OKX Responds to OM Price Collapse, Rejects MANTRA Claims
- OKX says coordinated OM collateral use inflated prices and triggered risk controls.
- Security Fund absorbed losses as most OM price pressure came from off-platform trading.
- Mullin confirmed ERC20 OM deprecation and outlined a 1:4 split after the chain upgrade.
OKX has released a formal clarification addressing claims tied to recent OM market disruptions. The exchange said it acted after detecting coordinated trading behavior that posed a material risk. In an X post on Saturday, OKX rejected allegations made by the MANTRA team. It confirmed that regulators and law enforcement agencies have already received complete documentation related to the incident.
According to OKX, its internal review identified multiple connected accounts working in coordination. These accounts used large amounts of OM tokens as collateral. The borrowed funds were primarily in USDT. The exchange said this activity artificially inflated OM’s market price and created an abnormal exposure.
Early Risk Detection and Security Fund Response at OKX
Risk monitoring systems at OKX flagged the behavior early. The platform’s risk team contacted the involved account holders directly. Corrective steps were requested to reduce systemic risk. OKX said those requests were refused, leaving the exchange with limited options to manage the situation.
To contain further risk, OKX took control of the related accounts. Soon after that intervention, OM’s market price fell sharply. The exchange stated that only a very small portion of OM was liquidated during this period. Even so, the speed of the collapse resulted in notable losses.
OKX said its Security Fund absorbed all losses. The exchange stressed that the fund functioned as designed. No user funds were impacted as a result of the event. The platform framed this outcome as proof of its risk safeguards during extreme market conditions.
The exchange also cited multiple independent analyses of the price crash. Those reports indicated that perpetual futures trading activity was the main driver of the decline. OKX said this trading primarily occurred outside its own platform. Based on those findings, the exchange rejected claims that its actions caused the market collapse.
Unanswered questions remain, according to OKX. The exchange said there has been no explanation regarding the origin of unusually large OM holdings involved in the activity. It also questioned why a small group appeared to control a significant portion of the token supply during the period under review.
OKX criticized the MANTRA team for its public response. The exchange said the project continued to blame OKX rather than address the suspicious activity. This approach was described as unprofessional. OKX added that cooperation with regulators remains ongoing as legal processes continue.
The exchange confirmed that multiple legal actions are now underway. Full evidence and transaction records have already been submitted to the relevant authorities. OKX said it would continue to comply with regulatory requests as the investigations progress.
OKX–MANTRA Correspondence, OM Migration, and Upgrade Details
OKX disclosed details of a December 10 letter sent to the MANTRA team. The letter responded to public comments made by CEO JP Mullin. OKX warned that those statements could cause serious harm to the exchange and its users if left uncorrected.
Related: OKX X Layer Hits 71,400 Active Addresses and $1M in DEX Fees
Despite the ongoing dispute, Mullin noted that OKX expressed support for the OM migration process. The exchange called for more straightforward explanations around Proposal 26. It also stressed the importance of precise public communication during critical upgrade phases.
According to Mullin, MANTRA has announced that the ERC20 OM token would be deprecated on January 15, 2026. Following that event, a chain upgrade and a 1:4 token split are planned. The timeline could be as soon as the following week, depending on coordination with exchanges and other parties.
The upgrade would occur at the protocol level through an on-chain proposal. MANTRA stated that the change does not involve a modification to the smart contract. The Bank module handles the process. The native gas token would shift from uOM to MANTRA, increasing the decimal precision from 6 to 18.
OKX also addressed requests for information about token holdings. The exchange acknowledged that some OM tokens may be held by OKX rather than individual users. As part of compliance obligations, OKX said it verifies the source and provenance of large token movements involving project teams.
