Magic Eden (ME), an established Solana (SOL)-based NFT marketplace, announced on Tuesday, during the mid-North American session, that it intends to launch a crypto wallet for Trump fans. According to an X post, Magic Eden announced that crypto enthusiasts can join the free waitlist for a chance to win a share of $1 million in $TRUMP.
According to the official website for the trumpwallet powered by Magic Eden, the project partnered with the Official Trump memecoin, which is backed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“Yes! This is the Official $TRUMP Wallet by President Trump. Magic Eden partnered with GetTrumpMemes.com to create the first and only $TRUMP Wallet. Have Fun,” the FAQ noted.
An Epic Denial From Eric Trump
As soon as the news for the Trumpwallet launch hit major headlines, Eric Trump, the Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, announced that he knew nothing about such a partnership with Magic Eden.
The announcement created more confusion among the crypto community, with some accusing Magic Eden of orchestrating a large-scale scam.
Following the announcement, Magic Eden’s native token rallied over 28 percent to reach a daily local high of about $1.15. However, the ME’s rally was short-lived as the token retraced towards $1 at the time of this writing, following the denial announcement by Eric Trump.
The demand for ME tokens, nonetheless, experienced a sharp uptick as shown by its daily average trading volume, which hovered about $192 million compared to its market cap of around $154 million.
The collapse of the MANTRA (OM) token has left investors reeling, with many facing significant losses. As analysts comb through the causes of the collapse, many questions remain.
BeInCrypto consulted industry experts to identify five critical red flags behind MANTRA’s downfall and reveal strategies investors can adopt to steer clear of similar pitfalls in the future.
MANTRA (OM) Crash: What Investors Missed and How to Avoid Future Losses
On April 13, BeInCrypto broke the news of OM’s 90% crash. The collapse raised several concerns, with investors accusing the team of orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme. Experts believe that there were many early signs of trouble.
In addition, the project adopted an inflationary tokenomic model with an uncapped supply, replacing the previous hard cap. As part of this transition, the total token supply was also increased to 1.7 billion.
However, the move wasn’t without drawbacks. According to Jean Rausis, co-founder of SMARDEX, tokenomics was a point of concern in the OM collapse.
“The project doubled its token supply to 1.77 billion in 2024 and shifted to an inflationary model, which diluted its original holders. Complex vesting favored insiders, while low circulating supply and massive FDV fueled hype and price manipulation,” Jean Rausis told BeInCrypto.
Moreover, the team’s control over the OM supply also raised centralization concerns. Experts believe this was also a factor that could have led to the alleged price manipulation.
“About 90% of OM tokens were held by the team, indicating a high level of centralization that could potentially lead to manipulation. The team also maintained control over governance, which undermined the project’s decentralized nature,” said Phil Fogel, co-founder of Cork.
Phil Fogel acknowledged that a concentrated token supply isn’t always a red flag. However, it’s crucial for investors to know who holds large amounts, their lock-up terms, and whether their involvement aligns with the project’s decentralization goals.
Moreover, Ming Wu, the founder of RabbitX, also argued that analyzing this data is essential to uncover any potential risks that could undermine the project in the long term.
“Tools like bubble maps can help identify potential risks related to token distribution,” Wu advised.
2. OM Price Action
2025 has been marked as the year of significant market volatility. The broader macroeconomic pressures have weighed heavily on the market, with the majority of the coins experiencing steep losses. Yet, OM’s price action was relatively stable until the latest crash.
OM vs. TOTAL Market Performance. Source: TradingView
“The biggest red flag was simply the price action. The whole market was going down, and nobody cared about MANTRA, and yet its token price somehow kept pumping in unnatural patterns – pump, flat, pump, flat again,” Jean Rausis disclosed.
He added that this was a clear sign of a potential issue or problem with the project. Nevertheless, he noted that identifying the differentiating price action would require some technical analysis know-how. Thus, investors lacking the knowledge would have easily missed it.
