Gold is projected to surpass $3,000 per ounce in 2025, driven by strong macroeconomic and geopolitical factors.

At the heart of gold's potential surge is the current macroeconomic landscape that’s characterized by persistent inflation and anticipated monetary policy shifts. Inflation rates in the U.S. are expected to remain above the Federal Reserve's target of 2%, creating an environment in which gold is expected to serve as a crucial hedge against currency devaluation. When inflation erodes purchasing power, investors often turn to gold to preserve their wealth.

Moreover, the Federal Reserve has signaled a shift toward monetary easing, with market expectations indicating potential interest rate cuts in the coming months. Lower interest rates decrease the opportunity cost of holding gold, making it a more attractive investment as compared to interest-bearing assets, such as bonds and savings accounts. With real interest rates projected to remain low or even go negative, gold could experience renewed demand as a safe store of value.

Geopolitical tensions further bolster gold’s appeal. Ongoing conflicts, particularly the strained U.S.-China relationship and the Russia-Ukraine war, create an atmosphere of uncertainty that drives investors toward safe-haven assets. During times of geopolitical instability, gold has historically seen increased demand as investors seek to mitigate risks associated with market volatility.

As global tensions escalate, the demand for gold is likely to rise, reinforcing its status as a reliable hedge against financial instability. Investors tend to flock to gold during crises, viewing it as a secure asset that retains its intrinsic value, especially when other markets are under pressure.

Another significant factor contributing to the bullish outlook for gold is the unprecedented demand from central banks around the world. In 2024, central banks collectively purchased over 1,000 metric tons of gold, marking one of the highest levels of accumulation in recent history. This trend is expected to continue into 2025, particularly among countries like China and Russia that are actively reducing their reliance on U.S. dollar reserves as part of a broader de-dollarization strategy.

This central bank buying provides a strong structural support for gold prices, minimizing downside risks. As these institutions accumulate more gold, the resulting scarcity in the market could lead to higher prices. The growing demand from central banks underscores the renewed confidence in gold as a strategic reserve asset, especially amidst economic volatility and geopolitical tensions.

From a technical perspective, gold is currently in a robust uptrend, trading above key moving averages and nearing critical resistance levels. If gold successfully breaks through the psychological barrier of $3,000 per ounce, momentum could carry it toward higher price targets, potentially reaching $3,200 or even $3,500. 

, such as relative strength index (RSI) and moving average convergence divergence (MACD), suggest that gold remains in a bullish phase, indicating further upside potential.

As gold approaches these key resistance points, technical traders will closely monitor its price movements. A successful breach of the $3,000 level could trigger momentum buying, propelling prices higher as investor confidence grows.

Finally, rising investor sentiment plays a crucial role in gold’s potential price surge. Increased inflows into gold-backed 

 (ETFs), in addition to speculative positioning in futures markets, reflect strong confidence among both retail and institutional investors. As ETF holdings rise, it signals renewed interest in gold as a safe-haven investment.

This optimism is bolstered by a general shift in market sentiment as investors are increasingly turning to gold amid concerns over economic stability and inflation. The combination of robust technical indicators, macroeconomic pressures and favorable investor sentiment positions gold favorably for a significant price increase in 2025.

In summary, gold is well-positioned to reach $3,000 per ounce in 2025, driven by a combination of persistent inflation, geopolitical uncertainty, strong central bank demand and positive technical indicators. As investors seek refuge in safe-haven assets, gold’s intrinsic value and historical performance during times of crisis will make it an attractive option for preserving wealth. The confluence of these factors suggests that gold's upward trajectory could continue, making 2025 a pivotal year for this precious metal.

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Bybit Commodity Insight Report: Why Gold Is Poised to Reach $3,000 in 2025

Our weekly crypto derivatives analytics report delves into macro events, the current state of crypto and trading signals from spot trading volume, as well as futures, options and perpetual contracts.

