MANTRA founder and CEO John Patrick Mullin has initiated the burn of his full 150 million OM token allocation, following through on a commitment made last week to bolster transparency and rebuild trust within the community.
The token burn, which permanently removes the equivalent amount of OM from circulation, is part of a broader strategy to reaffirm MANTRA’s mission of creating a decentralized, inclusive financial ecosystem driven by tokenization.
Token burn
According to the project’s statement, the unstaking process has begun and is scheduled for completion on April 29, 2025. The tokens were originally staked during MANTRA Chain’s mainnet launch in October 2024 to secure the network.
Once finalized, the tokens will be sent to the burn address “mantra1qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqcg2my8,” effectively reducing the total supply by 150 million OM.
Transaction hashes associated with the unstaking process have been publicly shared, allowing onchain verification of the burn process.
In parallel, MANTRA is actively engaging with ecosystem partners to coordinate a second burn of 150 million OM tokens, which would double the total burn amount to 300 million OM.
The combined burn would reduce the total OM supply from 1.82 billion to 1.52 billion, marking a substantial shift in tokenomics.
Staking rewards to rise
The 150 million OM burn from the team and core contributor allocation will decrease staked tokens on the network from 571.8 million to 421.8 million OM.
This change will lower MANTRA Chain’s bonded ratio from 31.47% to 25.30%, triggering a rise in onchain staking annual percentage rates (APRs).
MANTRA said that once the final burn transaction is confirmed onchain, a complete verification report will be released.
The move reflects growing industry trends among tokenized projects seeking to build credibility and incentivize long-term participation through transparent and deflationary supply mechanics.
OM controversy
The decision to burn the tokens comes after a dramatic flash crash on April 13, during which OM’s price plummeted over 90% within an hour, erasing billions in value.
The crash was reportedly triggered by a $40 million token deposit into OKX by a wallet allegedly linked to the team, sparking fears of insider selling.
Panic spread quickly as rumors of undisclosed over-the-counter deals, delayed airdrops, and excessive token supply concentration fueled mass liquidations across exchanges.
In response, Mullin announced the token burn as a commitment to transparency and community trust. However, OM’s price has continued to face volatility and is still down more than 90%.