts high-quality content on emerging blockchain technologies.