OKB Token Hits Record High Ahead of Major Supply Cut

OKB, the cryptocurrency tied to the OKX exchange, just hit its highest price ever—more than doubling in value within a day. The jump came after OKX revealed plans to slash its total supply by burning over 65 million tokens, effectively taking them out of circulation permanently.

At one point, OKB spiked to $135 before cooling off to around $103. Still, that’s a staggering 124% gain in 24 hours, making it the top performer among major cryptocurrencies. Trading volume surged too, with nearly $3.5 billion worth of OKB changing hands.

Why the Sudden Rally?

A few things seem to be driving the move. For one, OKX is upgrading its Ethereum layer-2 network, X-Layer, which uses OKB as its native token. The upgrades aim to cut transaction costs and speed things up, with a focus on decentralized finance (DeFi) and tokenizing real-world assets.

But the bigger news is the token burn. OKX plans to destroy roughly 65.3 million OKB—tokens it had previously bought back or held in reserves. After that, the total supply will be locked at 21 million, matching Bitcoin’s hard cap. That’s a sharp drop from the original 300 million supply planned years ago.

The burn is set for August 15. At current prices, it’d wipe out about $6.7 billion worth of OKB. Once it’s done, OKX will update the token’s smart contract to prevent any new OKB from being created or burned in the future.

OKT Chain Shutdown Adds Fuel

There’s another layer to this. OKX is phasing out its older OKT Chain, converting all remaining OKT tokens into OKB. That announcement sent OKT’s price soaring over 100% too. While the chain will technically stay operational until 2026, any OKT deposited on OKX’s exchange will automatically convert to OKB.

It’s a big shift—consolidating two tokens into one while tightening supply. Whether that’s enough to sustain the price surge is unclear. Crypto markets are unpredictable, and big moves like this often see some pullback.

OKX’s U.S. Push

Meanwhile, OKX has been making quieter moves into the U.S. market. Back in April, it set up a headquarters in San Jose, California, and started offering crypto trading to U.S. users through its exchange and wallet. It’s a cautious expansion, sticking to major assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum for now.

The timing of all this feels intentional—boosting OKB’s appeal just as the exchange tries to grow its footprint. Whether it works long-term is anyone’s guess. But for now, traders are betting big on scarcity.