MANTRA, OKX have exchanged formal letters that signal a potential easing of tensions amid their recent public sparring

MANTRA and cryptocurrency exchange OKX have exchanged formal letters that signal a potential easing of tensions roughly one week following their public sparring over the migration of OM tokens. 

In an open letter posted on X on December 19, MANTRA CEO John Patrick Mullin proposed handling the migration manually “for maximum safety and assurance that it will be conducted with accuracy and efficiency.”

In response to questions raised by Mullin regarding the number of OKX users’ OM tokens and the number of OM tokens OKX holds, OKX stated that the number of OKX user OM tokens to be migrated is 34,097,848, while the number of OKX’s $OM tokens to be migrated is 124,441,487.

The exchange called on MANTRA to confirm to them by December 20, 2025, that all of the $OM tokens on their platform will be migrated, adding that it was consistent with Mullin’s public statements that MANTRA will support the migration of the $OM tokens.

Mullin responded by offering to migrate all tokens between January 3 and 5, approximately two weeks later than OKX’s preferred timeline, citing concerns about year-end holiday disruptions.

Transparency demands and formal warnings

The dispute between the two parties reached new heights on December 12, after OKX shared a long and detailed post on X on what happened during the crash of the OM token, in what it labeled as “clarify the facts,” adding that the “MANTRA team continues to push a misleading narrative.”

Last week, Mullin publicly questioned OKX’s handling of the token migration and demanded disclosure of the exchange’s OM holdings. On December 8, he shared on X that OKX’s migration announcement contained factual errors, claiming the exchange had unilaterally created specific dates without consulting MANTRA.

OKX responded with a letter demanding that MANTRA commit to migration plans by December 20, or face delisting procedures.

MANTRA’s reply adopted more diplomatic language compared to the previous week, expressing full support for ensuring proper migration procedures.

Mullin stated that MANTRA will itself handle the migration of 100% of OM tokens under OKX’s control.

He wrote, “Given the size of you and your users’ holdings, we will migrate manually for maximum safety and assurance that it will be conducted with accuracy and efficiency. The exact process is one that we have used with several other exchanges and is tried and tested.”

He further outlined a detailed process involving tranches of approximately 20 million OM tokens sent to a specific EVM address, with each batch taking roughly 15 minutes to complete.

Mullin asked the OKX team to provide the MANTRA address they wish to use for the proposed migration process as a first step.

Will OKX agree to MANTRA’s proposed migration date?

The current friction has reopened wounds from April 2025, when OM crashed by more than 90% in hours, erasing over $5 billion in market capitalization.

Given the state of their relationship, OKX agreeing to MANTRA’s proposed timeline is currently unknown, and their next move will be monitored closely. This is a developing story.

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