Gate Research Institute: Ethereum remains the developers' top choice | Tokenized Gold market capitalization reaches an all-time high Shirley

Crypto Market Overview

• BTC (-1.87% | Current Price 108,966 USDT): After a short-term pullback, BTC stabilized around 108,000 USDT, with the current price showing a slight rebound, but overall remains under pressure below the MA30. The short-term moving averages are converging, indicating a temporary balance between bullish and bearish forces. Although the MACD dual lines are converging from a low position, a clear golden cross has not yet formed, and the momentum bars are gradually shortening, suggesting that downward momentum is weakening but reversal signals are still insufficient. If BTC can break above 110,000 USDT and hold, it could open up a rebound space to 112,500 USDT; if it falls below the 108,000 USDT support again, it may test the 105,000–104,000 USDT range once more.
• ETH (-1.70%丨Current price 3,935 USDT): After rebounding from a low of 3,900 USD, ETH is now oscillating near MA5 and MA10, but still remains below MA30, indicating a weak overall structure. The MACD double lines are converging at a low position, and the red bars are gradually increasing, showing a stronger willingness for short-term repair. If the price can break through the 3,950–4,000 USD range, it is expected to further attack up to 4,100 USD; conversely, if it falls below the support of 3,880 USD, it may retest the previous low of 3,800 USD.
• Altcoins: The overall crypto market has declined, with the fear and greed index dropping to 22, indicating that investor sentiment is becoming cautious, with increased capital waiting and watching. Short-term volatility may continue, and market activity has slightly cooled down.
• Macro: On October 16, the S&P 500 index fell by 0.63% to 6,629.07 points; the Dow Jones index dropped by 0.65% to 45,952.24 points; the Nasdaq index decreased by 0.47% to 22,562.54 points. As of 10:15 AM on October 17, ( (UTC+8), the spot gold price is temporarily reported at 4,332 USD per ounce, with an increase of 0.17% within 24H.

Trending Tokens on Juejin

XPIN XPIN Network (+133.33%, circulating market value 44.0601 million USD)

According to Gate's market data, the current price of the XPIN token is $0.0027300, having increased by approximately 133.33% within 24 hours. The XPIN Network is a high-performance data network focused on Web3 infrastructure, aimed at providing efficient and secure cross-chain data interaction support for multi-chain ecosystems. Its core technology focuses on node verification and data transmission optimization, helping developers achieve multi-chain deployment and real-time communication at lower costs, enhancing the scalability and operational efficiency of decentralized applications.

XPIN has seen a strong rise recently, mainly driven by multiple positive factors. The project has been active in ecological expansion and landing collaborations, recently announcing a node cooperation plan with several Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks, leading to market expectations that the XPIN mainnet will launch soon. In addition, the increase in community engagement and the funding landscape have jointly strengthened market sentiment, making XPIN one of the most outstanding mid-cap tokens in recent performance.

ZKC Boundless (+56.23%, circulating market cap 5,584.04 million USD)

According to Gate market data, the current price of the ZKC token is 0.2834 USD, with a 56.23% increase in the last 24 hours. Boundless (ZKC) is a high-performance Layer 1 network focused on zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) infrastructure, aiming to achieve “internet-level” blockchain scalability through a modular architecture and high-speed proof systems.

ZKC has recently surged strongly, mainly driven by the mainnet launch and ecological progress. Boundless announced the entry into the “0.5Q Epoch” cycle after the mainnet launch, becoming one of the largest real-time proof clusters globally, further strengthening its technical discourse power. Driven by the heat of the mainnet narrative and community attention, the ZKC token has seen a short-term volume increase, with a rise of over 56%, making it one of the most outstanding representatives in the recent zero-knowledge track.

KGEN KGeN (+43.22%, circulating market cap 7,220.51 million USD)

According to Gate market data, the KGEN token is currently priced at 0.36456 USD, having increased by approximately 43.22% in the last 24 hours. KGeN is a decentralized interactive network based on the Aptos ecosystem, dedicated to building an incentive system for Web3 gamified participation and on-chain growth. The project integrates user behavior data, an on-chain achievement system, and a revenue distribution mechanism to help developers enhance community engagement and retention, while promoting stronger user participation and economic circulation in Web3 applications.

KGEN has recently surged significantly, mainly driven by the dual benefits of token listing and ecosystem expansion. KGeN announced a strategic partnership with Aptos ecosystem liquidity hub Hyperion to jointly promote on-chain user growth. As the mainnet operation enters its third year, the team has reported continuous quarterly revenue growth and a decline in net consumption rate, strengthening market confidence in its business model. These positive news combined with rising community enthusiasm have made KGEN one of the strongest performing ecosystem tokens recently.

