Mantra’s OM (OM) token staged a sharp rebound after plunging 90% over the weekend, following an active response from the project’s team addressing allegations of a rug pull scam.

OM bounces 200% as co-founder addresses concerns

As of April 14, OM was trading for as high as $1.10, almost 200% higher when compared to its post-crash low of $0.37 a day prior.

OM/USDT daily price chart. Source: TradingView

The rebound came after Mantra addressed mounting rug-pull allegations.

Co-founder JP Mullin reassured the community that the project remains active, pointing to the official Telegram group being “still online.”

“We are here and not going anywhere,” Mullin wrote, also sharing a verification address to prove the team’s OM token holdings. He attributed the OM’s crash to “reckless forced closures initiated by centralized exchanges.”

Source: JP Mullin

The assurance calmed the OM token sell-off that had obliterated over $5 billion in market capitalization and liquidated $75.88 million worth of futures positions in a day.

Numerous online commentators claimed the Mantra team, reportedly controlling 90% of the token supply, orchestrated the sell-off due to suspicious OM transfers to centralized exchanges right before the crash.

Source: AltcoinGordon

Analyst Ed further alleged that the Mantra team used their OM holdings as collateral to secure high-risk loans on a centralized exchange.

He noted that a sudden change in the platform’s loan risk parameters triggered a margin call, contributing to the token’s sharp decline.

Source: Ed

Exchanges adjust loan risk parameters to manage market volatility and protect themselves from potential insolvency due to falling collateral values. Centralized exchanges like OKX have changed their parameters after Mantra’s tokenomics update in October 2024.

Notably, Mantra doubled the total supply of OM tokens from 888,888,888 to 1,777,777,777 in the said month. It further transitioned from a capped to an uncapped, inflationary model with an initial 8% annual inflation rate.

Source: Wu Blockchain

OKX CEO Star Xu called Mantra a “big scandal,” adding that it would release relevant reports regarding its crash in the coming days.

OM bounce might resemble LUNA’s bull trap

OM’s 200% rebound from its $0.37 low may look impressive, but its structure closely resembles the classic bull trap pattern seen in Terra’s LUNA debacle in May 2022.

OM’s price has crashed below the 50-week exponential moving average (50-week EMA; the red wave) support near $3.25 and is now testing resistance at the 200-week EMA (the blue wave) at around $1.08.

OM/USDT weekly price chart. Source: TradingView

Meanwhile, OM’s weekly relative strength index (RSI) has dropped to 33.31, signaling weakening momentum and increasing the risk of another breakdown.

Related: What is a rug pull in crypto and 6 ways to spot it?

This setup strongly mirrors LUNA’s post-crash behavior. After its sharp decline in May 2022, the price staged a brief recovery but failed to reclaim its 50-week and 200-week moving averages, triggering a deeper and more prolonged downtrend.

LUNA/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView

Just like LUNA, OM now faces mounting skepticism despite the temporary bounce, with chartist AmiCatCrypto saying that the Mantra token can plunge 90% within a day after rallying for 100 days.

“If you ask me if bull market is over. Short answer. YES,” she wrote, adding:

“Any gains from this point is considered bounces.”

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Google will begin enforcing stricter advertising policies for cryptocurrency services in Europe under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, the company said in a recent policy update.

The move could be a “double-edged sword” for regulation that may prevent initial coin offering (ICO) frauds, but risks further enforcement gaps, according to legal advisers.

Starting April 23, cryptocurrency exchanges and crypto wallet advertising in Europe must be licensed under Europe’s MiCA framework or under the Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) regulation.

Crypto advertisers on Google will also have to comply with “local legal requirements,” including “national-level restrictions or requirements beyond MiCA” and be “certified by Google,” according to a March 24 Google policy announcement.

The new advertising policy will apply to most European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Policy violations “won’t lead to immediate account suspensions,” as a warning will be issued at least seven days before any account suspensions, added Google’s policy update.

The policy shift follows the implementation of the MiCA framework in December 2024, which introduced the first comprehensive regulatory structure for digital assets across the European Union.

Related: EU MiCA rules pose ‘systemic’ banking risks for stablecoins — Tether CEO

Google’s policy seen as double-edged sword

Google’s new crypto advertising requirements present a “double-edged sword” for crypto regulation, according to Hon Ng, chief legal officer at Bitget.

“On one hand, they do enhance investor protection by filtering out unregulated actors,” he told Cointelegraph.

