- Chainlink’s large transaction volume surged 1,700%, hitting $1.01 billion, marking its highest activity level in the past year.
- The recent token unlock released 19 million LINK, with 14.875 million transferred to Binance and 4.125 million moved to a multisig address.
- A whale accumulated 863,174 LINK worth $12.1 million before selling 1.34 million LINK at a loss of $512,000.
Chainlink (LINK) has witnessed a sharp increase in whale activity, with large transaction volumes exceeding $1 billion in the last 24 hours. According to IntoTheBlock data, the blockchain oracle network saw a 1,700.73% jump in transaction volume, reaching 73.41 million LINK.
This represents the highest recorded transaction volume in the past year, surpassing the 65.02 million LINK movement observed on September 20, 2024.
Token Unlock Event Drives Market Movements
Chainlink recently completed its scheduled quarterly token unlock, releasing 19 million LINK valued at approximately $262 million. Of this amount, 14.875 million LINK, worth about $205 million, was sent directly to Binance. Meanwhile, the remaining 4.125 million LINK, valued at nearly $57.04 million, was transferred to a multisig address. Historically, Chainlink has conducted 10 unlock events, nine of which led to price increases within 30 days.
On-chain analytics platform SpotOnChain reported significant whale movements involving LINK. A crypto whale recently purchased 506,226 LINK at an average price of $14.03, using 7.1 million USDC. To fund this acquisition, the whale liquidated 1,108.83 ETH for 2.1 million USDC and withdrew an additional five million USDC from Spark. This activity increased the whale’s total LINK holdings to 863,174 LINK, valued at $12.1 million at an average cost of $14.02.
Whale Sells LINK at a LossFollowing the accumulation, the same whale sold 1.34 million LINK for $18.36 million at an average price of $13.7, incurring a loss of $512,000, or 2.7%. The whale also closed its LINK long positions on GMX for a profit of $195,000 and converted LINK longs on Hyperliquid into Bitcoin shorts with 40x leverage. At present, the whale holds an unrealized profit of $290,000 from this position.
Chainlink’s Noncirculating Supply and Market Implications
Since August 2022, Chainlink has unlocked 176 million LINK, valued at approximately $2.43 billion. Of this supply, 151.3 million LINK were directly deposited into Binance at an average price of $11.41. The project still holds 342.5 million LINK, worth nearly $4.7 billion, across multiple noncirculating supply contracts.
Market Reaction and OutlookChainlink’s recent token unlock and increased whale activity have drawn attention from the crypto community. Historically, LINK has experienced price surges after unlock events, making this development significant for market participants. With continued whale accumulation and high transaction volumes, Chainlink remains a focal point in the cryptocurrency market.
