altcoin

ApeCoin risks 30% crash after APE staking debut in December

ApeCoin price has rallied 50% in the last three weeks but a sell-the-news event risks wiping out those gains.

The multi-week ApeCoin (APE) market rally is nearing exhaustion owing to a mix of technical and fundamental factors.

Fundamental — ApeCoin Staking launch

In the past two weeks, APE’s price is up over 50% after bottoming at around $2.60.

The APE/USD rebound came in line with similar recovery moves elsewhere in the crypto market. But, it outperformed top assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), as traders pinned their hopes on ApeCoin’s staking debut.

The ApeCoin Staking feature will debut on Dec. 5 at apestake.io, according to its developer Horizon Labs. It will allow users to lock their APE holdings into four staking pools — ApeCoin pool, BAYC pool, MAYC pool and Paired pool — that will allow them to earn yield periodically.

The feature announcement has resulted in a rise in the APE holders’ count, according to data tracked by Dune Analytics. Notably, it reached 103,591 on Dec. 2 compared to 94,775 a month ago, which, combined with rising prices, shows an increase in APE’s spot demand.

*ApeCoin holders over time. Source: Dune Analytics*

But analysts fear that the ApeCoin Staking may become a sell-the-news event. For instance, Altcoin Sherpa says that one shouldn’t buy APE in anticipation of a continuous bull run toward $5 after the staking launch.

According to Altcoin Sherpa:

“You can probably long until staking starts, and then you can just short it […] I wouldn’t buy here personally but would wait for a break/retest.”

Technical — 30% APE price correction ahead?

Technicals meanwhile suggest that ApeCoin’s price can decline by at least 30% by the end of December.

The daily chart shows APE’s price entering a correction upon testing its multi-month descending trendline resistance near $4.50. This move is reminiscent of price pullbacks witnessed multiple times since August, as shown below.

*APE/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Each correction cycle highlighted in the chart above exhausts when APE reaches the lower end of the Bollinger Band. The $2.80-2.50 range comes into play if this fractal repeats, down up to 30% from current price levels.

Conversely, a breakout above the descending trendline resistance could invalidate the bearish setup — by sending APE price to its primary upside target near the 200-week exponential moving average (the blue wave) near $6.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

MATIC attack: How smart crypto traders “got out” before a 35% price drop

Polygon (MATIC) and Green Satoshi Token (GST) provide the perfect examples of how quant analysis can help cryptocurrency investors shield themselves from volatile markets.

Disparities in information access and data analytics technology are what give institutional players an edge over regular retail investors in the digital asset space.

The core idea behind Markets Pro, Cointelegraph’s crypto-intelligence platform powered by data analytics firm The Tie, is to equalize the information asymmetries present in the cryptocurrency market.

Markets Pro bridges the gap of these asymmetries with its world-class functionality: the quant-style VORTECS™ Score.

The VORTECS™ Score is an algorithmic comparison of several key market metrics for each coin utilizing years of historical data that assesses whether the outlook for an asset is bullish, bearish or neutral at any given moment based on the historical record of price action.

The VORTECS™ Score is designed to notify traders that something has just happened that — in the past — reliably moved asset prices.

That’s why a good Markets Pro chart is one that shows events happening in the right order and at the right time: First comes the indicator, and then price action follows.

In the last couple of days, we have observed a number of exemplary scenarios illustrating classic Markets Pro insights into the market.

MATIC: VORTECS™ provides an exclusive foreshadowing of price drop

November started off promising for those invested in Polygon (MATIC) — but any expectations for lasting gains would be left in ruins. The token, despite seeing a comfortable rise to $1.25 on November 8, 2022, would suffer a steep fall of 35.4% down to $0.807 just two days later.

Following this was a surprising resurgence, with MATIC going back up to $1.13 on November 11. But here’s the kicker: While most traders only saw what was on the surface — MATIC’s potential resurgence in a bear market — Markets Pro members had access to a wider view.

Even if the price trend looked promising, the market conditions remained historically unfavorable for MATIC, suggesting a prime selling opportunity — which came to fruition with another 22.1% dip to $0.883.

Since August, MATIC’s VORTECS™ Score remained below 74, foreshadowing a price drop that, by all traditional measures, ran contrary to MATIC’s early November bull run up to $1.25.