“The MiCA framework’s strict AML/CFT and transparency requirements create a safer ecosystem, reducing scams like the ICO frauds that plagued the industry pre-2023,” he said.

However, Ng warned the policy could be “overly restrictive” without flexible implementation, especially since transition periods for national licensing vary across jurisdictions.

Since Google’s transition period for national licenses varies by country, this may create “temporary gaps in enforcement,” and even bigger challenges around compliance costs, Ng said, adding:

“Smaller exchanges may struggle with MiCA’s capital requirements (15,000–150,000 euros) or the bureaucratic hurdle of dual certification (both Google and local regulators). These measures are a net positive for trust but need flexibility to avoid stifling innovation.”

Related: Most EU banks fail to meet rising crypto investor demand — Survey

Other industry watchers don’t see this as a fundamental change for Google or investor protection.

The updates may be more oriented toward “protecting Google from liability than protecting the investors themselves,” according to Mattan Erder, general counsel at layer-3 decentralized blockchain network Orbs.

“Any impact of this change in Google’s policy is downstream of the regulations themselves. If MiCA or CASP registration turns out to be burdensome, expensive and only accessible to big players, then smaller players will have a lot of difficulty competing in these jurisdictions,” Erder told Cointelegraph.

Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025

Bitcoin (BTC) is holding down the fort as the US trade war rages on into the third week of April.

BTC price action attempts to overcome a long-term resistance trend line without success as trade war concerns dictate traders’ expectations.

Tariffs are the key macroeconomic topic of the week as risk assets brace for potential surprise headlines.

Bitcoin ETFs lost almost $800 million in a week, while Strategy indicates it has purchased the dip.

Despite tariff pressures, the weakness of the US dollar could be a blessing in disguise for Bitcoin and risky assets.

Global M2 money supply is at an all-time high and rising — will Bitcoin follow history and replicate its past?

Bulls battle a key BTC price resistance line

With traders on the lookout for tariff-related volatility this week, BTC price analysis is zooming out.

BTC/USD closed last week up 6.7%, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirms.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Next, however, comes the real test — breaking beyond a downward-sloping trend line that has capped the upside for months.

$BTC – #Bitcoin: I’m watching this chart closely. We might be ready. pic.twitter.com/Dtv1jkrzkP

— Crypto Caesar (@CryptoCaesarTA) April 12, 2025

“Rejected at key resistance, following the trendline perfectly,” popular trader Bitbull wrote in his latest post on the topic on X. 

“If the breakdown continues, eyes on the $70K-$72K support zone for a possible bounce.”

BTC/USD 12-hour chart. Source: Bitbull/X

Fellow trader and analyst Rekt Capital is also eyeing the trend line as a breakout proves hard to confirm.

“Bitcoin has Daily Closed above the Downtrend. Thus, breakout confirmation is underway,” he told X followers at the weekend.

“However BTC has previously Daily Closed above the Downtrend but failed its retest (a few of the red circles). Retest needs to be successful and it is in progress.”

BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: Rekt Capital/X

Popular trader AK47 on X posted separate upside and downside BTC price targets depending on the outcome of the trend line retest.

“$BTC might push to $88K—but don’t get too comfy,” he cautioned.

“Could be a fakeout, grabbing liquidity before dipping to $81K for that inverse head & shoulders setup. If that plays out, $95K–$100K isn’t far.”

BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: AK47/X

Tariff talk keeps markets on edge

A quieter week for US macroeconomic data leaves initial jobless claims as the highlight while the ongoing trade war continues to dominate.

With China particularly in focus, risk assets and crypto face flash volatility should more surprises involving trade tariffs surface.

The weekend saw snap relief in that respect as US President Donald Trump announced a pause on tariffs for key tech products. As a result, Bitcoin climbed to eleven-day highs above $86,000.

Subsequent indications that the measures would be temporary then put renewed pressure on stocks’ futures, while BTC/USD retreated to circle $84,000 at the time of writing.

“We think the ‘tariff exemptions’ announced this weekend were originally intended to be temporary,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter wrote in part of an X reaction. 

“The goal was to bring treasury yields back down before resuming the trade war.”

S&P 500 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Kobeissi suggested that markets had originally considered the move as a signal that the trade war might end completely, only to be disappointed a day later.

“Bonds will likely still rally along with stocks, but uncertainty has only grown. The bond market is king,” it added.

Continuing, trading firm Mosaic Asset agreed that bonds may have been crucial in altering policy trajectory last week.

