OKX Permanently Destroys $7.6 Billion OKB, Price Surges to $142

OKX permanently destroyed 65.26 million OKB tokens worth approximately $7.6 billion. The burn reduced circulating supply by 52% and set the total OKB supply at a fixed 21 million tokens. OKB price jumped from $46 to an intraday high near $142 following the announcement.

The exchange sourced the burned tokens from historical repurchases and treasury reserves. OKX confirmed the 21 million token hard cap and announced it would implement an automatic burning mechanism. Any OKB tokens transferred to a designated black-hole address will be automatically destroyed going forward.

The burn coincided with major upgrades to OKX’s X Layer network, built on Polygon technology. OKX completed what it calls a “PP upgrade” on August 5, integrating the latest Polygon CDK stack. 

The upgrade increases network capacity to approximately 5,000 transactions per second and reduces gas fees to minimal levels. The enhancement also improves Ethereum compatibility for developers building on the platform.

OKB remains the only gas and native token for X Layer operations under the revised economic structure. OKX will discontinue the Ethereum-based version of OKB and advise holders to deposit tokens on the exchange before withdrawing them to X Layer through a one-click swap feature.

OKX outlined plans to integrate X Layer more deeply across its ecosystem, including OKX Wallet, OKX Exchange, and OKX Pay services. The company established an incentives fund to attract developers working on decentralized finance applications, payment systems, and real-world asset tokenization projects.

The exchange previously conducted periodic token buybacks and burns tied to trading activity. The August 13 burn consolidated earlier repurchases into a single on-chain event and replaced manual burning processes with smart contract automation.

The exchange is also shutting down OKTChain, its older blockchain network. OKT token trading on OKX ended August 13, with automatic conversions of OKT to OKB starting August 15. On-chain support for OKT will continue until January 1, 2026, giving users time to complete the transition.