Throughout the first half of November, its VORTECS™ Score hovered between 54 and 60. This provided fantastic opportunities to cash in on not one, but two, price dips for all investors with access to Markets Pro — regardless of their level of experience.

GST: VORTECS™ predicts 12% dip

Similarly, the Green Satoshi Token (GST) token saw a pump from $0.023 to $0.042 — an 82.6% increase — between November 3–6.

While the average investor may have been spurred on to buy in case the price continued upwards, Markets Pro members were able to deduce that this price action was a red herring.

This is because at the very height of GST’s bull run, its VORTECS™ Score took a nosedive from 48 down to 24.

Members familiar with Markets Pro’s VORTECS™ scoring system would know that 40, much less 24, meant the equivalent of red flags and warning bells — and would have had an opportunity to prevent a major loss to their position in the coin.

At the time of this writing, GST’s VORTECS™ Score is 50 and its token price is back around $0.022.

Cointelegraph Markets Pro is available exclusively to members at $99 per month with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. We are offering you access to the only crypto-intelligence platform in the world that can provide you with the exact same trading alerts as institutions and hedge funds in real time … before this information becomes public knowledge.

Cointelegraph is a publisher of financial information, not an investment adviser. We do not provide personalized or individualized investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are volatile investments and carry significant risk including the risk of permanent and total loss. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Figures and charts are correct at the time of writing or as otherwise specified. Live-tested strategies are not recommendations. Consult your financial advisor before making financial decisions.

All ROIs quoted are accurate as of 8:00 am UTC on Dec. 1, 2022

MATIC attack: How smart crypto traders ‘got out’ before a 35% price drop

Polygon (MATIC) and Green Satoshi Token (GST) provide the perfect examples of how quant analysis can help cryptocurrency investors shield themselves from volatile markets.

Disparities in information access and data analytics technology are what give institutional players an edge over regular retail investors in the digital asset space.

Markets Pro bridges the gap of these asymmetries with its world-class functionality: the quant-style VORTECS™ Score.

The VORTECS™ Score is designed to notify traders that something has just happened that — in the past — reliably moved asset prices.

That’s why a good Markets Pro chart is one that shows events happening in the right order and at the right time: First comes the indicator, and then price action follows.

In the last couple of days, we have observed a number of exemplary scenarios illustrating classic Markets Pro insights into the market.

MATIC: VORTECS™ provides an exclusive foreshadowing of price drop

Since August, MATIC’s VORTECS™ Score remained below 74, foreshadowing a price drop that, by all traditional measures, ran contrary to MATIC’s early November bull run up to $1.25.

GST: VORTECS™ predicts 12% dip

Similarly, the Green Satoshi Token (GST) token saw a pump from $0.023 to $0.042 — an 82.6% increase — between November 3–6.

While the average investor may have been spurred on to buy in case the price continued upwards, Markets Pro members were able to deduce that this price action was a red herring.

This is because at the very height of GST’s bull run, its VORTECS™ Score took a nosedive from 48 down to 24.

At the time of this writing, GST’s VORTECS™ Score is 50 and its token price is back around $0.022.

All ROIs quoted are accurate as of 8:00 am UTC on Dec. 1, 2022

DEX token GMX rallies 35% after beating Uniswap on trading fees for the first time

GMX’s technical indicator hints at a strong correction in December, which may push its price toward $40.

The price of GMX rallied to its second-highest level in history on Dec. 1 as traders assessed the decentralized exchange’s ability to evolve as a serious competitor to its top rival Uniswap.

GMX established an intraday high of $54.50 in a recovery that started on Nov. 29 from $40.50. Its rally’s beginning coincided with crypto research firm Delphi Digital’s tweet on the GMX decentralized exchange, as shown below.

*GMX/USD 4-hour price chart. Source: TradingView*

GMX beats Uniswap in fees for the first time

Notably, GMX earned about $1.15 million in daily trading fees on Nov. 28, which surpassed Uniswap’s $1.06 million in trading fees on the same day.

*GMX flipped Uniswap in daily Fees on Nov. 28. Source: Delphi Digital*

This seemingly renewed buying sentiment in the GMX market, helping its price rally 35% to $54.50 afterward.