Alpha Interpretation

Ethereum remains the top choice for developers, as competition in the Web3 ecosystem accelerates and differentiates.

According to data from Electric Capital, between January and September 2025, Ethereum ranked first in the global blockchain ecosystem with 16,181 new developers, far ahead of other projects. Solana ranked second with 11,534 developers, demonstrating rapid growth and community expansion, while Bitcoin ranked third with 7,494 developers, showing relatively stable development activity. Overall, developers are continuously concentrating on ecosystems with high compatibility and high scalability, reflecting that the development dividends of Layer 2 and multi-chain collaboration are gradually being released. Ethereum, with its complete toolchain and funding ecosystem, remains the core territory for Web3 developers.

In the middle and later stages, projects like Polygon, Stacks, Sui, and Aptos are forming a diversified pattern, indicating that the differentiation trend of Web3 technology direction is accelerating. Some emerging public chains like Sui and Aptos, although starting later, are gradually attracting developers with the innovation of the Move language and high-performance architecture; while traditional ecosystems like BNB Chain and Stellar are focusing on stable business landing and cross-border payment applications. Overall, by 2025, the Web3 developer ecosystem has shifted from a single main chain competition to a multipolar competition stage centered on technological performance, funding support, and application potential.

Tokenized Gold market cap hits an all-time high, on-chain gold becomes a new destination for safe-haven funds.

The tokenized gold market has once again set a record, with a total market value rising to $3.28 billion, reaching an all-time high. This growth is primarily driven by a dual push from macro hedging demand and the structural shift in the crypto market, indicating that investors are accelerating the movement of some funds from more volatile digital assets to stable, physically-backed on-chain assets. Representative projects such as PAXG and Tether Gold (XAUT) have both recorded significant increases, driving the overall market value upward.

Against the backdrop of sustained high inflation and geopolitical risks, the appeal of Tokenized Gold has further increased. It combines the value stability of traditional gold with the programmability of blockchain, becoming an important hedge asset in the portfolios of institutions and crypto users. With the enhanced interoperability of Ethereum and emerging public chains, as well as DeFi platforms gradually supporting gold collateralization and yield-generating applications, the liquidity and use cases of on-chain gold are expanding. Tokenized Gold is expected to become a key bridge connecting traditional finance and Web3, driving the digital physical asset market into a new phase.

Chainlink teams up with MegaETH to launch the first native real-time oracle, driving a new era of low-latency DeFi.

The decentralized oracle network Chainlink announced the launch of the first native real-time oracle on the high-speed Ethereum Layer 2 network MegaETH, officially embedding Chainlink Data Streams deeply into the core execution environment of MegaETH. This means that smart contracts can read market prices in a “timely” manner, achieving sub-millisecond data synchronization, significantly reducing oracle latency and the cost of repeated updates. This integration provides infrastructure support for latency-sensitive scenarios such as perpetual contracts, prediction markets, and stablecoins, marking a step forward for DeFi into the high-performance, low-latency real-time computing phase. MegaETH, focusing on high throughput, aims for a processing speed of up to 100,000 transactions per second (TPS), and is becoming an ideal environment for low-latency financial protocols.

This collaboration not only strengthens Chainlink's technological leadership but also demonstrates its key role in the emerging Layer2 ecosystem. MegaETH has launched the stablecoin USDm in collaboration with Ethena to subsidize sorter fees, and its derivatives platform Euphoria has also completed a $7.5 million financing round, with rapid ecological development. Chainlink has revealed that its oracle infrastructure currently provides security for approximately $90-100 billion in TVL and has transmitted around 18 billion data messages. With the combination of real-time data transmission and low-latency execution environments, the partnership between Chainlink and MegaETH is expected to become a pivotal point for performance innovation in DeFi, accelerating the evolution of on-chain financial infrastructure towards a 'real-time economy.' <br> Reference:

• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/btc/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/eth/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/crypto-market-data
• Investing, https://investing.com/indices/usa-indices
• Investing, https://investing.com/currencies/xau-usd
• X, https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1978612025040240663
• X, https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1978810582779211863
• The Block, https://www.theblock.co/post/374749/chainlink-taps-megaeth-for-first-native-real-time-oracle-to-power-next-gen-defi?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=chrome&utm_campaign=notification

<br> Gate Research Institute is a comprehensive blockchain and encryption research platform that provides readers with in-depth content, including technical analysis, hot insights, market reviews, industry research, trend forecasts, and macroeconomic policy analysis.

Disclaimer Investing in the crypto market involves high risks, and users are advised to conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products purchased before making any investment decisions. Gate does not accept any responsibility for any losses or damages arising from such investment decisions.