Despite this, Rausis highlighted that even the untrained eye could find other signs that something was off, ultimately leading to the crash.
Strategies to Protect Yourself
While investors remained optimistic about OM’s resilience amid a market downturn, this ended up costing them millions. Eric He, LBank’s Community Angel Officer, and Risk Control Adviser emphasized the importance of proactive risk management to avoid OM-style collapses.
“First, diversification is key—spreading capital across projects limits single-token exposure. Stop-loss triggers (e.g., 10-20% below buy price) can automate damage control in volatile conditions,” Eric shared with BeInCrypto.
Ming Wu had a similar perspective, emphasizing the importance of avoiding over-allocation to a single token. The executive explained that a diversified investment strategy helps mitigate risk and enhances overall portfolio stability.
“Investors can use perpetual futures as a risk management tool to hedge against potential price declines in their holdings,” Wu remarked.
Meanwhile, Phil Fogel advised focusing on a token’s liquidity. Key factors include the float size, price sensitivity to sell orders, and who can significantly impact the market.
3. Project Fundamentals
Experts also highlighted major discrepancies in MANTRA’s TVL. Eric He pointed out a significant gap between the token’s fully diluted valuation (FDV) and the TVL. OM’s FDV reached $9.5 billion, while its TVL was only $13 million, indicating a potential overvaluation.
“A $9.5 billion valuation against $13 million TVL, screamed instability,” Forest Bai, co-founder of Foresight Ventures, stated.
Notably, several issues were also raised regarding the airdrop. Jean Rausis called the airdrop a “mess.” He cited many issues, including delays, frequent changes to eligibility rules, and the disqualification of half the participants. Meanwhile, suspected bots were not removed.
“The airdrop disproportionately favored insiders while excluding genuine supporters, reflecting a lack of fairness,” Phil Fogel reiterated.
The criticism expanded further as Fogel pointed out the team’s alleged associations with questionable entities and ties to questionable initial coin offerings (ICOs), raising doubts about the project’s credibility. Eric He also suggested that MANTRA was allegedly tied to gambling platforms in the past.
Strategies to Protect Yourself
Forest Bai underscored the importance of verifying the project team’s credentials, reviewing the project roadmap, and monitoring on-chain activity to ensure transparency. He also advised investors to assess community engagement and regulatory compliance to gauge the project’s long-term viability.
Ming Wu also stressed distinguishing between real growth and artificially inflated metrics.
“It’s important to differentiate real growth from activity that’s artificially inflated through incentives or airdrops, unsustainable tactics like ‘selling a dollar for 90 cents’ may generate short-term metrics but don’t reflect actual engagement,” Wu informed BeInCrypto.
Finally, Wu recommended researching the background of the project’s team members to uncover any history of fraudulent activity or involvement in questionable ventures. This would ensure that investors are well-informed before committing to any project.
4. Whale Movements
As BeInCrypto reported earlier, before the crash, a whale wallet reportedly associated with the MANTRA team deposited 3.9 million OM tokens into the OKX exchange. Experts highlighted that this wasn’t an isolated incident.
“Large OM transfers (43.6 million tokens, ~$227 million) to exchanges days prior were a major warning of potential sell-offs,” Forest Bai conveyed to BeInCrypto.
Ming Wu also explained that investors should pay close attention to such large transfers, which often act as warning signals. Moreover, analysts at CryptoQuant also outlined what investors should look out for.
“OM transfers into exchanges amounted to as much as $35 million in just an hour. This represented an alert sign as: Transfers into exchanges are below $8 million in a typical hour (excluding transfers into Binance, which are typically large given the size of the exchange). Transfers into exchanges represented more than a third of the total OM transferred, which indicates a high transfer volume into exchanges,” CryptoQuant informed BeInCrypto.
Strategies to Protect Yourself
CryptoQuant stated that investors need to monitor the flows of any token into exchanges, as it could indicate increasing price volatility in the near future.