Moreover, GMX also benefited from the growing discontent against centralized exchanges in the wake of the FTX collapse. The decentralized exchange’s revenue rose by 107% to $5 million in November, boosted by a 128% increase in annualized trading volume and a 31% rise in daily active users.

*GMX exchange’s financial data. Source: Token Terminal*

In comparison, Uniswap’s annualized revenue increased by about 75% and daily active users by 8%.

Independent market analyst Zen noted that GMX’s outperformance could have stemmed from its tokenholders receiving a good portion of all trading fees — about 30%, according to GMX’s official declaration.

On the other hand, holders of Uniswap’s native token, UNI, do not receive shares from the platform’s trading fees.

“[GMX is] an obvious buy and hold during this bear market,” Zen added, saying that it is “consistently the second highest earning protocol after Uniswap.” An excerpt:

“Leverage trading becomes dominant during bear markets. FTX and Bybit grew a lot last time. Expecting [a] similar story here. No big FDV overhang.”

GMX price technicals tilt bearish

From a technical analysis perspective, GMX’s ongoing bull run risks exhaustion in the coming days.

On the daily chart, GMX’s price tests its multi-month ascending trendline resistance for a potential pullback based on its previous corrections after testing the same trendline. In doing so, the token eyes a decline toward the ascending trendline support.

*GMX/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

As of Dec. 1, GMX faced an increase in selling pressure near the trendline resistance at around $53. The GMX/USD pair could drop to the current trendline support near $42, which coincides with its 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA; the red wave) and its 0.618 Fib line.

In other words, GMX could drop by nearly 20% from its current price levels by the end of 2022.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

FTM price rebounds 50% as Fantom reveals 30 years runway (without having to sell its token)

The Fantom Foundation’s attempt to dispel concerns about potential FTX exposure has been a success thus far for FTM price.

Fantom (FTM) continued its upward momentum on Nov. 30 amid reports that the Fantom Foundation generates consistent profits and has 30 years of runway without having to sell any FTM tokens.

Fantom’s FTM holdings up from 3% to 14%

FTM price gained nearly 13.5% to reach $0.24, its highest level in three weeks. The rally came as a part of a broader rebound trend that started when it bottomed out at around $0.17 on Nov. 22. This amounts to a 50% price rebound in the last eight days.

Interestingly, the rally picked up momentum after the Fantom Foundation’s “Architect,” Andre Cronje, released the firm’s financial records on Nov. 28, revealing that it had $340 million worth of digital assets and had been earning over $10 million annually. Notably:

Nov 2022 — Over 450,000,000 FTM, > $100,000,000 in stables, > $100,000,000 in crypto assets, $50,000,000 in non-crypto assets. Salary burn rate $7,000,000 / year. We have ~30 years left (without having to touch FTM)

*FTM/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Certain crypto and blockchain projects have suffered due to their potential exposure to failing companies.

For instance, the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange triggered major price declines in Solana (SOL) and its associated project tokens, such as Serum (SRM). FTX and its sister firm Alameda Research were Solana ecosystem’s major supporters.

*Solana ecosystem performance in different timeframes. Source: Messari*

In February 2021, Alameda also purchased $35 million worth of FTM tokens to become a validator on the Fantom blockchain. This exposure may have been a key factor behind FTM’s underperformance in the early days of November, wherein its price declined by as much as 35%.

Cronje downplayed any connection with FTX/Alameda, explaining that being a validator does not make one part of the foundation.

“Unlike most of our competitors, the foundation owns a relatively small amount of FTM,” he wrote, adding:

“Most comparable L1s own between 50% — 80% of their token supply. At launch, Fantom owned less than 3%. Today, we own more than 14%. We prefer buying our tokens; we don’t ‘sell’ our tokens for ‘partnerships.’

Cronje also revealed that Fantom passed on further cooperation with Alameda in January 2022.

FTM whales and fishes accumulate

Fantom’s on-chain data reveals that addresses holding more than 1 million FTM have been distributing the tokens during the FTX-led crypto market decline.

On the other hand, the supply of Fantom tokens held by addresses with a balance between 1 and 1 million FTM increased in November, suggesting strong accumulation among the network’s richest (whales) and poorest (fishes) investors.

