LINK, the native cryptocurrency of the Chainlink decentralized oracle network plunged 2.77% on Thursday U.S. market hours to trade at $11.92. The downtick followed mark wide correction as Bitcoin reversal from $89,000 triggered another liquidation cascade in crypto market. Despite the sell-off, Chainlink Reserve continues to support the sustainability of its network by accumulating more LINK tokens from the market. Did their conviction have any impact on retail’s view of this asset?
Key Highlights:
- Chainlink price gives a bearish breakdown from 31-month support trendline, signalling a risk for major downtrend ahead.
- On-chain disclosures showed Chainlink added 92,946.23 LINK tokens to its Reserve on December 18.
- The open interest associated with the LINK futures contract has plunged to $507 million, indicating a reduction in speculative force among market participants.
Chainlink Futures Open Interest Drops 23% as Traders Reduce Exposure
On December 18th, the crypto market witnessed a sudden surge in selling pressure which plunged pioneer digital asset Bitcoin to back $85,000. The downtick followed the release of Consumer price index (CPI) data by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 2.7%. This lower-than-expected number surprisingly triggered a sell-the-news sentiment in crypto market dispute, a potential dovish effect on Fed forthcoming interest rate decision.
Meanwhile, futures contracts associated with Chainlink demonstrated continual declines in open interest levels. Data supplied by Coinglass showed a slide from $658m down to $507m over the previous two weeks, a reduction of around 23%. Such patterns suggest the declining involvement of traders or changes in the position of traders in this area.
In related developments, Chainlink’s operational updates reported an addition of 92,946.23 LINK tokens to its Reserve holdings on that day, bringing the total to 1,232,139.92 LINK. These acquisitions are based on revenues generated off-chain blockchains mixed with fees directly collected on-chain, in automatic exchanges.
The system underlying this Reserve uses a configuration known as Payment Abstraction, which includes some of the following: Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), automated task handling, and real-time pricing data. This configuration allows for the systematic conversion of different payments to LINK tokens on the Ethereum platform. For added protection a delay of several days is put into the process, and there are no plans to pull out funds for a prolonged period.
With an average acquisition price of $17.78 per LINK, the holdings are below current valuations, which creates an unrealized deficit position.
Chainlink Price Give Breakout Below 31-Month Support
In the last 10 days, the Chainlink price shows a steady correction from $15 to $11.85, accounting for a 21% loss. In the daily chart, this correction showed a sharp breakdown from the long-coming support trendline that acted as a major accumulation zone for crypto buyers.
Since June 2023, the Chainlink price shows multiple reversals from the bottom trendline, where each upswing acquired a triple-digit gain for this asset. Therefore, the recent breakdown of the support indicates a major loss for buyers and a risk of prolonged correction in the near term.
A declining slope in key exponential moving averages (20, 50, 100, and 200) accentuate the negative sentiment in the market. If the breakdown shows sustainability, the current correction could extend another 16% and retest the psychological level of $10.
On the contrary, if coin price reclaims the bottom trendline, the buyers could strengthen their grip for the asset.
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