Blockchain

Bitcoin price is gaining pace above the $45,500 resistance. BTC tested $46,000 and could extend its rally toward the $48,000 resistance.

Bitcoin price climbed higher above the $44,500 and $45,000 resistance levels.
The price is trading above $45,000 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average.
There is a key connecting bullish trend line forming with support at $45,480 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
The pair could continue to move up if it clears the $46,000 resistance zone.

Bitcoin Price Jumps 5%

Bitcoin price started a steady increase above the $43,500 resistance zone. BTC cleared a few hurdles near the $44,000 and $44,200 levels to move into a positive zone.

The bulls gained strength and were able to pump the price above the $45,000 resistance. It traded close to the $46,000 level. A new multi-day high is formed near $45,955 and the price is showing signs of more gains in the near term.

Bitcoin is trading well above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent surge from the $42,765 swing low to the $45,955 high. It is also trading above $45,000 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average.

Besides, there is a key connecting bullish trend line forming with support at $45,480 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. Immediate resistance is near the $46,000 level. The next key resistance could be $46,200, above which the price could start another decent increase.

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

The next stop for the bulls may perhaps be $46,850. A clear move above the $46,850 resistance could send the price toward the $47,500 resistance. The next resistance could be near the $48,000 level.

Downside Correction In BTC?

If Bitcoin fails to rise above the $46,000 resistance zone, it could start a downside correction. Immediate support on the downside is near the $45,500 level or the trend line.

The first major support is $44,400 and the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent surge from the $42,765 swing low to the $45,955 high. If there is a close below $44,400, the price could gain bearish momentum. In the stated case, the price could dive toward the $43,500 support.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD is now gaining pace in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now above the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $45,500, followed by $44,400.

Major Resistance Levels – $46,000, $46,200, and $47,500.

In a recently reviewed unpublished report by Reuters, United Nations (UN) sanctions monitors have alleged that North Korea engaged in a massive theft of crypto assets, raking in $3 billion through cyberattacks. 

Nuclear Upgrades And Crypto Cyberattacks Unveiled

According to Reuters, the independent panel of sanctions monitors revealed that despite international sanctions, North Korea continued to defy regulations by enhancing its nuclear arsenal and producing nuclear fissile materials. 

The monitors further noted that the country conducted ballistic missile launches, deployed a “tactical nuclear attack submarine,” and even placed a satellite into orbit.

The UN report points to 58 suspected cyberattacks on crypto-related companies between 2017 and 2023, valued at approximately $3 billion. These attacks allegedly provided crucial funding for North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) development. 

The report states that hacking groups affiliated with the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea’s primary foreign intelligence agency, were responsible for these cyber assaults.

The monitors highlighted the increasing trend of North Korea targeting defense companies and supply chains and collaborating with other actors by sharing infrastructure and tools. The report also raises concerns about reports of North Korea supplying conventional arms and munitions, which contravenes existing sanctions.

While the UN report is set to be released publicly later this month or early next, North Korea’s mission to the United Nations has not yet responded to requests for comment on the sanctions monitors’ allegations.

The Security Council, traditionally deadlocked on the issue, is unlikely to take immediate action against North Korea, according to Reuters. 

China and Russia have advocated for easing the sanctions to “persuade” North Korea to return to denuclearization talks. Furthermore, Russia and North Korea have recently pledged to strengthen military relations, although both countries deny allegations of weapons supply.

North Korea’s Illicit Trade

Per the report, North Korea has slowly begun to emerge despite the lockdown imposed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The UN report reveals signs of trade recovery, with a higher trade volume in 2023 compared to 2022. 

Notably, the United Nations monitors noted the reappearance of foreign consumer goods, including potential luxury items prohibited under Security Council sanctions.

The sanctions monitors also investigated reports of numerous North Korean nationals working overseas violating sanctions, particularly in information technology, restaurants, and construction sectors. These individuals were found to earn income that benefited the North Korean government.

In addition, the report highlights North Korea’s continued access to the international financial system and engagement in illicit financial activities, including crypto assets, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com

Prometheum, an “alternative” trading platform for crypto “securities” assets, has recently announced the launch of its custodial services for Ethereum (ETH). This move has significant implications for the legal status of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. 

Fortune Magazine reported that the company’s strategy is to compel regulators, particularly the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to recognize Ethereum as a security. 

SEC Pressured To Settle Ethereum Legal Status

Per the report, Prometheum, based in New York, has positioned itself as a compliant player in the crypto industry by claiming to have discovered a path to operate within existing laws. 

The company received regulatory approval in 2021 to operate as an alternative trading platform for securities. It gained further attention when it obtained a special-purpose broker-dealer license from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

The license allows them to operate as a broker-dealer in “digital asset securities,” a designation no other firm has achieved. This has prompted crypto companies and even members of the US Congress to call for investigations into the firm’s activities.