*Fantom supply distribution among addresses with a 1-infinity FTM balance. Source: Santiment*

In other words, these investors anticipate FTM to undergo a strong price recovery in the future.

Technicals support the bullish outlook to a certain degree. FTM price now eyes a nearly 20% rally toward $0.30, which coincides with the token’s prevailing descending channel’s upper trendline and its 50-3D exponential moving average (50-3D EMA; the red wave), as shown below.

*FTM/USD three-day price chart. Source: TradingView*

Conversely, testing $0.30 as resistance could have FTM eye a strong pullback toward the descending channel’s lower trendline near $0.16, which has also served as support in July 2021, or a 30% price decline from today’s levels.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Chainlink eyes 25% rally ahead of LINK staking launch in December

LINK’s price could rally on speculations over Chainlink’s oracle services growth coupled with a supportive technical pattern.

Chainlink (LINK) looks poised for a 25% price rally in the days leading up to its staking protocol launch, based on several fundamental and technical factors.

Chainlink’s price rallies ahead of staking launch

The staking feature, which will go live as v0.1 in beta mode on Dec. 6, comes as a part of the so-called “Chainlink Economics 2.0” that focuses on boosting LINK holders’ reward-earning opportunities for “helping increase the crypto economic security” of Chainlink’s oracle services.

Earlier, Chainlink users had to launch their own nodes to receive rewards in LINK tokens. The staking feature effectively opens new avenues for them to earn LINK rewards that could, in theory, boost demand for the token.

Additionally, demand for LINK’s parent platform, Chainlink, as an oracle service provider, should also increase.

David Gokhshtein, founder of blockchain-focused media company Gokhshtein Media, believes it could happen in the wake of the recent FTX collapse.

The analyst highlighted how traders have been seeking more clarity on exchanges’ reserves after the FTX fiasco, which can boost demand for oracle services like Chainlink and, in turn, push LINK’s price higher.

$LINK is definitely being overlooked. With everything that’s happened and with the new “Proof of Reserves” being pushed out there, ChainLink will be used to push that data out there.

— David Gokhshtein (@davidgokhshtein) November 26, 2022

Chainlink Labs launched its proof-of-reserve auditing services to exchanges on Nov. 10.

The speculations have helped LINK’s price rally in recent days. Notably, Chainlink’s price gained 35.50% eight days after bottoming out locally at around $5.50 — trading for as much as $7.50 on Nov. 29, its highest level in two weeks.

The LINK/USD pair now eyes further upside in the near term, price technicals suggest.

A failed LINK price breakdown

LINK reclaimed its multi-week rising support trendline on Nov. 29, three weeks after losing it in the wake of the FTX-led market sell-off.

In doing so, the Chainlink token also invalidated its prevailing ascending triangle breakdown setup toward $4.

It now trades inside the pattern’s range, eyeing a rally toward the upper trendline near $9.40, up 25% from the current price levels, by the second week of December, as shown below.

*LINK/USD three-day price chart. Source: TradingView*

Michaël van de Poppe, market analyst and founder of Eight Global, also anticipates LINK to hit or cross above $9

#Chainlink showing a ton of strength, also expecting continuation there to happen.

If I didn’t have a long yet (but I do), then I’d be targeting for something like this in which I’d be looking at $9 area for a TP. pic.twitter.com/rRdv4eL91H

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) November 29, 2022

Moreover, a bullish continuation move above the $9.40 resistance could have LINK eye $16 next, the ascending triangle breakout target.

Conversely, slipping below the triangle’s lower trendline again risks bringing the breakdown setup toward $4 back in play, down about 45% from current prices.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Spain for the win? Top 3 fan tokens to watch during the FIFA World Cup

Spain, Portugal and Brazil national teams’ fan tokens are experiencing a price boom as the World Cup gets underway.

The FIFA World Cup in Qatar is boosting the value of national soccer team fan tokens despite the cryptocurrency bear market.

World Cup Qatar hype boosts fan token prices

These digital fan tokens are currently rallying despite the cryptocurrency market downturn, securing up to 170% gains from the Nov. 10 lows. At the core of the massive uptrend is the World Cup, which will be held from Nov. 20 to Dec. 18 in Qatar.

