PANews reported on April 18 that according to Cryptoslate, in the latest episode of The Chopping Block podcast discussion, Mantra and its affiliated market makers allegedly exploited loopholes in the data aggregator's self-reporting system to manipulate OM token liquidity indicators. They distorted the circulating supply and trading volume to create the illusion of an active market. The Mantra team worked with market makers to circulate tokens between controlled addresses and exchanges to simulate trading volume, inflating data without a lot of natural participation.
On-chain observers say that less than 1% of the OM token’s supply is actually liquid, yet it appears to be a top 25 asset by market cap. The strategy exploits a flaw in the verification process of Coingecko and CoinMarketCap, which rely on project teams to self-report data, cross-checked with exchange listing information and surface blockchain analysis. Unscrupulous actors can allocate tokens to market makers and orchestrate seemingly natural trading activities to evade inspections, even without retail investors. When a large OM holder sold, artificial liquidity collapsed, and the price fell 90% in 90 minutes, wiping billions of dollars off the market value and exposing the asset’s deep trading vulnerability.
