Chainlink (LINK) has recently surpassed the $29 mark for the first time in 37 months. Over the past week, the native token of the decentralized oracle network posted a 21% gain.
As a result, LINK has emerged as one of the best-performing altcoins in recent weeks.
Whale and Shark Gobble Up LINK
The surge is largely fueled by a significant increase in whale and shark accumulation, according to the latest analysis by Santiment.
Over the past two months, wallets holding 100K or more LINK have added 5.69 million tokens, while wallets with less than 100K LINK have reduced their positions by 5.67 million tokens. Historically, such patterns – where large wallets accumulate coins from impatient or panicked retail traders – often signal future growth.
However, the success of Chainlink and other large-cap altcoins still hinges on Bitcoin’s ability to maintain its momentum, the on-chain crypto analytic platform said in its findings. If Bitcoin continues to hold steady, there are strong indications that patient holders of LINK will see long-term rewards.
The recent surge in the price can also be attributed, in part, to World Liberty Financial’s $1 million purchase of LINK, increasing its holdings to $2 million. Backed by the Trump family, the platform also holds significant amounts of Aave’s AAVE, with LINK now being its fourth-largest holding after Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), and Tether (USDT). World Liberty Financial uses Chainlink’s services for essential pricing data and cross-chain interoperability.
LINK Futures OI Reaches All-Time High
This surge in value also coincided with a notable increase in Futures Open Interest (OI). According to Glassnode, this figure has hit an all-time high of $770.27 million, signaling a massive uptick in trading activity.
There’s also been a significant profit-taking in the spot market, with $35.57 million in realized profits, making it the second-largest profit-taking event of the year, behind only February 11’s $40.39 million. This activity was predominantly driven by speculative market participants, with 15.3% of profits taken by ultra-short-term holders (1d-1w) and 22.5% by short-term holders (3-6m).
Despite the profit-taking, LINK’s fundamentals are showing positive signs, with active addresses trending higher, signaling continued interest and potential for future growth, though still below the 2021 peak.
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