The burn, part of an “economic upgrade,” slashes OKB’s total supply from 300 million to 21 million, shifts away from Ethereum mainnet ties, and centers token utility on OKX’s X-Layer network.
OKX burned 279 million Ethereum-based OKB tokens—nearly $26 billion—under an “economic upgrade” that cuts OKB’s total supply from 300 million to 21 million and phases out links to Ethereum mainnet. News of the move sent OKB up over 100% on Wednesday to a $135.12 all-time high before retracing to $90.36; it remains the top weekly gainer among the top 100 by market cap, per CoinGecko. OKB, the gas token for OKX’s Ethereum layer-2 X-Layer, will see a smart contract upgrade on August 18 to remove minting and burning. X-Layer has integrated Polygon’s latest Chain Development Kit to improve throughput and reduce transaction costs. OKX is discontinuing OKT Chain, with OKT to be automatically converted into OKB. The firm has expanded in the U.S. with a new regional HQ and access for residents to its exchange and wallet; a June report by The Information said OKX plans to go public in the U.S.