Meanwhile, Risk Control Adviser Eric He outlined four strategies to stay up-to-date when it comes to large transfers.
Chain Sleuthing: Tools like Arkham and Nansen allow investors to track large transfers and monitor wallet activity.
Set Alerts: Platforms like Etherscan and Glassnode notify investors of unusual market movements.
Track Exchange Flows: Users need to track large flows into centralized exchanges.
Check Lockups: Dune Analytics helps investors determine if team tokens are being released earlier than expected.
He also recommended focusing on the market structure.
“OM’s crash proved market depth is non-negotiable: Kaiko data showed 1% order book depth collapsed 74% before the fall. Always check liquidity metrics on platforms like Kaiko; if 1% depth is below $500,000, that’s a red flag,” Eric revealed to BeInCrypto.
Additionally, Phil Fogel underlined the importance of monitoring platforms like X (formerly Twitter) for any rumors or discussions about possible dumps. He stressed the need to analyze liquidity to assess whether a token can handle sell pressure without causing a significant price drop.
Interestingly, experts were slightly divided on how CEXs contributed to OM’s crash. Forest Bai claimed that CEX liquidations during low-liquidity hours worsened the crash by triggering cascading sell-offs. Eric He corroborated this sentiment.
“CEX liquidations played a major role in the OM crash, acting as an accelerant. With thin liquidity—1% depth falling from $600,000 to $147,000—forced closures triggered cascading liquidations. Over $74.7 million was wiped in 24 hours,” he mentioned.
“Analyzing the open interest in the OM derivatives market reveals that it was less than 0.1% of OM’s market capitalization. However, what’s particularly interesting is that during the market collapse, open interest in OM derivatives actually increased by 90%,” Wu expressed to BeInCrypto.
According to the executive, this challenges the idea that liquidations or forced closures caused the price drop. Instead, it indicates that traders and investors increased their short positions as the price fell.
Strategies to Protect Yourself
While the involvement of CEXs remains debatable, the experts did address the key point of investor protection.
“Investors can limit leverage to avoid forced liquidations, choose platforms with transparent risk policies, monitor open interest for liquidation risks, and hold tokens in self-custody wallets to reduce CEX exposure,” Forest Bai recommended.
Eric He also advised that investors should mitigate risks by adjusting leverage dynamically based on volatility. If tools like ATR or Bollinger Bands signal turbulence, exposure should be reduced.
The MANTRA (OM) collapse is a powerful reminder of the importance of due diligence and risk management in cryptocurrency investments. Investors can minimize the risk of falling into similar traps by carefully assessing tokenomics, monitoring on-chain data, and diversifying investments.
With expert insights, these strategies will help guide investors toward smarter, more secure decisions in the crypto market.
Layer-1 (L1) proof-of-stake coin APT is today’s top-performing crypto asset, rising nearly 10% over the past 24 hours.
The bullish momentum comes after Bitwise filed an updated S-1 form with the US SEC on Thursday for its proposed spot Aptos exchange-traded fund (ETF). This marks a significant step forward in bringing the first-ever Aptos ETF to the US market.
APT Rallies Nearly 10% on ETF Momentum
APT’s price nearly 10% surge over the past 24 hours has propelled the token to a 16-day high, fueled by growing investor optimism. The rally comes as Bitwise submitted updated S-1 filings to the US SEC on Thursday for its proposed APT ETFs.
Bitwise originally filed for the Aptos ETF in March. The updated filings signal a continued commitment to bringing the fund to the market, sparking renewed demand for APT as traders bet on the potential for institutional inflows.
On the APT/USD daily chart, the coin’s positive Balance of Power (BoP) reflects the growing demand among spot market participants. As of this writing, this momentum indicator is at 0.67.
The BOP indicator measures the strength of buyers versus sellers by comparing the price range within a trading period. When BOP is positive, buyers dominate the market, suggesting upward pressure on the asset’s price.
