LINK Price

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.

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

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

Related: Binance publishes official Merkle Tree-based proof of reserves

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.

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.

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.

Related: Bitcoin heads to US midterms as research says dollar ‘closing in’ on a market top

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.

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.

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?

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 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.

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 that other coins have tumbled in unison in response to the crypto hedge fund Alameda Research’s insolvency rumors.

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.

Related: Bitcoin heads to US midterms as research says dollar ‘closing in’ on a market top

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.

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 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.

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.

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.