Macro headwinds are impacting the crypto market, with a sell-off that began over the weekend deepening this week. BTC, ETH and most altcoins are declining alongside equities, gold and treasury yields, though derivatives markets are showing little bearish sentiment or increased volatility expectations. Among perpetuals, there are record consistent positive rates across most markets, indicating a reset in positioning. Meanwhile, ETH retains a volatility premium over BTC, but its term structure hasn’t inverted as sharply as in earlier sell-offs this month.

Please check out the report’s highlights.

Funding Rates Largely Positive Amid Sell-Off

Despite risk-off sentiment across asset classes this weekend and early this past week, USDT-denominated perpetual contracts have shown their most consistently positive funding rates within the past month. While these rates haven't reached the bullish levels of early December 2024, most have returned to a neutral level of 0.01%, signaling a reset in positioning due to recent market movements.

Tuesday's intensified risk-off sell-off led to a significant spike in BTC put trade volume as traders hedged against further declines. Unlike ETH, which leans bullish on calls, BTC's open interest is balanced between upside and downside protection. The volatility term structure is flat again, typical during sharp market moves, but this reflects a decline in longer-dated options, rather than a rise in short-term expectations.

As the sell-off in risk-on assets deepened this past week, ETH outperformed BTC. ETH derivatives markets are showing stronger sentiment, with higher call trade volumes indicating greater demand for upside positioning as compared to puts. However, ETH's volatility term structure has inverted more sharply than BTC's, as seen in previous significant market moves since last November (2024), with front-end volatility levels 15 points above those of BTC options with a similar tenor.

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Bybit X Block Scholes Crypto Derivatives Analytics Report (Feb 26, 2025): Reset in Sentiment Brewing as Fund Rates Turn Positive

Explore four essential tips to help you accumulate more points, optimize your strategy and claim the best rewards in EcoGalaxy: Mantle Surge.

With the rise of gamified crypto events, EcoGalaxy: Mantle Surge stands out as one of the most exciting opportunities for users to earn rewards while engaging with both Bybit and Mantle Network. This limited-time event offers participants a shot at a 1,000,000 MNT prize pool when they complete on-chain and trading-related tasks. 

To help you maximize your rewards and ensure you get the most out of this event, in this guide we’ll break down four essential tips to help you accumulate more points, optimize your strategy and claim the best rewards in EcoGalaxy: Mantle Surge.

EcoGalaxy: Mantle Surge is a limited-time campaign that rewards participants with a share of a 1,000,000 MNT prize pool when they complete both Bybit and on-chain tasks. Players earn "wishes" that can be used to enter Lucky Draws or climb the leaderboard for greater rewards.

This campaign, hosted by Bybit in collaboration with Mantle, blends gamification with 

 engagement, offering users multiple ways to win. Participants can choose to rely on chance via the Lucky Draw or strategically allocate their wishes to compete on the leaderboard. The event runs from Mar 6, 2025 to Mar 27, 2025, making it a limited-time opportunity to accumulate rewards while exploring the Mantle ecosystem.

4 Tips to Maximize Your Wishes and Rewards in EcoGalaxy: Mantle Surge

To make the most out of EcoGalaxy: Mantle Surge, you need to strategize your wish allocation, complete as many tasks as possible and take advantage of all available earning mechanisms. Here are four essential tips to maximize your rewards:

One of the best ways to earn high-value rewards in EcoGalaxy: Mantle Surge is by competing on the leaderboard. There are a total of five rounds, and the rewards are higher with each passing round. 

The more wishes you allocate toward leaderboard rankings, the higher your position and the larger your rewards. However, since the leaderboard is dynamic, your rank can change based on the activity of other participants.

Since leaderboard positions fluctuate, it’s recommended that you monitor your ranking regularly and adjust your strategy accordingly. Players who accumulate the most wishes by the end of each leaderboard round will receive the greatest rewards.

 that each round’s rewards and wishes are calculated independently, and any wishes spent in a round won’t carry over to the next round.

If you prefer an element of surprise, the Lucky Draw is your best bet. By spending wishes on Lucky Draw attempts, you earn the chance to win instant prizes. The Lucky Draw operates on a first-come, first-served basis, so the earlier you participate, the better your chances of securing top-tier rewards.

