During early October, Chainlink (LINK) maintained stability above $21, intermittently testing the $22 mark. However, the cryptocurrency experienced a significant downturn midway through the month, falling below $18 and briefly touching a low of around $16. Although there were attempts for recovery, LINK struggled to regain its previous momentum and currently trades near $17.5.
Despite these fluctuations, confidence in Chainlink persists among major investors. Observations indicate that whales—investors holding between 100,000 and 1 million LINK tokens—are actively increasing their holdings. According to data from Santiment, over the past year, these wallets collectively added 40 million LINK, marking a substantial 28% increase, alongside the creation of 103 new addresses.
In the last half-year, these wallets grew their holdings by an additional 12.9 million LINK, reflecting a 7.6% rise, with 30 new addresses popping up. Particularly, the last three months saw an accumulation of 8.7 million LINK, while the past month alone accounted for 2.8 million LINK being added to these whale and shark wallets.
Crypto analyst Ali Martinez has noted the underlying strength of LINK, suggesting it could be primed for a rally even as many other altcoins struggle. He highlighted the importance of the $16 level, which has emerged as a demand zone, with over 54.5 million LINK tokens accumulated there, forming a robust support structure.
Notably, during the recent market sell-off, whales purchased an additional 13 million LINK. From a technical perspective, LINK appears to be forming a symmetrical triangle pattern, a potential indicator of a breakout. If the price were to break and close above $25, it could signal the start of a major upward trend, with predictions pointing toward possible targets of $53 or even $100 in the long term.
In addition to strong whale activity, Chainlink ranked second for development activity during the past month, retaining its position from the previous month. This ranking places it just behind Metamask’s mUSD and ahead of Dfinity’s Internet Computer (ICP). Other notable projects in the top ten included Radworks (RAD), Hedera (HBAR), and Sui Network (SUI), among others.
