- Whale wallets sold 3.23 million LINK last week, a positive indication of big-holder tentativeness.
- LINK price trades near $17.42, down 3.3% in 24 hours amid healthy liquidity.
- Long-position bias and liquidations suggest consolidation before potential recovery.
Chainlink enters a period of measured market adjustment as whale distribution intensifies and price volatility tests short-term support zones, reflecting an evolving balance between institutional and retail market activity.
Whale Activity Indicates Transition in Market Structure
A recent update from @ali_charts revealed that 3.23 million LINK tokens were sold by whales within the past week, signaling a shift in large-holder sentiment. Data from Santiment shows that wallets holding between 100,000 and 1,000,000 LINK—often institutional or coordinated entities—began reducing their balances after months of accumulation.
Between mid-July and late August, this group aggressively accumulated, coinciding with LINK’s strong upward price movement. The coinciding increase in whale holdings as well as price was an indicator of bullish confidence being associated with the expansion of the Chainlink network and the increase in staking. This trend however started to shift in early September as the whale concentration leveled off as the price kept on rising which means that the conviction of larger players was declining.
By early October, the chart depicted declining whale balances alongside a softening price trend, suggesting distribution into market strength. This behavior reflects profit-taking at elevated levels and a potential shift toward a consolidation stage. Historically, similar phases have preceded cooling momentum as market power transitions from whales to retail participants.
Market Metrics Reflect Short-Term Cooling Phase
Chainlink has fallen by 3.3% over the last 24 hours and is trading at $17.42, according to CoinGecko data. Normal intraday volatility of $16.70 to $18.12 is in the trading range, which is typical of post-rally stabilization. This pullback comes after previous profit-taking following a local peak at around $18.10, price is as of writing seeking near-term support at around $16.70 and it is currently experiencing a slight recovery.
Chainlink has good structural fundamentals, demonstrated by its market capitalization and fully diluted valuation of $12.13 billion and $17.41 billion respectively, and would experience limited inflation risk since over two-thirds of all of its supply (696.8 million of 1 billion tokens) has already circulated. The correction itself was slight, but the 24-hour volume of 1.19 billion shows that liquidity and investor activity persists.
This continued turnover indicates that this pullback is more technical than fundamental as traders rebalanced exposure after gaining earlier. In case the asset continues to remain above the support zone of $16.70-$17.00, it can consolidate and then re-entry at the $18.50-$19.00. A breakdown below $16.70, however, could open a move toward $15.80.
Derivatives and Liquidation Data Indicate Market Reset
Coinglass data shows that despite recent weakness, trader sentiment remains tilted toward optimism. The Binance LINK/USDT long/short ratio stands at 2.33, while top traders exhibit an even stronger ratio of 2.59, revealing expectations of a potential rebound. On OKX, the ratio of 1.55 shows moderate bullish bias with balanced participation.
Meanwhile, liquidation data indicates that volatility continues to flush out leveraged positions. The one-hour liquidation volume of $213.74K and four-hour volume of $55.43K reflect market stress but also a healthy reset. This process reduces excessive leverage, allowing the market to stabilize around new equilibrium levels.
The partial recovery from intraday lows near $17 signals buyer re-entry and potential early accumulation. The combination of whale distribution, leveraged flush-outs, and resilient liquidity positions LINK for a consolidation base. A return of accumulation among mid-tier holders could mark the next inflection point for directional movement.