Since rewards are limited, it's advisable to use your wishes early before the top prizes run out.

An easy way to earn free points in this campaign is by holding Mantle (MNT) and/or Mantle Restaked ETH (cmETH) in your Bybit account. By simply keeping these assets in your wallet, you’ll receive additional wishes, increasing your chances of winning more rewards.

This passive method of earning wishes ensures that you accumulate extra points without actively completing tasks, making it one of the simplest ways to boost your rewards.

Another hidden gem for doubling your rewards in EcoGalaxy: Mantle Surge is through Layer 3. Participants who complete specific Layer 3 quests will receive extra bonuses, including double rewards on certain tasks.

By leveraging Layer 3 bonuses, you can significantly boost your total wish count, increasing your chances of securing leaderboard positions or hitting big wins in the Lucky Draw.

If you’re looking for a fun and rewarding way to engage with the Mantle ecosystem, EcoGalaxy: Mantle Surge is definitely an event worth joining. With 1,000,000 MNT up for grabs, both casual users and seasoned traders can benefit from this campaign.

The event's dual-reward system allows participants to tailor their strategy based on their preferences. Whether you enjoy the thrill of luck-based rewards or prefer the competitive edge of leaderboard climbing, this campaign offers something for everyone.

Additionally, holding MNT and cmETH provides passive earnings, while Layer 3 integration presents an opportunity for double rewards — making the experience even more lucrative for active participants.

EcoGalaxy: Mantle Surge is a limited-time, gamified rewards campaign that blends trading, staking and on-chain interactions. By completing tasks, holding Mantle assets and strategically using your wishes, you can maximize your rewards and secure your share of the 1,000,000 MNT prize pool.

This event runs from Mar 6, 2025 to 27, 2025, so now is the best time to get started. Are you ready to explore the Mantle ecosystem and claim your rewards? Join EcoGalaxy: Mantle Surge today!

Beginner

how to participate in ecogalaxy mantle surge

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Join Bybit’s AI-DOL SUPERSTAR Trading Battle, vote for top AI projects and compete for a share of a $1M prize pool. Earn rewards while shaping the future of AI in crypto.

The Bybit AI-DOL SUPERSTAR Trading Battle is an exciting and innovative trading and voting event that aims to identify and support high-potential AI projects within the cryptocurrency space.

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to revolutionize blockchain technology, this competition offers users a unique opportunity to engage with emerging AI-driven crypto projects while earning substantial rewards of up to $1 million.

 (AI) and cryptocurrency is reshaping blockchain and 

 — autonomous programs powered by machine learning — are revolutionizing the sector by automating trading strategies, optimizing portfolio management and executing on-chain decisions with minimal human input.

These intelligent agents analyze vast datasets, identify market trends and execute trades in real time, significantly enhancing efficiency and reducing risks in the volatile crypto market. Their role extends beyond trading, influencing DeFi protocols, NFT markets and blockchain governance.

Bybit is at the forefront of this AI-driven transformation, launching the 

 to spotlight high-potential AI projects. This event provides a launchpad for groundbreaking AI applications, connecting innovators with a global crypto audience.

What Is the Bybit AI-DOL SUPERSTAR Trading Battle?

Bybit is launching a unique AI trading event designed to highlight the most promising AI-driven crypto projects.

AI is revolutionizing crypto markets, with automated trading bots now executing over 60% of all crypto transactions. The integration of AI and blockchain is unlocking new trading strategies, DeFi innovations and web3 applications, making the AI sector one of the most promising in crypto.

Bybit’s AI-DOL SUPERSTAR Trading Battle bridges AI and blockchain, providing a global stage for emerging projects to gain exposure to a global audience. Participants play an active role in shaping the future of AI in crypto while earning rewards.

