OKX Shocks Market: Burns $26B in OKB Tokens, Hard Caps Supply at 21M

In a move that sent shockwaves through crypto circles, OKX just torched 279 million OKB tokens—worth a staggering $26 billion—permanently capping its supply at 21 million.

The nuclear option: Why incinerating 93% of your token supply isn’t just a flex—it’s economic warfare. Deflationary mechanics meet corporate performance art.

Wall Street analysts are already calling it 'either genius or desperation'—but in crypto, those are often the same thing. Meanwhile, traders scramble to recalculate valuations while muttering about 'sound money' through gritted teeth.

One thing's certain: When exchanges start burning money faster than hedge funds, we've entered a new era of financial theater. Cue the 'scarcity creates value' chorus—just don’t mention the 279 million tokens that briefly existed on some accountant’s spreadsheet.

OKX Burns 279M OKB Tokens OKB Supply Drops By 93% Notably, the burn follows an announcement on Wednesday where OKX disclosed plans to initiate the transaction. The exchange revealed it would carry out a one-time burn of 65 million OKB tokens, dropping its total supply to 21 million. Interestingly, the 21 million total supply is a significant figure in the crypto space. It is the total supply of the world's largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, which has spurred its scarcity as its demand skyrockets. Notably, OKX funded the burns through historical repurchases and its treasury reserve. Following the burn, the OKB assumed a circulating supply of 21 million, with its market cap at $1.96 billion at the time of writing. OKX Move to Upgrade Ecosystem The move is part of OKX's ploy to upgrade OKB’s tokenomics and revamp its ecosystem. Alongside the burn, OKX also announced plans to overhaul its smart contracts to prevent new token minting and manual burns. Furthermore, the OKT token would also become extinct in the OKX ecosystem starting from January 2026. The exchange converted the OKT tokens to OKB at a rate determined by its average price between July 13 and August 12. Meanwhile, OKX would also upgrade the X Layer, its zkEVM-based blockchain. Some of the updates include boosting throughput to 5,000 transactions per second, reducing transaction fees, and improving ethereum compatibility to enhance developer appeal. OKX would also add its Wallet, Exchange, and Pay platforms to the X Layer. OKB Dumps 7% Despite Burn Today’s burn did not prevent OKB from joining the broader market bearish trend, as it has corrected 7% in the past 24 hours. It currently trades at $93.35, with its trading volume also dropping 58% to $191 million. Nonetheless, OKB is up 103% in the past seven days, with a considerable share of the rally coming on Wednesday after the burn announcement. On the day, the token spiked 206% from $46.55 to a high of $142.88 before closing at $105.