On April 3, precious metal prices fell, with gold and silver dropping 1.72% and 2.81%, respectively. The volatility index dipped slightly, and most of the foreign exchange market remained flat. European stock indexes were broadly lower, except for the UK FTSE 100, which rose slightly. Meanwhile, oil prices surged significantly, with WTI up 13.01% and Brent up 8.09%.

The conflict between the U.S. and Iran has been ongoing for a month. The coming week will be full of uncertainties, including peace talks and escalation of hostilities. The market will focus on the impact of statements from the Bank of Japan and the U.S. Federal Reserve, as well as U.S. nonfarm payroll employment data. Meanwhile, on April 3, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will be closed, and trading in gold and precious-metal futures and oil futures will be halted for the entire day.

Recently, the metal market has experienced a pullback, with international gold reaching a high of $4,534.8 and currently trading at $4,145.4; international silver peaked at $69.66 and is now trading at $61.31. Trading volume on Gate platform's metal contracts has grown significantly, with XAUT and XAG transaction volumes reaching $100 million and $130 million respectively, showing substantial month-over-month increases.

On March 20, precious metal prices fell, with gold declining to $4,647.09 per ounce and silver to $71.136 per ounce; crypto volatility and foreign exchange markets saw the US dollar exchange rate rise. Global stock indices declined broadly, while WTI and Brent crude oil commodities rose slightly. The Gate platform supports users trading multiple types of financial products.

The Bank for International Settlements report shows that over the past six months, retail investors have significantly increased gold investments, with purchase volumes growing approximately threefold, while institutional investors have continuously reduced holdings, forming a stark contrast. Retail investors' allocation to gold ETFs has reached approximately $70 billion, reflecting strong demand for safe-haven assets. Meanwhile, accelerated institutional position reductions and selling have triggered a pullback in precious metal prices, particularly with silver declining 34%. The strengthening dollar and leveraged capital flows have also intensified market volatility.

On March 17, London Metal Exchange copper inventories surged to 18,775 tons, hitting the highest level since 2019, putting pressure on copper prices with a short-term decline exceeding 1.4%. On-chain longs faced floating losses, with the largest long position's losses expanding to 41%.

Matrixdock launched the institutional-grade silver token XAGm on March 17, introducing physical silver into on-chain finance. The token is backed by silver bars that meet LBMA standards and utilizes Matrixdock's FRS issuance framework, ensuring a verifiable relationship between on-chain tokens and underlying assets, with initial deployment on the Ethereum network. This marks a further expansion of the on-chain precious metal reserve asset system.

Gate News: On March 16, according to market sources, key contract trading on the London Metal Exchange (LME, the world's largest metal futures exchange) was suspended. At the same time, market data shows spot gold fell below $5000, currently trading at $4994.8; spot silver is currently trading at $80.667.

Gate News Report, March 11, market data shows that spot silver (a precious metal trading product in traditional financial markets) fell below $86 per ounce, with a daily decline of 2.66%.

Gate News bot message, according to the official Gate announcement Gate has decided to delist trading markets for 30 tokens. After re-evaluation by the platform, these tokens were found not to meet the standards for trading. The delisted tokens include DFYN, ADIX, BOTIFY, BBLAST, UNITE, JUICE, SNIFT, THINK, DRX, JOYSTREAM, WWY, IONX, ITGR, FOR, BUZ, ANI, MOTHER, LIVE, APP, MINT, RAGE, PORK, SAY, HOUSE, 1DOLLAR, DRAC, METAL, HAPPY, TXT, UPC. Gate will suspend trading services for these tokens at 11:00 (UTC+8) on March 18, 2026, including spot trading pairs and quantitative grid trading. Deposit services have been suspended. After the market is offline, users with holdings can choose to withdraw tokens or transfer them to Gate Web3 wallets for storage. The platform will accept user buyback requests from April 1 to April 8, 2026, at the announced prices, with a maximum individual compensation of 100 USDT. After delisting, users can still use Gate as a wallet to store assets for these tokens. The specific delisting time for wallet functions will be announced separately.