Both the Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoin markets are still feeling pressure, while traders show fearful attitudes. In the case of Chainlink (LINK), however, there are signs of whale accumulation at the current price range.
Chainlink (LINK) is showing signs of buying even at its lower range. LINK has remained one of the more stable altcoins during the recent bull market, and its correction is also more limited. LINK traded at $12.67 in what is seen as a second chance of re-accumulation. In the past few weeks, there were also signs LINK was accumulated as a treasury reserve, based on the buying pattern of the Paxos project.
Read: Chainlink price prediction 2024-2030: A strong buy sentiment for LINK?
The lack of a booming bull market for altcoins is making asset selection harder. LINK has a proven track record and is tied to one of the most important infrastructure projects in crypto and Web3. Chainlink oracles still supply the majority of apps with data, still requiring LINK to pay for some of the traffic and services.
New wallets accumulate more LINK
On-chain analysis revealed a few consecutive days where LINK was moving into new wallets. All the LINK tokens came from exchange reserves and were sent into private holdings.
LINK has the potential to be held for staking, while directly receiving the rewards in a self-custodial wallet. Additionally, Chainlink is seen as a hub for securing value, by providing timely price information. The value secured by Chainlink has grown during the 2024 bull market, and is still above $21B.
LINK is held in more than 720K wallets on the Ethereum blockchain, as well as Solana and BSC versions. Due to its age, LINK is widely distributed. No single wallet holds more than 5% of the supply.
At the same time, nearly 54% of the LINK supply is still locked and vested. In the coming months, the inflows of unlocked LINK will accelerate.
Chainlink gains value from connections to Web3 apps
The services of Chainlink are also closely tied to Aave V3, one of the most widely used DeFi protocols. Currently, more than 45.3% of Chainlink value is held within Aave smart contracts. This is partly due to the growth of the GHO stablecoin, which is expanding the liquidity of Aave.
At the same time, Chainlink spreads its influence by daily adoption for smaller apps and trading services.
Chainlink is also key in offering more secure cross-chain services, especially as apps try to offer multi-chain seamless transfers and trading.
Also read: Chainlink moves $264 million in LINK tokens to Binance after recent unlock
The upcoming Chainlink solutions will focus on bridge security, as crypto bridges are one of the most attacked types of smart contracts. Chainlink aims to improve on bridge architecture, by removing bridges secured in a single network. Draining the resources from those bridges has effects on all networks, but often relies on the security validation of one single blockchain.
Instead, Chainlink aims to introduce cross-chain lanes with multiple layers of security. This will mean potential attackers will have a harder time, having to exploit multiple blockchains with varied security features.
Chainlink still bets on RWA boom
One of the most widely anticipated uses for Chainlink is its ability to provide data for real-world asset tokenization. Recently, Chainlink completed a test with trading data from mainstream markets. RWA can offer token-based representation of real assets and markets, linked to timely price data.
Tokenization has been proposed multiple times in crypto space, but has taken off more widely in 2024, with experiments coming from mainstream investment banks and even BlackRock. So far, RWA is still in its experimental stage, though expecting Chainlink to have a key role in a growing market. The role of Chainlink would be to link more traditional markets with existing blockchains.
One of the bullish factors for LINK is seen as the need for institutions to hold the token to access oracle services. However, LINK has remained stagnant, and has not fulfilled the expectations of rising in a manner similar to Solana (SOL) or other blue chip tokens. Despite this, LINK remains a top 15 asset, supported by a strong social media community.
Cryptopolitan reporting by Hristina Vasileva
