MANTRA announces team layoffs amid company restructuring

• MANTRA has announced major team reductions after a challenging 2025.
• The restructuring aims to enhance capital efficiency and focus more on core business operations.
• OM token was priced around $0.076 at the time of writing.

MANTRA, a layer-1 blockchain focused on real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, has announced plans for a restructuring, with major layoffs impacting the team.

The decision comes as MANTRA looks to turn the corner following a challenging past year, said Mantra chief executive officer and founder John Patrick Mullin.

He described the move as one of the most difficult decisions in the company’s history, with this coming as the native token OM hovered around $0.076.

The cryptocurrency crashed from its highs of $8.5 in February 2025.

MANTRA eyes 2026 rebound with key restructuring

According to Mullin, the restructuring will primarily impact support functions such as business development, marketing, human resources, and other non-core roles. 

The layoffs are part of the organizational overhaul that also targets broader operations, resource utilization, and other moves. 

“As part of this strategic shift for MANTRA in 2026, we aim to be leaner overall, streamlining operations, focusing our resources, and committing to disciplined execution,” he added.

The company cites several factors for this difficult decision, including the “incredibly unfortunate and frankly unfair events” of April 2025. 

At the time, the OM token experienced a dramatic 90%+ price collapse in a flash crash that wiped out billions in market value, triggered by a combination of forced liquidations on centralized exchanges.

Manipulation issues rose and rapid sell-offs amid low liquidity hit the project. 

“The prolonged market downturn, increased competition, and shifting market dynamics have made our cost structure unsustainable relative to our near-term realities,” Mullin noted.

MANTRA’s potential

Despite the many setbacks and challenges, Mullin says the team is upbeat and is ready to build on prior achievements.

In the X post, he outlined a belief that the MANTRA Chain has the potential to drive innovation and adoption within the real-world assets market.

Streamlining operations, cutting non-essential spending, and redirecting resources toward core priorities will allow MANTRA to deliver disciplined execution.

The goal remains that the project should be able to relentlessly ship products as it curves a path towards profitability and sustainability. 

However, the announcement has elicited mixed reactions, with some community members praising the transparency while others have expressed outright concern.

Mullin says he does not plan to quit the project and that the team will share more details on its streamlined priorities and operating rhythm in the coming weeks. 

The native token, which hit an all-time high of $9.04 in February 2025, had hit intraday highs of $0.082 as of writing on Jan. 14, 2026.