A well-known quantitative investment firm, Manifold Trading, has recently been under scrutiny for its enormous holding in the $OM token—a position acquired back in November 2023.
The token’s price has recently experienced a sharp upswing, meaning that if Manifold were to sell its $OM tokens now, it would realize some staggering profits that have raised eyebrows across the crypto community. And “would” is the key word here, because we’re not exactly sure that Manifold has any plans at all to sell. To put it in numbers: Manifold purchased 3 million tokens at a price of just $0.04; the current price is about $7.58, meaning, in theory, a profit of about $22.7 million.
An Explosive Surge and a Massive Profit
Last November, Manifold Trading took advantage of a low entry point in $OM, buying 3 million tokens at an average price of just $0.04. Few could have predicted at the time that the token would in the following months soar to such heights. But with the recent rally, the price of $OM has soared, and if sold at current market prices, Manifold could book an impressive $22.7 million profit from that initial position.
This increase is not a one-time event. Manifold Trading has done very well indeed. According to a report by The Verge, the trading firm has racked up $50.57 million in profits while accumulating $OM tokens. Profits like that tend to give the impression that something very good indeed is going on, especially when you consider that the token has really only been in existence since March of this year and hasn’t really been a standout performer.
Manifold Trading has received a considerable amount of attention lately, and for a good reason. The firm’s timing of market entry has been absolutely impeccable. Their strength, like that which propels many firms in the crypto industry, derives from their use of data. And if Manifold’s most recent trade results in a success story—well, that would just be another accolade for them.
Recent Activity: Additional Coins Move to Binance
While the $OM token keeps up its good performance, Manifold Trading seems to be making strides toward securing even more liquidity. Some fresh on-chain data points to the firm having deposited yet another 2 million $OM tokens into Binance, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world. Valued at this moment around $14.92 million, if the firm went ahead and not-so-kindly dumped those tokens onto the open market, we’d be looking at a profit for Manifold in the neighborhood of $14.84 million.
This transfer of assets is particularly intriguing given the timing of the deposit. To move such a large amount of $OM to an exchange implies that Manifold might be preparing for a sell-off or, at the very least, inching up its exposure to the kinds of price swings that make some tokens worth substantially more or less than they are normally worth in a short amount of time. In the past 24 hours, the $OM spot market on Binance has seen a pretty substantial amount of volume, which makes the exit potential from a market that might be already gassing up a lot more enticing.
What was formerly 5 million $OM tokens now appears to be merely 2 million held on the new trading platform. A combined total of 5 million tokens was worth $37.75 million as of yesterday eod. Of that, 3 million were sold in November, and 2 million were part of a recent move to Binance. It seems fair to say that’s $37.75 million worth of market cap gains for $OM that have yet to be realized in the form of actual trades.
Binance’s $OM Market Activity
Manifold trades are not the only ones going on right now. In the $OM spot market on Binance, $85.37 million in $OM was traded over the last 24 hours. That figure makes for an average of $3.57 million per hour. At that pace, it is not hard to see how $OM could end up on the radar of both institutional and retail traders. The reason is plain: High trading volume tends to beget even more trading volume as speculators look to profit from volatility.
In the past few days, the $OM token has been performing remarkably in the crypto market. Its substantial moves are earning it even more attention. Now, with an enormous chunk of the newly unlocked supply apparently being sent to places like Binance, it seems large players might be making some significant bets on what could be a major price movement in the not-too-distant future.
What Does This Mean for the Future of $OM?
For investors and traders paying close attention to the $OM token, the goings-on at Manifold Trading offer a look into the decision-making processes of major institutional investors. With such a large amount of $OM being relocated, it seems almost a foregone conclusion that the token will be experiencing high short-term price swings. Whether those price swings amount to another bull run for $OM or another dip in its price, though, is something that remains to be seen.
It is clear that Manifold Trading is set up to get a big pay day. The firm’s ability to scoop up $OM at such a low price, combined with its strategic deposits of the token into the major exchanges, shows that it is making moves to wring as much profit as possible from the situation. Institutional players have been buying up the token, which has certainly made it more noticeable, with the result that the token, in turn, has been making some fairly noticeable moves in the market.
In the end, $OM’s future relies on a few core factors: The overall sentiment of the cryptocurrency market; The current institutional investor sentiment; and Finally, the continued performance of the cryptocurrency market. Manifold Trading’s decision on whether to sell or to continue holding this position will have an impact on the dynamics of the $OM market. All of those factors combined mean that $OM’s future is as murky as the $OM position held by Manifold Trading.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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