Whales appear to be the reason why Chainlink’s massive rally recently hit a pause button.
According to data provided by crypto analytics firm Santiment, the number of LINK addresses that hold from 100,000 to 10 mln tokens has been on the decline since Aug. 6.
LINK hits a snag
The headline-grabbing cryptocurrency recently corrected by 26.92 percent after reaching a lifetime peak of $20.10 on Aug. 16.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy declaring himself the captain of “LINK Marines” and mainstream media starting to cover LINK market the local top of the token’s 1,018 percent rally in 2020.
Retail investors FOMOing in en masse wasn’t enough to sustain the momentum when whales began making major moves.
On Aug. 17, LINK sent shockwaves throughout its community by tanking 20 percent in one minute. While it didn’t long for the token to partially recover from the drop, it still far off its recent high, currently changing hands at $16.01 on the Binance exchange.
On-chain analyst Ali Martinez estimated that roughly 64 whales have now left the network.
XRP vibes
As reported by U.Today, LINK spectacular rally was mainly fueled by a long string of partnerships that includes about 200 projects. Chainlink is yet to launch staking that will allow the token’s holders to earn passive income.
Such an aggressive marketing strategy was also used by San Francisco-based blockchain giant Ripple.
Back in July, Messari founder Ryan Selkis said that the token was “nuts” back when it was trading at only $8, comparing it to XRP:
“I love what the team there is working on. But the token is nuts. Do not understand any of it. It’s like XRP without the long institutional con.”
Gamza Khanzadaev
Tomiwabold Olajide
Yuri Molchan
