MANTRA is a community-governed decentralised finance (DeFi) platform that launched in 2020 under the name MANTRA DAO. The project offers staking, lending, savings, governance, and real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation features through a decentralised autonomous organisation structure.

Initially built on Rio Chain, a Substrate-based blockchain designed for compatibility with the Polkadot ecosystem, MANTRA aims to address limitations in existing DeFi platforms, such as interoperability and governance inefficiencies. MANTRA’s infrastructure incorporates tools to support decentralised identity (DID), Know Your Customer (KYC), and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance.

The platform introduces a gamified savings feature known as MANTRA POOL, and a reputation-based engagement system called the KARMA Protocol, both designed to reward users who contribute to and participate in the network.

Governance and service development are overseen by the MANTRA DAO Foundation, a Seychelles-registered foundation that initially stewards the ecosystem before transferring control to OM token holders through decentralised processes.

OM is the native token of the MANTRA ecosystem and performs several key functions:

• Governance: OM holders can vote on proposals that affect the MANTRA ecosystem. Each staked OM equals one vote. Proposals may relate to economic parameters, platform development, new asset support, or DAO operations.

• Staking: Users can stake OM directly or through derivative tokens (e.g., omDOT), with rewards based on performance and engagement. The amount of OM staked, combined with KARMA level, influences staking incentives.

• Lending and Collateral: OM is used within MANTRA's lending systems and can be pledged as collateral for loans.

• Access to MANTRA POOL: OM must be burned to participate in weekly MANTRA POOL drawings, which distribute staking rewards. Users with sufficient KARMA levels receive automatic entries without burning OM.

• Reputation and Benefits (KARMA Protocol): Holding and using OM contributes to a user’s KARMA score, which unlocks benefits such as increased rewards, reduced fees, and more favourable lending rates.

• Burning Mechanism: OM used for pool entries and loan interest is collected and burned quarterly. The protocol allows for up to 50% of total OM supply to be removed through this mechanism.

The KARMA Protocol is a non-transferable, reputation-based scoring system that rewards users for their participation and behaviour within the MANTRA ecosystem. KARMA is earned through actions such as:

• Staking OM

• Voting on or proposing governance actions

• Taking and repaying loans

• Burning OM in the MANTRA POOL

• Referring users and participating in grants

• KARMA is linked to benefit tiers, each with thresholds for OM staking and KARMA scores. Benefits include:

• Higher OM staking interest

• Lower staking and lending fees

• Free MANTRA POOL entries

KARMA scores and rewards are tracked and enforced through smart contracts, and voting weight may in future be influenced by a user’s KARMA level in addition to their OM holdings.

MANTRA was co-founded by:

• John Patrick Mullin – A fintech entrepreneur with experience in investment banking and blockchain advisory, including roles at trade.io and Tritaurian Capital.

• Rodrigo Quan Miranda – An entrepreneur with a background in investment banking and blockchain infrastructure, also co-founder of Immutable Technologies Corp.

• Will Corkin – A fintech and blockchain product strategist involved in the launch of multiple blockchain ventures, including work in the tokenised securities market.