Is Mantra Getting Insider Help? Looking at OM's Rising DeFi TVL

Mantra’s TVL jumped 500%, even as its native token OM tanked over 90% in value. This unexpected combo has set off alarm bells across the crypto community. Is there insider action behind the scenes?

Check out the article below to find out more!

TVL Soars While OM Plunges — What’s Going On?

According to DefiLlama, as of April 15, Mantra's TVL skyrocketed to 4.21 million OM (roughly $3.24 million), marking a 500% increase in just 48 hours. Strangely enough, this happened right after OM experienced a catastrophic drop, plunging by more than 90% over the weekend.

The Mantra team blamed the price collapse on “reckless forced liquidations” executed by centralized exchanges. However, analysts are not buying that explanation entirely—especially after spotting $35 million worth of OM being snapped up aggressively during the crash.

While a sudden increase in TVL is typically a bullish sign—it shows more tokens being staked, farmed, or added to liquidity pools—the context here is unusual. It’s not often that a 90% price drop is followed by such a strong surge in DeFi activity. 

This contradiction is leading some analysts to suspect that whales, insiders, or opportunistic speculators may have taken advantage of the crash to accumulate OM and benefit from farming rewards or expected rebounds.

Read also: Laser Digital Denies Rumors of Dumping OM! All Backers Are Not Going Anywhere

Is This a Bull Trap or Smart Accumulation?

By April 15, OM had already bounced back to around $0.99—a 170% recovery from its weekend lows. While that may sound like good news for dip buyers, some experts warn that this could be a classic bull trap.

Crypto analyst DOM highlighted the “aggressive buying” that took place during the dip. Suggesting, it was likely not retail traders, but big players with inside knowledge or high-risk appetite. 

With so much OM bought at rock-bottom prices while the market panicked, it raises fair questions about who exactly stood to benefit from the chaos.

Another layer of concern comes from JamesBitunix, a well-known market commentator, who warned that the current bounce might not last. In his view, another correction could be on the horizon, especially since many traders entered the rebound with leverage.

The Mantra Ecosystem Looks

Digging deeper into the numbers reveals another red flag: 97% of the TVL increase came from a single source—Mantra Swap, the project’s native decentralized exchange. 

With most of the TVL locked into automated market-making (AMM) pools, Mantra’s ecosystem lacks the diversity seen in more mature DeFi platforms, where capital is spread across lending, staking, and derivatives.

This heavy reliance on one DApp makes the TVL figure look less like genuine adoption and more like temporary capital parking—possibly driven by incentives or internal coordination.

Read also: Is OM Worse Than LUNA? Comparing the Two Most Notable Crashes in Crypto History

Valuation vs. Reality: A Big Disconnect

Mantra’s Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV) stood at a whopping $1.88 billion on April 15, yet its actual TVL was just $3.24 million. That means only 0.17% of its theoretical value is currently being used within the ecosystem—a signal of very low capital efficiency.

Such a wide gap between market cap and locked value often indicates a speculative bubble, where price hype vastly outpaces real-world use. 

Combine that with a large amount of OM tokens still locked and waiting to be unlocked, and there’s a high risk of future dilution that could put pressure on OM’s price again.

FAQ

Q: What is OM?
A: OM is the native token of the Mantra blockchain, which focuses on Real World Asset (RWA) integration into DeFi.

Q: What is TVL in crypto?
A: TVL (Total Value Locked) refers to the total amount of crypto assets locked in a protocol’s smart contracts. It’s often used to measure DeFi adoption and activity.

Q: Why is it suspicious that Mantra’s TVL rose while OM's price crashed?
A: Because normally, token crashes reflect investor fear. A sudden surge in TVL during a price collapse may point to coordinated insider activity or opportunistic buying.

Q: What is FDV, and why is Mantra’s FDV controversial?
A: FDV (Fully Diluted Valuation) estimates the market cap if all tokens were in circulation. Mantra’s $1.88 billion FDV contrasts sharply with its $3.24 million TVL, raising concerns about overvaluation.

Q: Is Mantra a safe investment now?
A: It’s hard to say. The ecosystem shows early growth signs, but red flags like concentrated TVL and high FDV suggest investors should proceed with caution.