MANTRA Market Strain and Cost Challenges
MANTRA, a Layer 1 blockchain project focused on real-world assets, has announced a major restructuring in response to sustained market pressure and rising competition. The move aims to address internal cost challenges and stabilize the company’s operations amid a prolonged downturn.
On January 14, MANTRA CEO John Patrick Mullin confirmed that the company has started a restructuring process that includes staff cuts. He stated that events in April 2025, along with a long period of weak market conditions, placed strong pressure on the company’s finances. Increased competition added to the strain, making the current cost structure impossible to maintain. As a result, management decided the company’s existing setup could no longer support its goals in the current environment.
MANTRA’s leadership chose to reduce expenses and refocus resources to protect the future of the project. The restructuring affects teams across the organization. The company did not share how many people were laid off, but it indicated that the biggest impact was on business development, marketing, and human resources teams.
This move reflects a wider trend in the crypto industry, as many companies adjust to lower activity levels and reduced access to funding.
MANTRA Token Struggles as Market Value Declines
The performance of MANTRA’s OM token continues to show these challenges. The token now has a market value of just over $90 million. It still trades about 90% below its level before the April 2025 market selloff. It still remains nearly 99% below its all-time high reached in February 2025.
Despite this sharp drop, the company says it is focused on rebuilding value. It is putting more attention on careful operations and steady product development rather than short-term price movements.
MANTRA’s wider ecosystem has also slowed down. Data from DefiLlama shows that the total value locked in MANTRA’s decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem is now under $1 million. This is a decline of more than 80% from its earlier peak.
The slowdown highlights broader problems facing real-world asset blockchain projects, as user activity has fallen and less capital is flowing into the sector overall.
MANTRA Pushes Ahead With New Strategy
Company leaders say the restructuring is focused on spending wisely, clearer priorities, and stronger execution. Management states that more details are coming soon and remains confident in the MANTRA Chain and its real-world asset ecosystem.
Even as the company reduces costs, product development has not stopped. MANTRA recently launched mantraUSD, a stablecoin backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bills. The stablecoin is intended to be the main on-chain currency on the platform and is used to access real-world asset products in its DeFi ecosystem. At the same time, the project has reminded users that it will soon phase out the ERC-20 version of the OM token.
Token holders must complete migration to the native OM token on the MANTRA Chain before January 15, 2026.