How to Participate in the AI-DOL SUPERSTAR Trading Battle

Campaign Period: Feb 28, 2025, 10AM UTC – Mar 27, 2025, 10AM UTC

Bybit users can support AI projects and earn rewards by participating in this AI-powered trading competition. Here's a step-by-step guide to joining:

Projects earn voting points from the following ways:

By actively trading and voting, participants not only have a chance to earn from the $1 million prize pool, but will also play a crucial role in shaping the future of AI in the crypto industry.

Bybit's AI-DOL SUPERSTAR Trading Battle offers an exciting $1 million prize pool, with multiple ways for participants to win rewards.

The breakdown of how votes are allocated for Bybit Spot is as follows:

The breakdown of how votes are allocated for Bybit Web3 is as follows:

The maximum number of daily votes that a user can receive is 100,400 (50,200 for Bybit Spot and Web3 respectively).

By trading, voting and engaging in the competition, participants not only support innovative AI projects but also receive a chance to maximize their earnings in this high-stakes trading battle.

Bybit's AI-DOL SUPERSTAR Trading Battle offers a distinctive platform that connects cryptocurrency traders with AI innovators. Participants are invited to support leading AI projects, earn attractive rewards and contribute to shaping the future of AI within the crypto ecosystem. 

 and be part of the AI-driven revolution on Bybit!

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How to Participate in Bybit’s AI-DOL SUPERSTAR Trading Battle

Blockchain

Altcoins

and Protocol is a decentralized, cross-chain data oracle that acts as a bridge between smart contract platforms and real-world data sources to ensure secure and scalable interoperability.

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Oracles played a crucial role in ancient Greece and Rome. They were the supernatural link between the gods and humans. If you’ve heard of 

, the concept isn’t far from the above description — minus the deity drama!

, with their immutable storage and ability to verify transactions, are at the core of blockchain technology. However, their scalability has been limited by access to real-time data and accurate price feeds from off-chain sources.

 and Band Protocol come in — to connect real-world data to blockchains. While Chainlink may have gotten a head start in this niche, Band Protocol has risen as its worthy competitor. 

Let’s explore the Band Protocol ecosystem and its role in the decentralized economy.

Part of the reason why blockchain as a technology has caused such a stir around the globe is due to its closed data system. Each blockchain ensures its security and operational efficiency by creating in-house data silos.

While such a design has its merits of privacy and anonymity, challenges arise when there’s a need to communicate with other blockchains or receive external data.

Let’s look at smart contracts briefly. One of their strengths is that they automatically execute, based on the code fed into them during deployment. Such programmable functionalities have opened a world of opportunities, such as 

However, these smart contract–powered applications have to depend on third-party sources to obtain real-world data. For example, a DeFi application such as 

 needs accurate data for users to engage with its crypto lending platform.

Most of this data needs to be sourced from traditional web sources and 

. Unfortunately, the majority of these data solution providers are faced with the limitations of centralization, network congestion and high operation costs. Such limitations pose a threat to trustlessness and decentralization, which are the pillars of blockchain.

 Fortunately, oracles such as Band Protocol were created to fill that void of precise, accurate and reliable data exchange between blockchains. As a decentralized oracle network, it leverages consensus to provide a middle layer that links blockchain applications with external information sources.

Band Protocol is a decentralized, cross-chain data oracle that acts as a bridge between smart contract platforms and real-world data sources to ensure secure and scalable interoperability.

 It plays a critical role in sourcing and aggregating data from multiple blockchains, cryptographically verifying it, and then packaging it into an easy-to-use format.

Founded in 2017 by three experienced MIT builders — Soravis Srinawakoon (CEO), Sorawit Suriyakarn (CTO) and Paul Nattapatsiri (CPO) — Band Protocol is on a mission to provide a decentralized oracle framework for 

With features such as monetized data provision, verifiable random function and real-time price information, Band Protocol is at the forefront of the decentralized oracles powering blockchain.

Initially built on the Ethereum blockchain, Band Protocol migrated to Cosmos in 2020 using its 

 to leverage the network’s low gas fees and optimized costs. Through the integration with 

, developers can unlock cross-chain functionalities using the Cosmos Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol.

