Why the Cryptocurrency OKB Was Up More Than 192% Today

Key Points

• Roughly half of OKB will be burned, permanently removing it from circulation on Aug. 15.

• The broader cryptocurrency market is experiencing significant investor enthusiasm as coins trade near all-time highs and the crypto exchange Bullish has its IPO today.

• 10 stocks we like better than OKB ›

The crypto token OKB (CRYPTO: OKB) is exploding today, up 121.8% in the last 24 hours as of 3:45 p.m. ET, having gained as much as 192.3% earlier in that period. The jump comes as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were relatively flat.

The native token of the cryptocurrency exchange OKX, OKB just saw its supply cut in half in what is one of the largest token burns in crypto history.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Massive token burn drives OKB higher

OKX will execute a one-time burn of roughly 65.26 million OKB tokens worth about 7.6 billion by sending them to an unreachable wallet. This will effectively cut the total supply of OKB in circulation by 52% and permanently cap it at 21 million.

The token price immediately soared after OKX announced the move, from about $46 to a high of $142 before retreating to its current level of about $104. Trading volume spiked 13,000% as holders tried to capitalize on the upcoming supply shock.

Image source: Getty Images.

The burn is part of a larger move by OKX to move its operations from Ethereum's primary blockchain and onto its native L2 layer called X Layer. The move will help cut costs and speed up transactions.

The token is also benefiting from broader bullish sentiment in crypto, driven by today's massive IPO of the Peter Thiel-backed exchange, Bullish.

Don't count on this to continue

A burn of this scale is not going to happen again, and investors shouldn't jump into OKB expecting another one to follow. I would avoid buying this crypto and many niche altcoins like it. For investors looking for exposure to crypto, stick to the "OGs" like Ethereum and Bitcoin.

Should you invest $1,000 in OKB right now?

Before you buy stock in OKB, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and OKB wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $653,427!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,119,863!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,060% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of August 13, 2025

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.