“It’s the volatility in other areas of the markets like currencies and Treasury bonds that might have forced a quick pivot on trade and tariff policy,” it summarized in the latest edition of its regular newsletter, “The Market Mosaic,” on April 13.

“The uncertainty around tariffs has become a binary and unpredictable event for the stock market. Signs of tensions fuel further downside, while an easing of tensions sends stocks sharply in the other direction.”

Bitcoin ETF outflow “barely registers”

A sign of just how turbulent last week came in the form of net flows from the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

In one of the worst weeks ever for the ETF products since their debut in early 2024, total outflows passed $750 million.

For network economist Timothy Peterson, however, there is little to worry about.

Zooming out, he noted that even a nine-figure drawdown such as this makes hardly any difference to the overall investment pool that the ETFs have created in little more than a year.

“Last week, US Bitcoin ETFs had their 5th worst week ever (in terms of outflows). Over $700 million. Yet it barely registers as a blip on the chart,” he told X followers. 

“That’s how big Bitcoin has become. That’s how sticky these investments are.”

US spot Bitcoin ETF balances. Source: Timothy Peterson/X

Among major investors seeking to “buy the dip,” meanwhile, is business intelligence firm Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), whose co-founder Michael Saylor hinted that it was upping its BTC exposure this weekend.

“No Tariffs on Orange Dots,” he wrote in an X post alongside a chart of Strategy’s acquisitions. 

Strategy Bitcoin holdings data. Source: Michael Saylor

However, whether Bitcoin will emerge as an attractive proposition for the institutional investor cohort while trade war uncertainty continues is dubious.

A survey by Bank of America in late March showed that respondents overwhelmingly favored gold as a volatility hedge, with 58% choosing it.

“This compares to just 9% for 30-year Treasury Bonds and 3% for Bitcoin,” Kobeissi wrote while reporting on the findings. 

“Throw in the US deficit spending crisis and gold quickly becomes the only global safe haven asset.”

BoA survey results. Source: The Kobeissi Letter/X

Dollar dive gives risk assets hope of relief

The US dollar may yet provide some light at the end of the tunnel for wary risk-asset traders this week.

The trade war has taken its toll on the greenback, and when measured against major trading partner currencies, its weakness is plain to see.

The US dollar index (DXY) fell to three-year lows last week and, at the time of writing, is challenging those lows once more.

Markets selling dollar even lower Monday. DXY fell through 100 and also the 2023 low over last few hours, now at lowest in 3 years pic.twitter.com/MJ8wvvJuY2

— David Ingles (@DavidInglesTV) April 14, 2025

While far from constant, Bitcoin’s relationship with dollar strength tends to show that gains occur after major DXY losses — albeit with a delay of several months.

To that end, popular analytics account Bitcoindata21 is eyeing a repeat of events from 2017, resulting in BTC/USD all-time highs at the end of the year.

US dollar index (DXY) fractal. Source: Bitcoindata21/X

Another chart uploaded to X at the weekend showed the relationship between DXY, Bitcoin and the S&P 500, providing ideal conditions for a long-term bottom in the latter.

The last time such a signal came was around one month before the pit of the Bitcoin bear market in late 2022.

“I got 99 problems but the DXY aint 1,” Bitcoindata21 summarized.

BTC/USD vs. S&P 500 vs. DXY chart. Source: Bitcoindata21/X

A bull market rebound in the making?

On longer timeframes, an equally promising trend is playing out for Bitcoin bulls.

Related: Bollinger Bands creator says Bitcoin forming ‘classic’ floor near $80K

The global M2 money supply, with which Bitcoin price action is positively correlated, is seeking to break out beyond all-time highs.

“Global M2 has remained at an ATH for 3 days in a row,” popular analyst Colin Talks Crypto noted in a dedicated X post on the phenomenon this weekend. 

“This is a fantastic sign for what it signals will be coming into risk assets in ~108 days.”

BTC/USD vs. global M2 supply. Source: Colin Talks Crypto/X

The post refers to a chain reaction in which sharp moves in global M2 spark copycat behavior for Bitcoin once the latency period expires.

Before that, however, there may be a final opportunity to “buy the dip.”

“Global M2 (with a 108-day offset) doesn’t show a blast-off for another ~2 1/2 weeks, and actually shows a slow bleed into next week until around April 16th or 17th,” Colin Talks Crypto acknowledged.

Earlier this month, the analyst predicted a “big M2 influx” incoming, with a corresponding BTC price rebound beginning in May.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.