What exactly happened behind the OM crash? Mantra's recent actions are a bit puzzling

Recently, the OM token suddenly plummeted, causing a stir in the market. Mantra's founder, John Mullin, stepped in to calm the situation, stating that he had begun to burn $80 million worth of OM tokens to stabilize everyone's emotions. But the question is—how did this happen? No one can clearly explain it yet.

Natalie Newson, an analyst from CertiK, mentioned that this kind of situation cannot be understood solely through on-chain data; legal investigations are needed, similar to the deep-dive approach taken after the FTX incident, to uncover the truth.

She also pointed out that many trades are not directly traceable on-chain, especially those over-the-counter (OTC) transactions, which are quite opaque. OTC trades typically involve large holders negotiating directly offline, executing large buys or sells while bypassing market price fluctuations, making them even less transparent.

Moreover, the Mantra team admitted to conducting some OTC trades, amounting to as much as $30 million. This is a significant sum, inevitably raising suspicions about whether someone had insider knowledge beforehand.

Interestingly, there were whale wallets that had quietly hoarded over 100 million OM tokens prior to this, but it is still uncertain whether they were operated by someone within Mantra. Newson suggested that this might simply be a normal behavior of large holders in the secondary market, but other possibilities cannot be ruled out.

Previously, on-chain analysis platforms like Arkham and Nansen attempted to track this wave of capital flow, but so far, information is limited, and many wallets may have been misclassified. Mullin himself has denied that there was any insider leaking of information, and the platform may have misidentified some wallet ownership.

Newson further added that even if on-chain tracking tools are used, without access to OTC agreements and internal records from exchanges, many things cannot be investigated. Therefore, it seems unlikely that a clear conclusion can be reached in the short term.

After the OM crash, Mantra mentioned considering bringing in a third party for legal audits, but several days have passed without any updates.

What do you think about this wave of OM? Is it purely market volatility, or is there something else going on? Should we be more cautious about OTC operations in the future?