Fan tokens are cryptocurrencies that enable fans to engage with and participate in their favorite team’s decisions. Moreover, they create new sponsorship opportunities for sports clubs and national squads outside of traditional revenue sources.

Here’s a brief overview of the top gainers in the fan token sector, alongside their technical outlook during the course of the World Cup.

Spain National Football Team Fan Token (SNFT)

The Spain National Football Team Fan Token (SNFT) emerged as the top gainer in the sports token section, rising 170% to a high of $0.54 on Nov. 19, nine days after bottoming out at $0.20.

*SNFT/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

SNFT’s outperformance versus other fan crypto tokens may reflect the Spanish football team’s higher odds of winning the World Cup in 2022. But in traditional terms, Spain’s odds of winning the trophy is +800, meaning betting $100 would yield $800, according to Vegas Insider.

From a technical perspective, SNFT trades inside a neutral zone, as confirmed by its daily relative strength index (RSI) at around 58, below its overbought threshold of 70.

In other words, SNFT shows potential to continue its rally during the World Cup and its price should reflect how the Spain National Football team performs.

For instance, back-to-back wins for Spain may stretch SNFT’s valuation above its current resistance level of $0.538 for a potential run-up toward its record high near $0.718, as shown in the four-hour chart below.

*SNFT/USD four-hour price chart. Source: TradingView*

Conversely, a pullback from $0.538 could have SNFT eye a correction toward $0.412, down about 18% from today’s price.

Spain will next play Costa Rica on Nov. 23 in the Group E category, followed by a standoff against Germany on Nov. 28.

Brazil National Football Team Fan Token (BFT)

The Brazil National Football Team Fan Token (BFT) appears to be the crypto market’s second favorite fan token. Its price has rallied 130% in just nine days, from $0.45 on Nov. 10 to over $1 on Nov. 19.

*BFT/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Brazil is the favorite to win the World Cup this year with +350 odds in traditional betting circles, meaning a $100 bet would return $350. That could serve as a fundamental factor behind BFT’s growth in the coming weeks, given the token still has room to run based on its neutral daily RSI.

As of Nov. 19, BFT eyes a breakout above $1.05, its current resistance level, toward its short-term upside target at around $1.16. An extended rally could occur if Brazil wins the World Cup on Dec. 18, paving the path toward $1.31, up 25% from today’s price.

Conversely, a pullback would risk sending BFT toward $0.82, its October 2022 support level.

Brazil’s first match is against Serbia on Nov. 25 in Group G, followed by a standoff against Switzerland on Nov. 28.

Portugal National Team Fan Token (POR)

The Portugal National Team Fan Token (POR) is the third-best performer in the ongoing fan token boom, rising about 100% to $6 on Nov. 19, nine days after hitting lows of $3.10.

*POR/USDT daily price chart. Source: TradingView*

Traditional bookies measure Portugal’s odds of winning the World Cup at +1600, meaning betting $100 would yield about $1,600.

POR now tests $6 as its resistance, with its daily RSI near 64, just six points below its overbought threshold. A decisive pullback from the said price ceiling could have POR eye a correction toward $4.80, its support level from September-October 2022.

Conversely, continued success in the World Cup for Portugal may flip the scenario to bullish, leading POR above its $6-resistance to eye a rally toward or above $7.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Solana entities sold 50M tokens to FTX — How long will SOL price suffer?

Most of FTX’s Solana exposure stands vested, meaning the defunct exchange will gradually gain access to millions of SOL up until January 2028.

Solana (SOL) has lost 60% of its market value in a week due to its exposure to the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, which could continue to haunt the “Ethereum killer” well into the future.

FTX/Alameda exposure hurting Solana price

FTX and its sister-firm Alameda Research is liable to have control over 50 million SOL, according to Solana’s statement released on Nov. 10.

The FTX entities received 4 million SOL from the Solana Foundation on Aug. 31, 2020. They also started receiving a portion of 12 million SOL from Sep. 11, 2020, and nearly 34.52 million SOL from Jan. 7, 2021, through a “linear monthly unlock” mechanism.

