MANTRA founder and CEO John Patrick Mullin has initiated the burn of his full 150 million OM token allocation, following through on a commitment made last week to bolster transparency and rebuild trust within the community.

The token burn, which permanently removes the equivalent amount of OM from circulation, is part of a broader strategy to reaffirm MANTRA’s mission of creating a decentralized, inclusive financial ecosystem driven by tokenization.

Token burn

According to the project’s statement, the unstaking process has begun and is scheduled for completion on April 29, 2025. The tokens were originally staked during MANTRA Chain’s mainnet launch in October 2024 to secure the network.

Once finalized, the tokens will be sent to the burn address “mantra1qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqcg2my8,” effectively reducing the total supply by 150 million OM.

Transaction hashes associated with the unstaking process have been publicly shared, allowing onchain verification of the burn process.

In parallel, MANTRA is actively engaging with ecosystem partners to coordinate a second burn of 150 million OM tokens, which would double the total burn amount to 300 million OM.

The combined burn would reduce the total OM supply from 1.82 billion to 1.52 billion, marking a substantial shift in tokenomics.

Staking rewards to rise

The 150 million OM burn from the team and core contributor allocation will decrease staked tokens on the network from 571.8 million to 421.8 million OM.

This change will lower MANTRA Chain’s bonded ratio from 31.47% to 25.30%, triggering a rise in onchain staking annual percentage rates (APRs).

MANTRA said that once the final burn transaction is confirmed onchain, a complete verification report will be released.

The move reflects growing industry trends among tokenized projects seeking to build credibility and incentivize long-term participation through transparent and deflationary supply mechanics.

OM controversy

The decision to burn the tokens comes after a dramatic flash crash on April 13, during which OM’s price plummeted over 90% within an hour, erasing billions in value.

The crash was reportedly triggered by a $40 million token deposit into OKX by a wallet allegedly linked to the team, sparking fears of insider selling.

Panic spread quickly as rumors of undisclosed over-the-counter deals, delayed airdrops, and excessive token supply concentration fueled mass liquidations across exchanges.​

In response, Mullin announced the token burn as a commitment to transparency and community trust. However, OM’s price has continued to face volatility and is still down more than 90%.

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Standard Chartered has initiated coverage of XRP with a sharply bullish outlook, predicting the digital asset could climb to $12.50 before the end of President Donald Trump’s current term.

The bank said XRP’s expanding use cases, favorable legal trajectory, and resilience amid macroeconomic volatility position it as one of the few digital assets likely to outperform during the next market cycle, according to Standard Chartered head of digital assets research Geoffrey Kendrick.

Kendrick identified XRP as a top-tier investment alongside Bitcoin (BTC) and Avalanche (AVAX), citing a combination of structural tailwinds and strategic relevance in global payments.

Legal clarity and utility expansion

The bank’s outlook rests in large part on expectations that the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs will resolve in Ripple’s favor, removing a major overhang that has long limited XRP’s institutional adoption.

The lender’s report also tied XRP’s potential upside to US political developments, projecting that a second Trump term would likely bring greater regulatory clarity and a friendlier policy environment for digital assets.

Standard Chartered emphasized that XRP’s value proposition has evolved. Originally designed as a cross-border payments token, XRP now sits at the core of a broader network, the XRP Ledger, which the bank described as a blockchain with increasing potential for tokenization and enterprise-grade use cases.

Kendrick believes that XRP’s price could “keep pace with Bitcoin in real terms” and outlined a base-case scenario in which XRP rises from its current level near $1.90 to $12.50, assuming Bitcoin reaches $500,000 over the same time frame.

The bank expects the catalyst for this growth to emerge from a combination of improved legal positioning, network upgrades, and growing transactional demand.

XRP could surpass ETH market cap

In one of its most striking forecasts, the report projected that XRP could overtake Ethereum (ETH) in market capitalization by the end of 2025.

While Ethereum is expected to reach $8,000 in that timeframe, the bank labeled it a “loser” relative to other top assets, pointing to scalability challenges and growing competition from more specialized chains.

Kendrick contrasted Ethereum’s broader challenges with what it views as XRP’s “sustainable” growth prospects. He noted that recent leadership changes within the XRP ecosystem, alongside expanding on-chain activity, reinforce confidence in XRP’s long-term positioning.

If XRP follows the trajectory outlined in the report, it will become the second-largest non-stablecoin digital asset globally, trailing only Bitcoin.

Standard Chartered maintained its existing Bitcoin forecast of $200,000 by the end of 2025 and reiterated its confidence that the next leg higher for digital assets will be fueled by “winners” that have strong use cases and regulatory visibility.

Kendrick framed current market volatility, including tariff-driven uncertainty, as a strategic opportunity for long-term allocation. With XRP now officially on the bank’s radar, the report signals a broader shift in how institutions are reassessing digital assets once seen as legally or structurally constrained.

The inclusion of XRP in Standard Chartered’s top picks reflects a growing consensus that a new phase of adoption is underway, one that may reward assets with real-world applications and legal clarity over brand recognition alone.

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