The native cryptocurrency of Chainlink, $LINK, saw a decline of 3.5% on Thursday, bringing its trading value down to approximately $8.62. This downward movement comes amid a broader risk-off trend in the altcoin market, particularly following a significant security breach in a Solana-based DeFi protocol. The unfortunate event, which resulted in the theft of around $285 million in digital assets, has triggered heightened selling pressure across various altcoins, including $LINK.
Despite the prevailing market weakness, Chainlink has demonstrated its commitment to long-term growth by adding 137,004 $LINK tokens to its reserve fund, totaling more than $1.17 million. Currently, the reserve contains approximately 2.93 million $LINK tokens, valued at around $25.2 million. The average purchase price for these newly acquired tokens stands at $13.35 per $LINK. The reserve fund is primarily supported by two sources: fees from large companies using Chainlink services beyond blockchain as well as transactional fees incurred within the network. This strategy is designed to provide a consistent inflow into the reserve, enhancing Chainlink’s ecosystem with a gradual increase of $LINK reserves.
In recent developments, Chainlink’s price has shown signs of a bearish reversal over the past two weeks, falling from the $10 psychological level down to its current level of $8.2. This constitutes a loss of roughly 15%, accompanied by a pattern of lower highs and lower lows, which indicates persistent selling pressure. Should this trend continue, analysts suggest that $LINK could suffer an additional decline of 10%, retesting the critical support level around $7.77.
Since February 2026, $LINK’s price has oscillated between the $10 and $7.7 marks, establishing a temporary consolidation phase. The recent downturn in the daily exponential moving averages (100 and 200) further highlights the bearish sentiment in the market. Should the price break below the established support level of $7.7, it could lead to an increase in selling activity, with potential consequences that may see the price plunging toward an immediate support level of $0.7 and possibly a deeper decline towards $6.5.
Conversely, if buyers manage to defend the $7.7 support line, the current consolidation phase may be sustained, offering a glimmer of hope for a potential rebound. The overall market will be closely monitoring these developments as Chainlink navigates through these challenging conditions.
