OKB, the token of cryptocurrency exchange OKX, more than tripled to a record high after the company executed a one-time burn of 65.26 million OKB, cutting the supply by more than 50%.
Burning the roughly $7.6 billion worth of tokens permanently reduces the maximum supply to 21 million, in line with the hard cap coded into bitcoin (BTC). The burn, or sending the tokens to a wallet address that can’t be accessed, was carried out from OKX’s reserves and represents one of the largest deflationary events in exchange token history.
The effect of the burn was instant. OKB jumped to $142 from $46 before retrenching to about $102. Trading volume skyrocketed 13,000% to $723 million as traders attempted to capitalize on the supply shock.
The strategy mirrors that of BNB, the token of BNB Chain, which is associated with rival exchange Binance. That undergoes quarterly burns that often precede short-term rallies.
Supporting that narrative, OKB’s turnover ratio, a measure of trading activity relative to supply, spiked from 0.03 pre-announcement to 0.093, signaling heightened speculative and strategic positioning.
Sustained price momentum will depend on whether OKX can continue to drive adoption of its X Layer blockchain, of which OKB is the native token. To that end, the exchange plans to increase transaction speed and reduce gas prices, according to a blog post. It will also be phasing out Ethereum-based OKB tokens, which can now be redeemed for X Layer versions.