*Summary of SOL sales to FTX/Alameda Research. Source: Solana Labs*

Furthermore, the FTX entities started receiving portions of a 7.5 million SOL reserve from Solana Labs on Feb. 17, 2021. Notably, a transaction worth 62,000 SOL between the same entities stands unsettled.

Most SOL tokens promised to FTX/Alameda are vested, meaning the firm does not yet have them in custody but is liable to receive them through the linear monthly unlock mechanism. The last of these unlocks will occur by January 2028.

That leaves the market with interpretations about what might happen to the SOL tokens once they are unlocked, given FTX’s bankruptcy filing that’s likely to put a freeze on all remaining funds.

my guess is the bky trustee will try to sell it all OTC to get funds to pay back creditors

— DeFiNanner v2 (@ZekesMommasKid) November 14, 2022

Also, the firm reportedly has $9 billion in liabilities versus a $1 billion balance sheet, which could prompt its trustees to liquidate its SOL holdings to repay debtors.

To avoid such a scenario, Solana could make technical changes to its token economy, reducing FTX’s impact. One recent governance proposal submitted on Nov. 13 presented a few options that could be on the table, including:

The errant allocation is burned.
Increase the lock to 10 years on the errant allocation.
Airdrop all SOL token holders’ additional SOL, except for the party holding the errant allocation.
A combination of the above.

SOL price relief bounce?

From a technical perspective, Solana shows signs of bullish divergence between its price and relative strength index (RSI).

A bullish divergence materializes when an asset’s price forms lower lows but its momentum indicator form a higher low. Traditional analysts see it as a buy signal, which may result in a short-term SOL price recovery on its daily chart.

*SOL/USD daily price chart featuring bullish divergence. Source: TradingView*

SOL/USD could rise toward $18, its range resistance level, in the event of a short-term recovery. In other words, a 20% rebound.

But on longer-timeframe charts, SOL could see further decline toward $2.50, or an 80%-plus drop, in 2023, based on a giant head-and-shoulders setup shown below.

*SOL/USD weekly price chart featuring head-and-shoulder breakdown setup. Source: TradingView*

Interestingly, the token’s downside target falls in its most voluminous range, per its Volume Profile Visible Range, or VPVR, indicator.

Chainlink plunges from three-month high as LINK price eyes another 50% correction

LINK could drop to nearly $4 by December 2022 given its failure to close above a key resistance level despite strong whale accumulation.

Chainlink (LINK) returned to mimic the broader crypto market downtrend as its price fell alongside top coins Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) on Nov. 8.

LINK plunged by as much as 10% into the day to reach $8. While BTC and ETH slipped by approximately 6.5% and 9%. That contrasts with the trend witnessed on Nov. 7, wherein LINK rallied 14% to $9.25, its three-month high, while BTC and ETH dropped 1.5% and 0.5%, respectively.

*LINK/USD two-hour price chart. Source: TradingView*

Overall, on a week-to-date timeframe, Chainlink has outperformed both Bitcoin and Ethereum.

What’s making Chainlink stronger

LINK’s price has rebounded by nearly 75% after bottoming out at $5.29 in May. Notably, the Chainlink token’s recovery rally has coincided with a persistent increase in the supply held by its whales (entities that hold at least 1,000 LINK).

The Chainlink supply percentage held by addresses with a balance between 1,000 LINK and 1 million LINK has risen to nearly 23% in November from 18.2% in May, according to Santiment data. This indicates that rich investors may have been the key players behind the LINK price recovery.

*LINK supply distribution among addresses holding 1K-1M tokens. Source: Santiment*

Interestingly, the LINK accumulation trend is rising in the days leading up to the launch of “Chainlink Staking.”

Chainlink Co-founder Sergey Nazarov announced at SmartCon 2022 that their long-awaited LINK staking reward function would go live in December. In addition, the project’s official website confirms that it would enable “eligible community members” to stake LINK into its pool in December.

The LINK staking service will be opened for the public in the same month, with the initial annual percentage yield set at 5%. The event has started drawing speculations about increased demand for the Chainlink tokens by the end of 2022.

LINK appears to have benefited in the short-term due to the euphoria around the Chainlink Staking function, given other coins have tumbled in unison in response to the crypto hedge fund Alameda Research’s insolvency rumors.

