Key Insights:
- Chainlink is consolidating near $14, with compressed volatility suggesting a significant move may follow a breakout.
- Bitwise’s LINK ETF launched with moderate inflows, expanding institutional access without immediate impact on short-term trading.
- The technical structure does not change above the support of 13, and indicators are pointing to a possible growth in case volume agrees with a breakout.
Chainlink has been trading within a stable formation, with a slight pullback every day, on January 15, close to the upper bound of its recent trading range. LINK was trading at around $13.84 at press time, which is a 0.5% decline on the day. Nonetheless, it maintained a weekly growth rate of 3.7% and reported a growth of 8% in the last month, indicating a slow but positive growth.
Spot trading faded with daily volumes reducing marginally to 618 million or 0.4. The same trend has followed in derivatives markets. The futures volume declined by 2.8% to 872 million, and the open interest reduced by 0.4% to 668.8 million. A similar fall usually indicates decreased leverage, as traders delay reviewing the market prior to their commitment to new positions.
Bitwise LINK ETF Launches on NYSE Arca
The Bitwise Chainlink ETF (CLNK) officially began trading on NYSE Arca on January 14. This marks the second U.S. spot ETF offering direct exposure to LINK, following Grayscale’s December launch. The fund is physically backed by LINK held through Coinbase Custody, with BNY Mellon managing cash operations. Bitwise has waived its 0.34% management fee on the first $500 million in assets for three months to attract early inflows.
On its debut, the ETF recorded $2.59 million in net inflows and $3.24 million in trading volume. The net asset value reached $5.18 million. Although initial flows were modest, the fund is expected to enhance institutional access to LINK over time by reducing direct exposure challenges.
Fundamentals Strengthen with Regulatory and Technical Updates
Chainlink’s recent technical updates include the introduction of Confidential Compute, aimed at enterprise-level adoption. Additionally, a proposed U.S. bill could classify LINK as a network token under CFTC oversight, which may ease regulatory concerns in the long term.
Technically, LINK is contained within a narrow band of consolidation that is between 13.00 and 14.20. Bollinger bands have narrowed down, which proves the low-volatility stage. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands at 58, and the MACD is positive, which is a good indication that additional gains may be attained.
The major resistance is at $14.00 to $14.20, and this has been breached several times. The continuous action above this area, the volume rising, will provide an opportunity to reach the level of $15.00. In the meantime, it is essential to have support between $13.00 and $13.20. A pullback might be triggered by a pull-down that occurs below $13.00 to $12.80.
