OKX clarifies $OM flash crash controversy: Price collapse is not the platform's responsibility, MANTRA team ignores suspicious activity

Cryptocurrency Exchange OKX published a lengthy article on the X platform on December 13, stating that it will respond to MANTRA team’s continuous dissemination of “misleading narratives” and clarify the facts point by point. Let’s see what OKX has to say:
(Background recap: $OM 30-minute plunge of 90% “Evaporating $7.5 billion”! Official blame game: reckless liquidation by centralized exchanges or malicious manipulation…)
(Additional context: $OM announced plans to initiate token buyback and burn, causing a temporary surge of 80%! MANTRA will release an analysis report on the crash today)

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX issued a long post on December 13 on the X platform, stating that it will respond to the ongoing dissemination of “misleading narratives” by the MANTRA team and clarify the facts point by point. In the announcement, OKX detailed the following points:

2. The exchange discovered multiple interconnected and colluding accounts that used large amounts of OM as collateral to borrow significant USDT, artificially inflating the OM price.
3. After the risk control team flagged this abnormal behavior, they contacted the account holders to request corrections, but the other party refused to cooperate.
4. To control risks, OKX took over these related accounts. Shortly after, OM’s price collapsed; OKX only liquidated a tiny portion of OM, but due to the rapid flash crash, significant losses occurred, which were fully absorbed by OKX’s security fund.
5. Multiple third-party analyses show that the price collapse was mainly driven by trading activity outside of the OKX platform.
6. The OKX security fund operated entirely as designed.

The announcement also pointed out that the source of these abnormal large amounts of OM remains unclear, and it is also unknown why a specific group controls such a large token supply. OKX has submitted complete evidence to regulatory authorities and law enforcement, and multiple lawsuits and legal procedures are ongoing.

OKX finally criticized that the MANTRA team not only failed to address these suspicious activities but also ignored the facts and publicly accused the exchange, calling this behavior “highly unprofessional.” OKX reaffirmed its commitment to cooperate fully with regulators and to continue protecting user interests.

Let’s clarify the facts, since MANTRA team continues to push a misleading narrative:

1. OKX identified evidence that multiple connected and colluding accounts used large quantities of OM as collateral to borrow significant amounts of USDT, artificially pushing OM’s price up.
   2.… pic.twitter.com/8nJUlr7PnV

— OKX (@okx) December 12, 2025

Controversy Background

The core of this dispute lies in the long-standing disagreement between OKX and MANTRA (OM project team). The main causes are twofold: first, in April this year, OM tokens experienced a 95% flash crash, with both sides blaming each other; second, the recent failure of the process to migrate OM tokens from ERC-20 to the MANTRA native chain: MANTRA plans to officially cease the old OM token after January 15, 2026, with a 1:4 split and gas unit adjustments. OKX initially announced that a snapshot and transfer would be conducted between December 22 and 25, and related services would be temporarily suspended, but MANTRA CEO John Patrick Mullin strongly opposed, claiming this timetable did not conform to the official governance proposal, which could cause user confusion, and called on holders to transfer tokens from OKX themselves.

Both sides issued public letters: OKX warned that if MANTRA’s decisions are harmful, legal action would be taken; the dispute also revisited the April crash: OKX accused collusion and manipulation, while MANTRA demanded transparency of OM holdings on the platform.

The key disagreement is over “who dumped first”

Regarding OKX’s latest announcement, crypto influencer Jason Chen (@jason_chen998) posted on the X platform today (14), analyzing OKX’s latest announcement along with MANTRA’s explanation of the April incident from six months ago. He pointed out that the two narratives are about 90% consistent, including acknowledgment of related accounts large-scale collateralizing OM to borrow USDT, the “foot on the right, foot on the left” pattern of market manipulation, and the flash crash caused by chain liquidations (small spot forced sales → derivative automatic liquidation → large-scale collateral liquidation).

But the only key difference is “who dumped first”: OKX’s version believes that after taking control of the accounts, the whales or project team cannot continue to manipulate or actively dump to escape; MANTRA’s version implies that the earliest spot sales came from their holdings. Jason Chen specifically mentioned that OKX used the term “take control” rather than “freeze,” hinting that the exchange might have greater operational authority, which could be a gray area both sides avoid discussing. He believes this mode primarily bears the risks for the exchange, with the core still being the chain liquidation avalanche, but the initial trigger point remains unclear. Investors are advised to judge based on the announcement.

It’s been half a year since the 95% flash crash of OM, and now OKX and the project team are fighting again. Combining OKX’s latest announcement with the project’s half-year-old statement about the April incident, we can roughly deduce the cause-and-effect. About 90% of their accounts align, only the remaining 10%—the most critical part—does not match, and that involves the key question of “who dumped first.”… pic.twitter.com/lLKGwIPtPY

— Jason Chen (@jason_chen998) December 14, 2025

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Tags: Mantra OKX OM token exchange controversy token migration price manipulation crypto flash crash risk control liquidation