The price of the Mantra (OM) token experienced a dramatic 98% drop, prompting investigations into potential market manipulation by centralized exchanges. The project’s team attributes this steep decline to actions by these platforms rather than internal factors within the OM ecosystem. John Patrick Mullin, CEO of the Mantra project, outlined his findings in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). “We believe the OM market movements were triggered by reckless forced closures initiated by centralized exchanges on OM account holders. The timing and depth of the crash suggest that a very sudden closure of account positions was initiated without sufficient warning or notice”, Mullin explained. This explanation came hours after public doubt about the team’s involvement in the price drop was raised. Prior to the crash, OM had been sliding and rumors of insider selling and a potential rug pull surfaced. The CEO clarified that the crash wasn’t caused by any token sales from the project team, the MANTRA Chain Association, advisors, early backers, or other entities selling tokens.