#Chainlink spiked all the way above $9.20 for the first time since August 13th, a ~3 month high despite very volatile markets. This rise has been supported by the largest amount of active $LINK addresses in 5 weeks, and traders are longing aggressively. https://t.co/ZxsZnveURm pic.twitter.com/lia6XAgSar

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) November 8, 2022

A 25% correction setup is still in play

From a technical perspective, LINK’s recovery rally since May has been confined inside an ascending triangle range.

Ascending Triangles are continuation patterns, meaning they typically send the price in the direction of its previous trend after a consolidation period. LINK was trending downward before it formed its ascending triangle.

The token’s likelihood of continuing its downtrend and reaching its profit target stands at 44%, per the observation of ascending triangles by veteran investor Thomas Bulkowski. The profit target is measured after adding the maximum triangle height to its breakdown point, as illustrated below.

*LINK/USD three-day price chart featuring ascending triangle breakdown setup. Source: TradingView*

That puts LINK en route to around $4.15 by December 2022, down about 50% from today’s price.

Conversely, independent market analyst Pentoshi anticipates LINK to reach $12 in the same period, given the token has been floating above the same support that was instrumental in sending its price to a record high in May 2021.

*LINK/USDT three-day price chart. Source: TradingView/Pentoshi*

“While people are quiet on it now. I don’t think that will be the case 3-4 weeks from now,” Pentoshi said.

Chainlink plunges from 3-month high as LINK price eyes another 50% correction

LINK could drop to nearly $4 by December 2022 given its failure to close above a key resistance level despite strong whale accumulation.

Chainlink’s LINK (LINK) token returned to mimic the broader crypto market downtrend as its price fell alongside top coins Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) on Nov. 8.

LINK plunged by as much as 10% into the day to reach $8, while BTC and ETH slipped by approximately 6.5% and 9%. That contrasts with the trend witnessed on Nov. 7 wherein LINK rallied 14% to $9.25, its three-month high, while BTC and ETH dropped 1.5% and 0.5%, respectively.

*LINK/USD 2-hour price chart. Source: TradingView*

Overall, on a week-to-date timeframe, LINK has outperformed both Bitcoin and Ether.

What’s making Chainlink stronger?

The LINK supply percentage held by addresses with a balance between 1,000 LINK and 1 million LINK has risen to nearly 23% in November from 18.2% in May, according to Santiment data. This indicates that rich investors may have been the key players behind the LINK price recovery.

*LINK supply distribution among addresses holding 1,000–1 million tokens. Source: Santiment*

Interestingly, the LINK accumulation trend is rising in the days leading up to the launch of “Chainlink Staking.”

Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov announced at SmartCon 2022 that the long-awaited LINK staking reward function would go live in December. In addition, the project’s official website confirms that it will enable “eligible community members” to stake LINK into its pool in December.

LINK appears to have benefited in the short term due to the euphoria around the Chainlink Staking function, given that other coins have tumbled in unison in response to the crypto hedge fund Alameda Research’s insolvency rumors .

#Chainlink spiked all the way above $9.20 for the first time since August 13th, a ~3 month high despite very volatile markets. This rise has been supported by the largest amount of active $LINK addresses in 5 weeks, and traders are longing aggressively. https://t.co/ZxsZnveURm pic.twitter.com/lia6XAgSar

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) November 8, 2022

A 25% correction setup is still in play

From a technical perspective, LINK’s recovery rally since May has been confined inside an ascending triangle range.

Ascending triangles are continuation patterns, meaning they typically send the price in the direction of its previous trend after a consolidation period. LINK was trending downward before it formed its ascending triangle.

The likelihood of the token continuing its downtrend and reaching its profit target stands at 44%, per the observation of ascending triangles by veteran investor Thomas Bulkowski. The profit target is measured after adding the maximum triangle height to its breakdown point, as illustrated below.

That puts LINK en route to around $4.15 by December 2022, down about 50% from Nov. 8’s price.

Conversely, independent market analyst Pentoshi anticipates LINK to reach $12 in the same period, given that the token has been floating above the same support that was instrumental in sending its price to a record high in May 2021.

“While people are quiet on it now. I don’t think that will be the case 3-4 weeks from now,” Pentoshi said.