Therefore, APT’s BoP signals strong buying pressure behind its price surge. This suggests that bulls are firmly in control as the coin attempts to extend its rally.
Furthermore, as of this writing, the altcoin rests solidly above its 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), which forms dynamic support at $4.68.
The 20-day EMA measures an asset’s average price over the past 20 trading days, giving weight to recent prices. When an asset’s price trades above the 20-day EMA, it signals short-term bullish momentum and suggests buyers are in control.
APT Holds Above Key Support
As the market awaits the regulator’s decision, the growing expectations that the ETF could attract institutional capital could drive more bullish gains for APT in the short term.
The coin’s 20-day EMA forms a strong support floor at $4.68, which could prevent sharp price dips below this level. This price level could propel APT toward $5.99, a high last seen in May.
Veteran trader Peter Brandt has identified a chart pattern in Ethereum price that he believes may lead to a major price move. Known for his critical views on Ethereum, Brandt stated that the current congestion pattern on the ETH monthly chart could support what he called a “moon shot.”
Brandt shared the analysis on his social media, noting that ETH has been trading within a long-term symmetrical triangle pattern since 2021. This formation often appears during market consolidation and can lead to a strong price breakout if confirmed.
Ethereum Price Structure Suggests Breakout to $6000
According to Peter Brandt’s chart, Ethereum price has formed a large symmetrical triangle pattern on the monthly timeframe. This pattern is made of lower highs and higher lows, compressing ETH’s price into a narrowing range. The upper boundary connects the highs from 2021 and 2024, while the lower boundary has formed from the 2022 bottom and recent 2025 lows.
Brandt pointed out that this pattern could be the base for a large upward move. “This congestion pattern could support a moon shot,” he stated. He also mentioned that he generally avoids commenting positively on Ethereum price but sees technical strength in the current chart structure.
The ETH price bounced from the lower support of the triangle around $1,728 and $2,150 and closed the May 2025 bar at $2,314.46, with a monthly gain of $520.49. Brandt added that if Ethereum price breaks above the triangle resistance around $2,850–$2,900, the price could reach between $5,600 and $6,000.
ETH Price Pattern Matches 2020 Breakout Structure
Some analysts, such as Trader Tardigrade, have pointed out a repeating pattern from 2020. ETH formed a similar ascending triangle in 2020, followed by a strong rally from below $150 to above $400 in a few months. The current 2025 chart mirrors that setup, with a horizontal resistance level and rising support trendline.
The breakout in 2025 has been marked by a strong bullish candle and an implied rise in buying volume, adding credibility to the move. Ethereum price is currently forming a parabolic support curve under its price, similar to the 2020 structure that led to a multi-month rally.
According to the projection path from the triangle’s height, ETH could move toward $3,800 and beyond if the current breakout holds. Moreover, Institutional developments are also contributing to growing interest in Ethereum. This week, BlackRock filed for an Ethereum ETF with staking capabilities after the ETH upgrade, fuelling hopes of hitting a new ATH.
Whale Activity Add to Interest
While ETH continues its upward movement, on-chain data shows that accumulation wallets are receiving record inflows. A large blue bar on the chart signals the highest single-period inflow into accumulation wallets in ETH’s history since 2017. Despite this, the current Ethereum price is still 47% below its all-time high of $4,891 set in November 2021.
Recent whale activity has also attracted attention. A wallet linked to the Ethereum ICO has sold thousands of ETH in recent weeks. The ICO participant originally bought 76,000 ETH at $0.31 each and has been steadily liquidating holdings, including 1,900 ETH sold on Kraken for $4.44 million.
In addition, Brazil’s B3 exchange has announced that it will list ETH and SOL futures in mid-June, expanding crypto derivatives trading in Latin America. This move comes as the market sees higher stablecoin supplies and improved investor sentiment due to expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts.
