On April 13, Mantra’s OM coin dropped from $6.30 to less than $0.50 in just a few hours, a significant event in the cryptocurrency market. It was a shocking fall for investors; some said it was like the famous “Terra-Luna debacle.” The fallout has made people look more closely at problems with crypto liquidity, the concentration of wealth, and market volatility, especially on the weekends. At the same time, Coinbase’s most recent study gave a sobering outlook, saying that the bear market would last until the third quarter of 2025.
Critical Liquidity Concentration exhibited
The crash of the OM token showed that the crypto industry has more significant problems, especially when it comes to liquidity. “Wealth concentration,” “opaque governance,” and “sudden exchange flows” during “low liquidity hours” sped up the fall, according to Bitget CEO “Gracy Chen.”
Weekend volatility makes tokens more fragile.
The Mantra crash made one problem clear: weekend investing can be dangerous. Price changes are more significant since there is less circulation outside of work hours. Analysts of blockchain say this made OM’s fall even worse by making it harder for buyers to step in and stop it.
Coinbase Signals Long-Term Bear Market
To make things even more stressful for the market, Coinbase’s April 15 institutional report showed that the altcoin market cap has dropped from $1.6 trillion in December 2024 to $950 billion, with a low of $906.9 billion on April 9. The report says there may be a new “crypto winter” coming, with venture capital spending dropping by 50% to 60% from what it was in 2021 and 2022.
Industry Jitters Increase Due to Security Issues
To make things even scarier, Kenny Li, co-founder of Manta Network, talked about a frightening hacking attempt on Zoom that used “deepfake-style impersonation.” Hackers used convincing video recordings to get Li to download malware. This shows that hackers are increasingly going after Web3 founders as targets for cybersecurity risks.
Conclusion
The fact that Mantra went down and Coinbase is predicting more losses makes it clear that the crypto business is stressed. From weak liquidity and volatile weekends to falling investor trust and rising cyber threats, the way forward calls for toughness and change.
