Mango Markets (MNGO): tokenomics, risks and score
A Solana margin trading protocol drained of roughly 116 million dollars in 2022 by a trader who manipulated the price of its own thinly traded token.
What Mango Markets is, and what it does
This asset has failed. It is recorded here so that a search returns what actually happened rather than promotional material that is still online.
What the MNGO token itself does: It captures no protocol revenue. Any value rests on governance rights, on speculation, or on a change that has not happened yet.
Where it runs: Solana. Mechanism: Solana margin trading protocol. It has been running since 2021, so roughly 5 years.
The facts
- TICKER
- MNGO
- SECTOR
- Failed and defunct
- CHAIN
- Solana
- LAUNCHED
- 2021, so around 5 years of operating history
- MECHANISM
- Solana margin trading protocol
- MAXIMUM SUPPLY
- 10 billion
- VALUE CAPTURE
- None
- UPGRADE CONTROL
- DAO governed
- VESTING
- Complete
- LIQUIDITY BAND
- Micro cap. Thin, often a single venue or pool. Treat the quoted price as indicative only.
How the score breaks down
Each dimension is explained on the directory page, and the reasoning behind it is taught in the Academy research process.
Supply and value capture
A hard maximum supply that cannot be raised without the agreement of essentially every participant. The token captures no protocol revenue. Any value rests on governance rights, speculation, or future changes that have not happened yet.
Changes go through token holder governance, so control is distributed but influenced by whoever holds most. Ownership is heavily concentrated. A small number of wallets hold enough to determine the price on their own.
Where it is strong and where it is not
- A portion of funds was returned, and the case established that manipulation is not a legal strategy
- Drained of roughly 116 million dollars through manipulation of its own thin collateral token
- The protocol never recovered and has wound down
- Listing a protocol's own thin token as collateral is what made the attack possible
- The attacker was convicted of fraud and market manipulation
Incident history
A trader manipulated the price of the protocol's thinly traded token to borrow against it, draining roughly 116 million dollars, then negotiated a partial return through a governance vote.
The individual responsible was convicted in the United States on fraud and market manipulation charges.
Our read
The main risk
The protocol was drained and wound down. Its attacker was later convicted of fraud.
Before you buy anything
Check the contract address against the project's own documentation rather than a search result or a screener link, since impersonation tokens with identical names and logos are listed constantly. Check the order book depth before assuming you can exit at the quoted price. And write down what would make you wrong before you buy, not after. The Academy thesis module covers why that single habit protects more capital than any indicator.