Source: @Roundtable Network on X (Twitter)
This dramatic overhaul, part of a sweeping strategic upgrade, has fixed OKB’s total supply at a Bitcoin-esque 21 million tokens, a decision that sent the token's price soaring by more than 160% within minutes of the announcement. This action solidifies OKB's role as the sole native and gas token for OKX's burgeoning Layer 2 network, X Layer.
OKB price pumps nearly 160% | Source: CoinGecko
The announcement, which detailed a series of phased changes, marks a definitive end to OKX’s previous fragmented blockchain strategy.[1] The exchange is not only retiring its Ethereum Layer 1 version of OKB but is also phasing out its original OKTChain and its native OKT token. This strategic consolidation aims to streamline the entire OKX ecosystem, channeling all future development and liquidity into X Layer. The one-time burn of 65,256,712.097 OKB, sourced from historical buybacks and treasury reserves, effectively reduces the token’s supply by approximately 50%, a scarcity-driven move designed to bolster long-term value.
To cement this new economic model, OKX is upgrading the OKB smart contract to permanently remove all minting and burning functionalities. This irreversible action ensures that the 21-million-token cap is a hard rule, preventing any future supply inflation or discretionary burns by the company. The market's reaction was immediate and decisive, with OKB’s price rocketing from a daily low of $45 to a new all-time high of nearly $135 before stabilizing. This rally underscores strong investor confidence in the new tokenomics and the future direction of the OKX platform.
A Strategic Pivot for OKX’s Web3 Future
OKX’s recent actions are more than a simple token burn; they represent a bold strategic pivot to unify its ecosystem and position itself for the future of Web3. The decision to consolidate everything around X Layer is a clear move to create a cohesive, powerful, and integrated blockchain environment. By eliminating the complexities of its previous setup—which involved OKTChain and OKB on the Ethereum mainnet—OKX is leveraging its massive user base to build a thriving on-chain community, much like other exchange-backed Layer 2 solutions.
The core innovation lies in the audacious overhaul of OKB’s tokenomics. While many projects use regular token burns, OKX has taken an unprecedented step by making the 21-million-token supply a permanent, immutable feature. By upgrading the smart contract to remove all minting and burning capabilities, they are essentially creating a "digital gold" model for OKB, similar to Bitcoin. This move shifts the token's value proposition from a managed, deflationary asset to a hard-capped, truly scarce one. This model appeals to investors seeking long-term value and a clear, transparent tokenomics structure, and could set a new precedent for how exchange tokens are designed.
Furthermore, the technological upgrades to X Layer, dubbed the “PP upgrade,” are critical to this vision. By integrating the latest Polygon CDK technology, OKX has significantly boosted the network’s transaction throughput to 5,000 transactions per second (TPS) and drastically cut gas fees. This positions X Layer as a highly competitive and efficient environment for developers and users, directly addressing the scalability issues that have long plagued the Ethereum mainnet. The platform’s future plans are clear: to transform X Layer into a leading public chain with a dedicated focus on decentralized finance (DeFi), payments, and real-world asset (RWA) applications. The deep integration of the OKX Wallet, Exchange, and OKX Pay with X Layer is designed to seamlessly funnel its millions of users and their liquidity into this new on-chain ecosystem.
Ultimately, this decisive move demonstrates a clear strategy for a centralized entity to successfully build and grow decentralized solutions, blurring the lines between traditional finance and DeFi. By focusing on practical, real-world use cases and creating a scarce asset at the heart of its ecosystem, OKX is not just following trends; it is actively shaping the future of the cryptocurrency world.
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References:
[1] OKX - Announcement on the PP Upgrade of X Layer and Optimisation of the OKB Gas-Token Economic Model, Aug 13, 2025 (https://www.okx.com/en-sg/help/announcement-on-the-pp-upgrade-of-x-layer-and-optimisation-of-the-okb-gas)
[2] Cointelegraph - OKB pumps 160% after 65M burn as OKX fixes supply at 21M, upgrades X Layer, Aug 13, 2025
[3] TheStreet Rountable - OKX's native token soars to all-time high after massive token burn, Aug 13, 2025
