Mantra (OM) goes vertical, raises concerns of crash after the March 18 airdrop

Mantra (OM) was the key driver of the recent RWA token expansion trend. Despite the slow movements of other altcoins, OM is on fire, becoming one of the biggest gainers among altcoins. 

Mantra (OM) is the biggest gainer of the RWA sector, as well as one of the top performers of the 2025 bull cycle. OM is rallying, despite the corrections of other blue-chip assets. The RWA narrative partially explains the attention for OM, but the token has achieved cult status, behaving more like a meme token. 

OM rallied in 2025, after practically missing the 2021 bull cycle with extremely modest gains. The project outperforms all other narratives and even meme tokens. However, the enthusiasm for this OM pump coincides with selling from smart money wallets. 

Smart wallets unloaded the Ethereum version of OM, realizing profits in the past month. The rally presents the opportunity for exit liquidity while posing a risk for a deep downturn. OM is also moving to exchanges in the past week, during the steepest part of the rally.

$OM is up 185% in the past 30 days, but on-chain tells a different story… 👀

📉 Smart Money wallets unloaded $42.5M worth of $OM in the past month—the highest on Ethereum.

🔄 $590M moved from on-chain wallets to CEXs in the past 7 days, usually an indication of selling.… pic.twitter.com/RELwdPZcDg

— Alphanomics 💧 (@Alphanomics_io) February 24, 2025

OM is up as much as 30,000% from its lows, raising questions on whether the project’s rally is sustainable. Mantra aims to build an L1 chain dedicated to tokenization, but even the influence of large financial companies does not explain the token’s performance. OM is on track to flip Chainlink (LINK) as the leading RWA token, with a valuation already above $560M for tokens in circulation.

The current open interest trends reveal the OM rally may be nearing its end. Traders suspect directed market maker activity, with the possibility of an immediate drawdown. Weighted open interest funding levels have switched to record negative levels, suggesting an extreme risk for OM at its current price position.

OM has not seen a significant correction since November 2024 and has kept to a pattern of sideways movement, followed by a vertical rally. This time, OM has seen a record flow of tokens to exchanges, suggesting a correction may be coming soon.

As of February 24, OM shows heightened activity as a multi-chain token. Based on Bubblemaps data, OM is forming wallet clusters with high-volume transfers. Additionally, OM is predominantly traded on Binance and Gate.io. One of the immediate reasons for the OM rally is the integration of the native Mantra L1 chain on the Gate exchange. The new version boosted volumes and added to the hype from the past days. 

One of the reasons for the relatively high value of OM at $8.18 is the limited supply of under 1B tokens. Over 60% of OM tokens are unlocked, with relatively slow linear unlocks that have been absorbed by the market. 

OM is also a part of the Ethereum ecosystem, making the token highly accessible and tradable. Mantra still works as a blockchain, but the focus is on the ERC-20 tradable and liquid version of the token. OM has 37,612 users on Ethereum and is well represented on centralized exchanges. 

OM gets a boost from airdrop promises

The current short-term interest in OM tokens may be linked to an upcoming airdrop event. Despite launching beforehand with $11M in VC funding, OM also targets the wider community. 

Mantra is running an airdrop with small-scale missions for activities linked to other chains. An additional 50M OM is to be airdropped in March. One of the classes of recipients will be holders and stakers of ATOM tokens. Some rewards may be given for incentivized Mantra testnet versions. 

The airdrop is now in its Sybil-slaying phase, where users can self-report for multi-accounting and receive a fraction of the airdrop. If they do not self-report and are discovered, they forfeit their entire share. Mass addresses, farming bots, or patterns of repeated automated activity will be flagged as potential Sybil attacks. 

The expected airdrop may put additional price pressure on OM and remove the overall appeal of the token. However, the airdrop remains relatively small compared to the asset’s circulating supply, and the new OM will enter the market after a period of vesting.

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