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Crypto exchange OKX has started an investigation into the abrupt 50% decline in the value of its native token OKB.
Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has launched an investigation following a rapid 50% decline in the value of its native token, OKB. The unexpected plunge saw OKB’s value drop to $25.1, prompting OKX CEO Star Xu to address the matter.
While the CEO did not delve into specific details, Xu said the OKX team is actively investigating the recent volatility in OKB prices, promising to provide a report on the matter at a later time.
Our team is investigating the recent okb price volatility. We will report to the community later. pic.twitter.com/UI9uPgQfA5
— Star (@star_okx) January 23, 2024
While it’s unclear what was the reason behind the quick price drop, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju noted in an X post that “no notable outflows” from OKX’s major asset reserves have been registered so far.
$OKB, @okx 's exchange token, fell by 25% in the past 30 minutes, with no notable outflows from major asset reserves so far.https://t.co/PQ06Wsix82 pic.twitter.com/JsNnvuoDVA
— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) January 23, 2024
Spot On Chain, a blockchain analytics platform, highlighted that the price decline coincided with the deposit of 176,154 OKB (equivalent to over $8 million) to OKX from 10 previously dormant crypto addresses. These deposits occurred approximately a week before the incident, Spot On Chain said, calling the move “suspicious.
According to the firm, the wallets might belong to a single entity, however, the connection between this entity and the subsequent price drop remains uncertain.
🚨🚨 $OKB token suddenly fell sharply (40%) and our system marked ten dormant whales depositing 176,154 OKB ($9.58M) to OKX 7 days ago.
— Spot On Chain (@spotonchain) January 23, 2024
➡️ All 10 wallets received a total of 176,154 $OKB 4 years ago (20 Feb 2020) and had no action after that.
➡️ They deposited all tokens to OKX… pic.twitter.com/EQmiHOinmd
Launched in 2018, OKB serves as the native token for the OKX exchange, primarily functioning as a utility asset within the OKX ecosystem. OKB holders can get trading fee discounts when using the token for transaction fees on OKX and can attain varying VIP privileges on the trading platform. As of press time, OKB is trading at $46.3, according to CoinGecko data.