On August 13, 2025, the cryptocurrency market witnessed a frenzied 'speed and passion' moment, with OKB's price skyrocketing like a rocket in a short time, increasing over 180%, soaring from about $47 to $141, directly rewriting the historical highest price. This 'violent surge' in price is not a random market spike but the 'butterfly effect' triggered by a series of significant actions from OKX.
Destruction + Upgrade, OKB's 'gorgeous transformation' plan
This time, OKX has released two big moves, instantly igniting market enthusiasm. First, OKX announced the destruction of 65 million OKB, permanently locking the total supply of OKB at 21 million, aligning it with Bitcoin's total supply. This is not just a simple number game; the destruction of a large number of tokens means that the circulating supply of OKB has significantly decreased, and 'scarcity creates value,' thus providing strong upward momentum for the price.
Meanwhile, OKX has conducted a key upgrade named 'PP upgrade' on the X Layer chain. This upgrade can be described as a 'technological leap forward'; after integrating the latest Polygon CDK technology, the transaction speed of the X Layer chain has soared to 5000 TPS, and the transaction fees have dropped to nearly zero, significantly enhancing Ethereum compatibility. Not only that, OKX has also announced that OKTChain will soon be retired, stopping OKT trading on August 13, and OKT will be automatically converted to OKB at the average price. This series of actions has shown the market OKX's strong support and determination for the X Layer ecosystem.
In fact, the destruction mechanism of OKB has long been no novelty. Since its inception, it has established a rule to repurchase and destroy a certain proportion of OKB using platform trading fees each quarter. For example, in the recent two quarters, on June 19, 2025, during the 28th round of destruction, 42.437632 million OKB were destroyed; on March 14, 2025, during the 27th round of destruction, 31.158862 million OKB 'disappeared' from the market. Looking back further, in 2020, OKX had already destroyed uncirculated OKB, continually 'slimming down' the market. However, this large-scale destruction of 65 million tokens is undoubtedly the most significant event in OKB's destruction history, directly pushing market sentiment to a climax.
Is the destruction paving the way for compliance and listing?
The project party actively destroys tokens, a common purpose is to adjust circulation, control inflation, and manage market value. However, this time, the destruction of OKB is not that simple; market value management is merely a surface reason, and the deeper reason may be related to OKX's listing plans.
In the cryptocurrency industry, the model where platform tokens are linked to company operating profits has always been a thorn in the side of regulators. Once OKX intends to go public in the U.S., it must overcome this strict regulatory hurdle. If OKB continues to exist as a platform token directly related to the company’s operating profits, it is likely to be classified as a security by U.S. regulators, which would undoubtedly be a significant obstacle for OKX's listing process.
Thus, OKX chooses to lock the total supply of OKB and gradually separate it from platform operations, positioning OKB as the ecological token of X Layer. This transformation is significant; OKB is no longer merely a symbol of platform rights but more like the 'blood' of the X Layer public chain ecosystem, circulating throughout the entire ecosystem. Through this operation, OKX has made an important step toward compliance, clearing a key obstacle for potential future listing plans.
X Layer takes the lead, can OKB rely on it to 'fly' in the future?
For OKX, 2025 is a year of re-launch in the U.S. compliance field. It has established a U.S. subsidiary, OKX.US, registered as a Money Services Business (MSB), and set up its headquarters in San Jose, California, in accordance with U.S. federal and state compliance requirements. Roshan Robert has been appointed as the CEO of OKX U.S., marking the beginning of legal operations. On April 15, the CEO of OKX U.S. officially announced the launch of the centralized cryptocurrency exchange and OKX Web3 wallet in the U.S., and former OKCoin customers have successfully migrated to the OKX platform. At the same time, OKX has strengthened its KYC verification process, implemented geo-blocking, launched an automated review system for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, and actively engaged with regulatory bodies such as FinCEN, CFTC, and SEC, seeking more compliance licenses. This series of actions indicates that OKX is determined to develop long-term compliance in the U.S., and has increased market expectations for its listing.
After the separation of OKB from the platform, the development status of the X Layer ecosystem has become a key factor in determining OKB's future value. Currently, OKX has high hopes for X Layer, with actions of upgrades and ecosystem integration coming one after another. As OKX's self-developed L2 network, X Layer's technical strength should not be underestimated; it inherits the high performance and high security of the OKX exchange, and the upgraded trading speed and cost advantages give it more confidence in competition. Moreover, X Layer can leverage OKX's existing vast user traffic, which is the 'initial advantage' many new public chains dream of. In the future, OKX may continuously inject funds and resources into the X Layer ecosystem through investments, incubations, and other means to attract more quality projects.
In the X Layer ecosystem, OKB will play multiple important roles. It could become a significant payment and trading medium within the ecosystem, whether users are trading on X Layer or paying DApp service fees, it cannot be separated from OKB. At the same time, OKB may also be used as an ecological incentive to encourage users and projects to actively participate in ecosystem building, even playing a key role in ecological governance voting.
However, ideals are full, but reality is skinny. The current L2 competition can be described as 'intense'; leading L2s like Arbitrum and Optimism have already established strong ecological barriers due to their first-mover advantages. According to DeFiLlama data, X Layer's ranking among public chains is only 122, which shows a significant gap compared to leading Layer 2s. For X Layer to stand out in this fierce competition, it must continuously innovate and enhance its competitiveness.
Is OKB a potential dark horse or a speculative 'bubble'?
Now, after the dramatic price surge of OKB, its future trajectory is filled with uncertainty. On the positive side, the destruction and transformation of OKB provide room for imagination regarding its value increase. If the X Layer ecosystem can develop smoothly according to OKX's plan, attracting a large number of users and projects, OKB, as the core ecological token, is expected to usher in a new round of value growth.
However, from another perspective, the surge in OKB's price is, to some extent, akin to market sentiment speculation. Especially when it transforms from a platform token to a public chain token, the traditional pricing model for platform tokens is no longer applicable. Although destruction has significantly reduced the number of OKB, the market's recognition of its value must ultimately return to the actual development results of the X Layer ecosystem. If X Layer fails to stand out in the fiercely competitive L2 track, OKB's price may face tremendous pullback pressure.
This market frenzy triggered by OKB is ultimately another value reassessment in the cryptocurrency market, or is it just a brief speculative feast? Can OKB continue the legend of price increases under the drive of X Layer? All of this remains to be answered by time, and cryptocurrency market investors are watching closely, preparing to embrace this 'new battlefield' full of uncertainties.
Disclaimer: The content of this article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice. Investors should rationally view cryptocurrency investments based on their own risk tolerance and investment goals and should not blindly follow the trend.
