$6B Gone: The OM Token Crash

One of the biggest crashes of the year rocked RWA confidence. Also inside: Ethereum’s $1B quarter, SEC’s sandbox pitch, and CZ/Sun vs WSJ.

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Cryptopolitan News
April 14, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Hello, and welcome to the Cryptopolitan Daily.

The crypto market never sleeps, and neither do we. Whether it’s breaking news, market shifts, or regulatory updates, we’re here to bring you the insights that matter—fast, sharp, and to the point.

📬 Today’s Byte

• MANTRA (OM) token crashes 98%, $6B wiped

• CZ & Justin Sun accuse WSJ of fabrications

• Ethereum apps rake in 5x more revenue than mainnet in Q1

• SEC floats a ‘sandbox’ for tokenized securities

Market-moving headlines 🔥

Japanese firm Metaplanet has announced the purchase of 319 BTC for $26 million amidst the chaos of the tariff war.

World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a crypto investment firm linked to the Trump family, has added $775,000 worth of SEI tokens to its growing portfolio. The purchase was made using USDC stablecoins. 

Ripple recently walked out of a legal tussle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with bruises and bragging rights.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose reputation is that of never yielding to anyone, is not backing down from the US-China trade conflict, saying that China has not depended on the United States for over seven decades and probably never will again.

🔻 $6B Vanished: MANTRA (OM) crashes 90%

One of the steepest single-day drops in crypto this year saw MANTRA (OM) collapse from nearly $6 to below $0.40 — wiping out billions in market value within the span of an hour.

The cause? Depends who you ask.

Here’s what we know:

  • OM plummeted over 90% during low-liquidity hours on Sunday

  • Mantra claims the crash was caused by “reckless liquidations” on centralized exchanges

  • Co-founder John Mullin said positions were closed “without margin calls or notice”

  • On-chain data shows over 21M OM tokens were burned just days before the event

  • The team denies rug pull claims, saying their allocations remain locked on-chain

  • Industry voices now question how resilient and compliant RWA tokens really are

The aftermath threatens not only Mantra’s reputation, but the broader trust in tokenized real-world assets.

🙅‍♂️ Justin Sun and CZ push back on WSJ allegations

The Wall Street Journal published a report linking Justin Sun and CZ to political deals, a Trump-backed stablecoin, and ongoing investigations. Both denied the claims.

The Journal alleged that:

  • Binance executives met with U.S. Treasury officials to remove a court-appointed monitor.

  • Discussions were held around listing a Trump family-linked stablecoin via World Liberty Financial.

  • Justin Sun invested $75M in the project and was cooperating with U.S. authorities.

  • CZ allegedly agreed to provide evidence against Sun as part of his plea deal.

Justin responded first, calling CZ his “mentor, friend, and benefactor.” He said he had no knowledge of the rumors and added that his company T3FCU has worked closely with the DOJ on major cases.

CZ dismissed the report entirely, writing on X:

Both denied the report’s claims of cooperation with investigators or involvement in political negotiations. A spokesperson for Sun said the allegations were false and declined to comment on “baseless legal matters.”

💰 Ethereum apps still pull weight

Ethereum apps generated over $1B in fees in Q1 2025 — more than 5x what the L1 pulled in.

While ETH itself saw limited movement, the apps built on top continue to show signs of life. From Uniswap to CowSwap, decentralized exchanges dominated fee generation, driven mostly by whale trades and bot activity.

Ethereum’s main chain brought in just $176M for the quarter — slightly more than Aave alone.

Despite gas prices dropping to as low as $0.02 for basic transfers and $0.31 for swaps, fee revenue from apps held steady, matching last year’s levels. Uniswap V4 and Tether smart contracts remained top gas burners.

Ethereum now ranks third in daily fee generation behind Solana and Tron — but it still retains nearly half of all EVM trading volume.

L1 may be quiet, but the app layer keeps moving.

🗳️ SEC weighs sandbox for tokenized securities

The SEC is mulling a regulatory sandbox that could allow crypto exchanges to explore tokenized securities like digital stocks and bonds.

  • Republican commissioners are pushing for exemptions so platforms like Coinbase can experiment with blockchain-based financial instruments.

  • Acting Chair Mark Uyeda proposed a “time-limited, conditional exemptive relief” to let innovation happen before formal rules are set

  • Commissioner Hester Peirce backed the proposal, highlighting how such trials could shape future regulation.

But not everyone is on board.
Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw flagged concerns over crypto platforms bundling too many roles—trading, custody, clearing—under one roof. She warned this could undermine both investor protection and market stability.

📈 Your weekly crypto roundup @CPOfficialtx

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