Using its native token, BAND, to incentivize and secure the protocol, Band Protocol seeks to provide a high-performance and dependable blockchain oracle for smart contract platforms. Some of the notable DApp projects that have partnered with Band Protocol include Celo, Moonriver, Astar, Oasis and Cronos.

 is a data oracle public blockchain built on Cosmos SDK that acts as a medium between data sources and smart contract platforms powering DApps. Its blockchain is operated by over 72 validators, who ensure the chain remains decentralized. It relies on the 

 BFT consensus algorithm to ensure immediate block finality. 

The roles of BandChain are to handle requests raised by DApps and to query data from respective providers, then relay the results back to the DApp as shown below:

Let’s look at some of the unique features that make BandChain stand out.

BandChain’s design uses two separate layers of decentralization to ensure maximum 

. First, the data oracle is operated by a pool of validators distributed around the globe. Their performance can be easily monitored and verified.

(DPos) mechanism ensures that validators are incentivized to report data properly and accurately. The flow of data from request to submission is available to be viewed and audited by the public.

BandChain’s oracle scripts are customizable in multiple programming languages, and flexible for the user to curate the data feed they desire. BandChain’s data source scripts allow validators to freely determine where they’ll source their data.

Unlike other mainstream blockchains, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, BandChain is built exclusively to compute and request oracle data.

As such, the average block validation time on the oracle is only 3 seconds, while it can take up to 10–15 seconds on Ethereum and around 10 minutes on Bitcoin to confirm a transaction. Such speed ensures that data requests are received and processed quickly.

Another benefit of an oracle-focused blockchain such as BandChain is that it helps offload heavy oracle computations from the requester’s blockchain. Hence, oracle operations don’t need to be duplicated onto a new chain, which enhances integration with DApps for greater scalability.

Through BandChain, users requesting data only need to pay the associated fees (depending on the request). BandChain’s pay-per-request model is very economical, especially when you don’t need data for an entire set of assets.

Band Protocol’s architecture consists of a thriving ecosystem of a fully-dedicated public blockchain, data providers, a standard dataset aggregator and verifiable random function (VRF).

These components provide a scalable interplay of strategic functionalities to provide DApps with access to real-world, off-chain data. Let’s look at each of these components for a better understanding of how Band Protocol works.

At the core of Band’s operations is BandChain, with a design that focuses on speed, scalability, cross-chain compatibility and flexibility. BandChain curates off-chain data using a system consisting of data sources, network participants, and 

A data source on BandChain describes the procedure of retrieving raw data and the fees applicable to the data query. Anyone can register as a data source on BandChain.

However, upon requesting data on BandChain, users don’t interact with data sources; instead, oracle scripts cater to their requests. BandChain’s oracle scripts are quite similar to smart contracts in that they’re 

, and programmable in multiple languages.

Oracle scripts are encoded to outline the data sources necessary to respond to a data request. Once the request is fulfilled, the scripts aggregate data reports from validators and provide a final result.

To function, BandChain relies on three groups of participants:

Before we proceed to the other components of Band Protocol, let’s look at how an oracle data request flows through BandChain’s network.

 Before a data request is addressed, data sources and oracle scripts have to be published.

Once published, a user broadcasts their data request, which initializes the oracle script’s execution process.

 On initialization, the scripts fetch and emit raw data, which is inspected and confirmed by randomly selected validators.

Once the raw data is received, the oracle scripts aggregate the validator’s reports and request storage of the final result.

 is an exhaustive reference dataset on Band Protocol that consists of frequently updated and highly customizable price feeds. This product provides developers with comprehensive and extensible price feeds to integrate into their DApps.

With real-time price information of 90 cryptocurrencies and 14 forex rates and commodities, Standard Dataset is heavily optimized and low-cost, with end-to-end flexibility.

The Band Verifiable Random Function (Band VRF) is a cryptographic operation powered by Band Protocol that allows verifiable and tamperproof randomness in DApps. As the newest feature on Band, VRF is packed with security properties, such as unpredictability, uniqueness and collision-resistance to ensure valid random outputs.

