Band, called Band Protocol until August 2025, is a cross-chain data oracle. It delivers price data and other real-world data to smart contracts on other blockchains. It runs on its own blockchain, BandChain, which is built with the Cosmos SDK, and BAND is that chain's native staking token. The newest development on Band's official blog is from 31 July 2026: Band VRF, its verifiable randomness service, went live on mainnet on OPN Chain. Most of the facts below come from Band's own documentation and blog. Few independent sources cover the project in depth.
Latest developments (newest first)
- 31 July 2026: Band VRF is live on OPN Chain. OPN Chain is the blockchain of the IOPn ecosystem. Band describes it as a Cosmos SDK chain with full EVM compatibility. IOPn uses Band VRF for its on-chain lottery and giveaways. Band says it is "exploring" price feeds on OPN Chain, so they are not live there yet.
- 20 May 2026: Band published a post about supporting the COTI Privacy Portal launch.
- 1 April 2026: "Delphi", described as future price prediction feeds, was an April Fools' post. The post itself says "Delphi isn't real."
- 26 February 2026: Band announced a move to the Sonic testnet.
- 29 January 2026: Membit Insight launched. It is a market-sentiment platform built on Membit, Band's context layer for AI. Band says it draws on more than 80 million posts from X, Farcaster and Bluesky. Those posts are collected by more than 100,000 "Data Hunters" through a browser extension. AI classifiers filter out bot, Sybil, spam and duplicate content. Two tools are included: a "True Fear & Greed Index" from 0 to 100, based only on sentiment, and "Gem Hunter", which Band says does not give buy signals. All of these figures are Band's own.
- 27 November 2025: Band went live on Monad mainnet. The launch feeds were USDC, USDT, SOL, ETH and WBTC. Band says BandChain validators collect prices from sources that include price aggregators and large centralised venues. The validators aggregate the prices and relay them to Monad, where applications read them from Band's standard reference contract.
- 4 August 2025: "Band Protocol is now simply Band." The rename came with a new logo, website and positioning as "a unified data layer for AI and Web3", plus the Membit product. Band said the BAND token, the team and existing integrations stay the same, and users do not need to do anything.
- 9 July 2025: Band v3 went live on mainnet. Details are in the next section.
How BandChain works
Band's documentation calls BandChain a Cosmos SDK blockchain that uses Tendermint Byzantine Fault Tolerance consensus. That gives immediate finality once enough validators confirm a block. Running oracle work on a separate chain means the chain receiving the data does not have to handle the monitoring and updates itself, which would congest it and raise its fees.
The request-based model
This is the original design, still documented as "Request-Based Data Feeds":
- Data sources. Anyone can register a data source. It specifies an owner, a per-query fee and an executable script that validators run to fetch data.
- Oracle scripts. These programs compile to OWasm, which is based on WebAssembly. They define which data sources to query and how to combine the answers. Band calls them Turing-complete, and the script's creator sets the aggregation logic.
- Validator reports. For each request, validators are chosen at random. Each one fetches from the listed sources and submits a report.
- Aggregation and proof. Once enough reports arrive, the script aggregates them into one result and stores it in BandChain's state. A Merkle proof records the script hash, the request parameters, the execution time and how many validators responded. Other chains can verify that proof.
What changed in Band v3
According to Band's 9 July 2025 launch post:
- Block times are about 3x faster. The feed update interval dropped "from 6 seconds to just 1 second."
- The network can handle 10 times as many symbols.
- Signaling Hub: BAND stakers vote on which price symbols the network supports. Feed parameters such as update interval and deviation threshold are tuned for the symbols with the most votes.
- Concurrent Price Stream: Validators report prices at the set intervals and deviations, and those reports are combined into an aggregated price.
- Data Tunnel: This delivers aggregated prices to destination chains. At launch, only IBC and IBC-Hook routes were available. A threshold-signature (TSS) route and routes through Router Protocol and Axelar were still planned.
- The v3 mainnet started with 10 validators, and Band said more than 40 more were joining.
The current docs say BandChain now focuses only on price data, with sub-second updates across hundreds of common symbols. Data can be delivered over IBC or through third-party cross-chain services, and BandChain has its own TSS verification. Off-chain use of the price data is free.
What the BAND token does
Band's token-economics page lists these roles:
- Staking and security. BAND is "BandChain's native staking token." Holders delegate to validators and share their rewards and risks.
- Slashing. Validators and their delegators can be slashed for long downtime, double signing, or not answering data requests.
- Governance. Voting power follows bonded stake. Delegators who don't vote inherit their validator's vote, and a direct vote overrides it.
- Inflation. The annual rate moves between 7% and 20%, adjusted toward a target of 66% of total supply staked. The parameters mirror Cosmos. 2% of block rewards go to a community pool that governance distributes.
Because supply inflates, the total number of BAND tokens is not fixed. The GuanYu mainnet of BandChain launched in October 2020.
Band from v3 to VRF: what changed and when
Step through Band's updates from July 2025 to July 2026 to see which are live, which are only announced and which one was a joke.
- 9 July 2025Band v3 live on mainnetlive
Block times about 3x faster, feed updates cut from 6 seconds to 1 second, and room for 10 times as many symbols. It adds the Signaling Hub, Concurrent Price Stream and Data Tunnel, and started with 10 validators.
- 4 August 2025Band Protocol becomes simply Bandrebrand
New logo, website and positioning as a unified data layer for AI and Web3, plus the Membit product. Band said the BAND token, the team and existing integrations stay the same, and users do not need to do anything.
- 27 November 2025Live on Monad mainnetlive
Launch feeds were USDC, USDT, SOL, ETH and WBTC. BandChain validators aggregate prices and relay them to Monad, where applications read them from Band's standard reference contract.
- 29 January 2026Membit Insight launchedlive
A market-sentiment platform that Band says draws on more than 80 million posts collected by more than 100,000 Data Hunters. It includes a sentiment-only Fear & Greed Index from 0 to 100. These figures are Band's own.
- 26 February 2026Move to the Sonic testnettestnet
Band announced a move to the Sonic testnet.
- 1 April 2026Delphi prediction feedsnot real
An April Fools' post. The post itself says Delphi isn't real.
- 20 May 2026COTI Privacy Portal supportannounced
Band published a post about supporting the COTI Privacy Portal launch.
- 31 July 2026Band VRF live on OPN Chainlive
Verifiable randomness went live on mainnet on OPN Chain, where IOPn uses it for its on-chain lottery and giveaways. Price feeds on OPN Chain are only being explored, so they are not live there yet.
This lists only the dated updates named in the article, almost all taken from Band's own blog. It does not show token price, adoption or whether planned routes and feeds have arrived since.
Who is behind Band
CoinDesk's profile lists the founders as Soravis Srinawakoon (CEO), Sorawit Suriyakarn (CTO) and Paul Nattapatsiri (CPO). Band's site says it has delivered data "since 2018."
Reach, as Band reports it
Band's homepage claims 40+ chains, 11+ data sources, 53+ validators, $77M in total value secured and 82+ clients and partners. These are undated, self-reported figures.
Points to weigh
- Concentrated sourcing. Almost all technical and product detail comes from Band itself.
- Narrower core product. Since v3, BandChain focuses only on price data. Randomness (VRF) and AI context (Membit) are separate products.
- Delivery depends on routes. How quickly and safely data reaches a chain depends on which Data Tunnel route that chain uses: IBC, TSS or a third-party messaging service.
- Dilution. Inflation of 7% to 20% a year rewards stakers and dilutes holders who don't stake.
