OKB, the native token of the OKX exchange, surged from around $46 to nearly $139 within minutes on Wednesday, setting a new all-time high. The price later pulled back to about $98, but remained more than double its value from earlier in the day.
65 Million Token Burn
The surge followed OKX’s announcement of a one-time burn of 65,256,712 OKB, worth over $7.6 billion, taken from past buybacks and treasury reserves. The burn permanently reduced the total supply to 21 million tokens, aligning OKB’s model with a fixed-supply structure.
Alongside the burn, OKX completed its “PP Upgrade” to X Layer, a zkEVM-based public chain built with Polygon’s latest technology. The upgrade increased network throughput to 5,000 transactions per second, cut gas fees to near zero, and improved Ethereum compatibility. OKB remains the sole gas and native token for X Layer, with the Ethereum version being phased out.
OKX also announced the gradual retirement of OKTChain, with all OKT tokens to be automatically converted into OKB from August 15 based on a set average price. OKX Wallet, Exchange, and Pay will now integrate X Layer by default.
Read also: OKX Returns to US Market After $505M DOJ Deal
Where It Goes From Here
The big question now is whether OKB can hold these levels after the adrenaline fades. The token nearly touched $140, but the quick drop to below $100 shows traders are already taking profits. Even so, given the lower token supply, it’s likely OKB will stabilize well above its pre-surge range.
Longer term, the new 21 million cap puts OKB in a different category of exchange tokens. If X Layer gains adoption and OKB’s role as its gas token becomes central to payments, DeFi, and real-world asset projects, this could be more than a one-day spike.