This product is particularly suitable for 

 DApps that depend on pseudorandom values, such as lottery and NFT minting.

Band Protocol has an on-chain revenue feature that lets data providers supply data and earn in real time. In this way, Band Protocol helps ensure DApps have ready access to a wide range of data to develop DeFi products.

To start earning, a data provider needs to set up a wallet (which takes less than two days) and deploy a data source. Data providers have 100% control over their revenue, since the wallet is decentralized.

When you mention blockchain oracles, the two names that always top the list are Chainlink and Band Protocol. The two are playing a crucial role in providing oracle data solutions to power the DeFi economy.

Chainlink was launched in 2017 and commands the largest market share in the data oracle niche, with its 

 by the end of 2021. Band Protocol was launched two years later, and has been right on the heels of Chainlink.

That said, there’s always a debate on which is better suited to build DApps.

Well, there’s no clear-cut answer to that question — since each of them possesses different features and approaches data oracle provision in diverse ways.

A key difference between the two oracles is that Chainlink is built on the 

 blockchain, while Band migrated to the Cosmos blockchain. When sourcing data from Chainlink, the fee conversion is done on Ethereum, which — at least pre-

However, Cosmos-powered Band Protocol enjoys almost instant transaction confirmations at a much lower cost.

Another major difference lies in the network design. While Band Protocol has developed BandChain to act as its public blockchain, Chainlink doesn’t have its own blockchain. Oracle nodes have the extra task of acting as block validators on the network, which may lead to increased operating costs. Oracle nodes on Chainlink are quite lightweight since their only focus is data delivery.

BAND is the sole native token powering BandChain. As of the time of writing (Oct. 27, 2022), it is priced at $1.14 and has a total supply of 100 million tokens with a circulating supply of 41,591,943.

It’s worth mentioning that the BAND token uses an inflationary model to encourage network participation by holders through staking. The inflation parameters are similar to those of Cosmos, where the inflation rate is between 7% and 20%, with a target of having 66% of BOND tokens staked.

Band Protocol is making a mark in the data oracle niche, which is a critical component of the DeFi ecosystem. Demand for data solutions by smart contract platforms and DApps is growing as more projects enter the space. Band Protocol’s vibrant ecosystem of a blockchain-focused solution to data oracles with monetized data provision is strategic and impactful.

BAND tokens were launched in September 2019 through an 

(ICO) at $0.63. However, BAND’s price didn’t have much traction, and traded in the range of $0.20–$0.50 for most of 2019 and early 2020.

In a buildup to the release of Phase 0 of its Mainnet, BAND’s price began to pump in May 2020, crossing the $1 level. The price increase continued into June, when the Mainnet was released. BAND experienced phenomenal growth after the launch, with major price spikes in July and August 2020 seeing the token touch $14.

However, BAND's price gradually fell for the rest of that year — yet performed incredibly well at the beginning of 2021, when it hit its highest price of $22.83 in April of that year. In mid-2021, Band Protocol's price plunged to a low of around $5. It continued to decline in the months that followed, stagnating at around $1. 

Market price experts hold a fairly bullish outlook for the BAND token. 

believe that BAND could range between $3.60 to $18.73 in 2025. Price Prediction 

of $3.45 by 2025, which could hit $21.46 in 2030.

 is somewhat less bullish in comparison to the two forecasts above. It anticipates BAND will hit $2.55 in 2025, with its growth rate slowing down to reach $5.59 in 2030.

You can buy BAND tokens from various top cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Bybit, which offers 

Data oracles are a critical link in the growth of DeFi. By providing a medium through which smart contracts and the decentralized economy can access off-chain data, the Band Protocol network helps in the scalability and growth of the sector.

As Band Protocol continues to roll out its Mainnet in phases and to scale, it’s expected to grow into a truly decentralized and reliable data oracles provider, and may even beat out its strongest competitor — Chainlink — due to its low cost and high speed.

What Is Band Protocol: Real-World Data For All

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards