New Delhi — Aug 13, 2025: Crypto exchange OKX announced a sweeping token-economy and infrastructure overhaul that permanently fixes OKB’s total supply at 21 million, conducts a one-time burn of 65,256,712.097 OKB from historical buybacks and reserves, and begins phasing out OKTChain in favor of its X Layer network. Following the news, OKB briefly hit a new high near $134 before easing to about $129 in volatile trading.
Key points
- One-time burn: OKX will permanently destroy 65,256,712.097 OKB accumulated from past buybacks and reserves. Afterward, all tokens sent to the black-hole address will be auto-burned by contract. Result: fixed total supply of 21,000,000 OKB.
- Contract upgrade: The OKB smart contract will be upgraded to remove both minting and manual burn functions, cementing the capped supply. Target completion Aug 18, 2025 (UTC+8).
- OKTChain decommissioning: Due to overlap with X Layer, OKTChain support will wind down. OKT trading on OKX ends Aug 13, 2025, 14:10 (UTC+8), with an OKT→OKB swap executed periodically starting Aug 15, 2025, based on the average OKB and OKT closing prices from July 13–Aug 12, 2025. On-chain OKT deposits converted at the same average until Jan 1, 2026.
- X Layer upgrade (“PP upgrade”): X Layer has integrated the latest Polygon CDK (ex-zkEVM), citing ~5,000 TPS, lower gas, and tighter Ethereum alignment. X Layer also becomes the default chain for OKX Pay.
- Market reaction: In the immediate aftermath, OKB spiked into the $130s (intraday peak around $134) before pulling back to the high-$120s as liquidity adjusted. (Live trackers during publication showed OKB above $130.)
Why this matters
Fixing OKB’s supply at 21M with a contract that cannot mint and no longer permits manual burns converts OKB into a strictly scarce exchange token, a design often favored by investors seeking transparent tokenomics. The retirement of OKTChain and consolidation on X Layer simplifies OKX’s ecosystem, potentially concentrating liquidity, developers, and users on a single L2 stack.
Timeline (UTC+8)
- Aug 13, 2025, 14:10 — OKT trading suspended on OKX.
- Aug 15, 2025, 10:00 — First automatic OKT→OKB conversions at the Jul 13–Aug 12 average closing prices.
- Aug 15, 2025, 14:00 — One-time “cleaning” and on-chain burn of historical buyback/reserve OKB.
- Aug 18, 2025, 14:00 — OKB smart-contract upgrade completed; minting/manual burn removed.
- Until Jan 1, 2026 — OKTChain remains operational; on-chain OKT can still be deposited to OKX for periodic conversion.
Market backdrop
Exchange tokens often react sharply to token-supply changes. Here, the permanent burn plus a hard cap and the ecosystem consolidation narrative fueled a rapid re-rating. Real-time price pages showed OKB in the $130–$137 bandat peak before retracing to ~$129, though prices remain highly volatile around announcements.
What to watch next
- Execution of swaps & burns: Confirmation of the burn transaction and the contract upgrade on the stated dates.
- Liquidity migration: How quickly liquidity, dApps, and user activity consolidate on X Layer following the OKTChain wind-down.
- Sustained pricing: Whether OKB holds higher valuation levels once initial euphoria fades; monitor circulating supply data and exchange flows from official dashboards.