OKB, the native token of crypto exchange OKX, enjoyed a triple-digit price spike on Wednesday after the company unveiled a dramatic overhaul to its blockchain ecosystem and tokenomics model, including a record-breaking burn.
The rally, which momentarily propelled the OKB price to as high as $135.32 from a daily low of $46, came as OKX conducted a one-time burn (or sending the tokens to a wallet address that cannot be accessed) of 65.26 million OKB, slashing the total supply by over 50%.
Burning the roughly $7.6 billion worth of tokens permanently fixes the maximum OKB supply at 21 million, which aligns with the hard cap coded into Bitcoin, the world’s oldest and largest cryptocurrency.
The burn was executed from OKX’s reserves and represents one of the biggest deflationary events in the history of exchange tokens. The effect of the burn was instantaneous, as the price of OKB soared higher. The token had settled at $100.40 at press time, reflecting a 128% gain on the day.
As part of the update, OKX plans to upgrade the X Layer, its zkEVM-based public blockchain built with Polygon, “to build it into a leading public chain with a dedicated focus on DeFi, payments, and real-world asset (RWA) applications.”
The burn strategy mirrors that of BNB, the token associated with rival exchange Binance. That carries out quarterly burns that oftentimes herald short-term price upsurges.
According to OKX’s announcement, the “PP upgrade” integrates the latest Polygon CDK technology, increasing transaction throughput to 5,000 TPS, reducing gas fees to negligible levels, and improving Ethereum compatibility for developers.
X Layer will be integrated across OKX Wallet, OKX Exchange, and OKX Pay platforms, enabling functionalities such as gasless withdrawals.
OKX will phase out OKTChain due to overlapping functionality as part of the overhaul. Trading of its native OKT token will cease on August 13, 2025, followed by automatic conversion to OKB based on an exchange rate determined by average closing prices between July 14 and Aug. 12, 2025. OKX said the chain will remain operational until January 1, 2026, allowing users to deposit remaining tokens for conversion.
