Chainlink (LINK) Surges Past $17.70 Amid Ethereum ETF Approval

• Chainlink is riding the spot Ethereum ETF approval wave to draw large whale accumulations.
• While Chainlink has toppled BCH and TRX, its price has a major stress test to surmount.

On Thursday, Decentralized Oracle network Chainlink (LINK) saw its price move above $17.70 upon approvals of eight Ethereum Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) in the US. According to the latest Marketcap data, LINK is trading at $17.34, demonstrating a 23.5% increase in the past month.

Chainlink Dethrones BCH and Tron

Since the approval of Ethereum (ETH) ETFs on May 23, Chainlink has seen increased liquidation, fueled by large investor interests in projects built on the Ethereum blockchain. Many within the crypto community describe Chainlink as a market leader enabling the transfer of tamper-proof data from off-chain sources to on-chain smart contracts. 

This week, Chainlink’s importance to the crypto ecosystem has been brought to the forefront following a shift in investors’ preference for the token. On May 22, the eve of the SEC’s approval verdict Chainlink’s market capitalization stood at $9.6 billion, trailing behind Bitcoin Cash (BCH) by over $230 million. 

“CCIP is the only cross-chain protocol that offers defense-in-depth security,” as noted in @The_DTCC‘s recent Smart NAV pilot report.

Why #CCIP is the interoperability standard for the blockchain industry and global finance ↓https://t.co/3XUEx4klDG

— Chainlink (@chainlink) May 26, 2024

However, upon the ETH ETF approval on May 23, the price of LINK rose 15% and even reached a new monthly peak of $17.77 the next day. Surprisingly, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) increased by only 5% during that time. As a result, Chainlink’s market cap pushed over the $10 billion valuation mark, leaving BCH behind the $9 billion territory.

Likewise, LINK has also eclipsed Tron (TRX) to become the 14th largest digital asset by market cap. At press time, TRX and BCH each have a market capitalization of approximately $9.7 billion, while LINK’s is $10.2 billion. 

Coinciding with the recent uptick in the price of LINK is an increase in whale activities on the network. Data from the on-chain analytical platform Santiment reveals that Chainlink’s top 100 investors held a cumulative balance of 701.05 million LINK tokens as of May 19. 

Subsequently, the whales added over 1.2 million LINK, bringing their total assets to 702.25 million as of May 25. Translating this figure to the current Chainlink prices of around $17 per token, it implies the whales invested over $18 million in a single week.

Forecasts for LINK

It is possible that Chainlink could witness more whale demand in the days ahead as many large institutional investors look to capitalize on the bullish impact of ETH ETFs. Market enthusiasts even project that this could be the beginning of LINK reaching the $20 mark. 

However, the probability of LINK reaching this milestone would be determined by its ability to face resistance at $17.50. This is the point at which 8,190 active addresses have obtained 27.9 million LINK. 

If LINK can establish a steady support base above this level, Chainlink pricing may recapture the $20 mark for the first time since March 2024. Another factor that could influence LINK’s upward movement is the determination to expand further into the tokenization industry. 

Reiterating on Crypto News Flash earlier announcement, Chainlink is already doing this as revealed in its recent partnership with Arta TechFin.