OKB Soars 140% as OKX Burns 65M Tokens to Cap Supply at 21M

OKX has triggered a significant market reaction by executing a major token supply adjustment, burning 65,256,712.097 OKB in a one-time event to cap the total supply at 21 million tokens. This move, announced on August 13, is part of a broader upgrade to the X Layer network and a reimagined economic model for OKB [1]. The reduction in supply coincided with a sharp price surge, with OKB rising over 140% in the immediate aftermath, reaching as high as $140 before settling around $110 [1].

The upgrade includes the implementation of the “PP upgrade,” integrating the latest Polygon Chain Development Kit to boost throughput to 5,000 transactions per second and reduce gas costs to near zero. These improvements align the X Layer more closely with Ethereum’s mainnet, supporting high-concurrency scenarios and enhancing the developer experience [1]. OKX also plans to gradually decommission OKTChain, with the final shutdown set for January 1, 2026, while allowing on-chain holders to convert OKT to OKB between August 15 and that date [1].

OKB is now positioned as the sole gas and native token on X Layer, with withdrawals to Ethereum Layer 1 suspended and users encouraged to migrate through a one-click swap feature. The burn event removed tokens from historical repurchases and treasury reserves, and a smart contract will now automatically burn all future transfers to a blackhole address. This change effectively removes the ability to mint or burn OKB moving forward, reinforcing a fixed-supply model akin to Bitcoin [1].

The market response underscores investor interest in assets with reduced supply and improved infrastructure, with OKB’s tokenomics potentially reshaping perceptions of scarcity. The upgrade also consolidates OKX’s ecosystem across its core products, including the OKX Wallet, which now supports X Layer with low-fee transactions, and OKX Pay, which defaults to X Layer for faster, lower-cost settlements [1].

The staged rollout includes key dates, with the burn and OKT-to-OKB conversion executed on August 15, followed by a smart contract upgrade on August 18. The final phase, the full decommissioning of OKTChain in 2026, will complete the transition to a unified Layer 2 environment [1].

The move reflects OKX’s broader ambitions in DeFi, global payments, and real-world asset issuance, supported by ecosystem incentives and infrastructure enhancements. While the technical and tokenomic changes are substantial, the market has already signaled optimism through a dramatic price increase.

Source: [1] OKB price explodes over 170% after OKX wipes 65 million tokens from supply (https://cryptoslate.com/okb-price-explodes-over-170-after-okx-wipes-65-million-tokens-from-supply/)