Previously, the SEC refrained from definitively classifying Ethereum as a security despite declaring several other cryptocurrencies as such. 

Prometheum aligns with the SEC’s assessment that most cryptocurrencies are securities and argues that Ethereum can be listed as a security under an exemption called Rule 144, typically used for trading restricted stocks. 

The embattled company claims it can use blockchain data to determine whether the assets have been circulating for over a year, a crucial factor in claiming the exemption.

What’s interesting is that Prometheum’s custodial services for Ethereum could potentially force the SEC to determine Ethereum’s legal status. The company’s registered status with FINRA and the SEC, prominently displayed on its website, adds weight to its claim. 

Legal experts and academics speculated that the SEC may be forced to rule on Ethereum’s classification due to Prometheum’s custodial launch. This decision could have far-reaching consequences for the crypto industry, challenging the industry’s argument that cryptocurrencies cannot operate under existing securities laws.

Backlash Mounts As Prometheum Shakes Up Crypto Regulations

SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who has intensified enforcement efforts following the collapse of FTX, has emphasized the sufficiency of existing rules while filing lawsuits against exchanges for failing to register with the agency. 

Prometheum’s approach contrasts with other crypto exchanges like Coinbase, which argue that the existing rules are outdated. Prometheum’s strategy has drawn criticism from the crypto industry and Republican lawmakers who accuse Gensler of supporting the firm to advance his regulatory agenda.

Overall, Prometheum’s introduction of Ethereum custodial services has thrust the debate over Ethereum’s legal classification into the spotlight.

This move could compel the SEC to decide whether Ethereum should be classified as a security, challenging the crypto industry’s argument for new laws. 

While the success of Prometheum’s approach is still uncertain, it remains to be seen how subsequent SEC administrations will respond and whether institutional investors will be attracted to Prometheum’s compliant approach.

Currently, ETH is trading at $2,428, reflecting a marginal 0.5% price increase in the last 24 hours.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

Ethereum staking has been ramping up despite the poor performance of the ETH price over the past year. Liquid staking protocols such as Lido Finance have continued to see the amount of ETH being staked rise, and as a result of this continued interest in staking ETH, the total amount of supply that has been locked so far has reached a new all-time high.

25% Of All ETH Are Now Staked

In an interesting turn of events, the total percentage of ETH supply that is being staked has crossed the 25% mark. This was made public by Lido Finance, which shared a screenshot of a Dune Analytics dashboard showing that it has touched the 25% mark.

Looking at the Dune Analytics dashboard, it shows that this figure continues to climb following this, with 25.08% of the total ETH supply now staked. This figure is facilitated by a total of 924,023 Ethereum validators that are currently running on the network.

Net flows have also gone against expectations and have been positive since the Shanghai upgrade. This upgrade allowed stakers to be able to finally withdraw their staked ETH. But rather than withdrawals happening en masse, more ETH has flowed into staking contracts.

Dune’s data shows that over 10 million ETH have flowed into staking contracts since the Shanghai upgrade. Currently, there are over 30.14 million ETH in total staked so far, and this figure seems to be rising fast.

Lido Dominates Ethereum Staking

Of the total 30.14 million ETH figure that has been staked so far, a large percentage are currently being staked through the Lido platform, as the Dune Analytics platform accounts for 31.52% of all staked ETH. This solidifies Lido’s position as the largest Ethereum staking platform, with over 297,000 validators on the protocol.

Coinbase follows behind Lido, accounting for 14.4% of the total ETH staked with more than 136,000 validators. This means that together, Coinbase and Lido Finance currently control 45% of the staked ETH market, giving them a head start over others.

Binance, another crypto exchange, is in third place, with 4.3% of all staked ETH and 41,000 validates. Kiln, Figment, and Rocket Pool control the 4th, 5th, and 6th positions, respectively, controlling between 2.8% and 3.3% of the total staked ETH.

Looking at the rewards so far, Ethereum stakers have made quite a lot since the initiative began. The total ETH earned so far by Lido stakers has crossed 467,000 ETH, with 259,000 ETH earned on Coinbase, and 139,000 ETH earned by Binance stakers.

The ETH price has also turned bullish during this time, beating the resistance at $2,400. It is up 2.22% in the last day, with 7% gains in the last week, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator Jupiter recently announced the possible launch of three new tokens through its launchpad. The announcement follows the launch of its JUP native token via the LFG launchpad last week.

Solana’s Community Holds The Power?

After the scheduled closing of the JUP launch pool, Jupiter Exchange and its founder took X (formerly known as Twitter) to reveal the next steps for the Solana-based project.

Jupiter: Let’s Go!

Hello space catdets! Over the last few months, we built a robust community of catdets with a common vision, scaled up our infrastructure to handle many levels of volume, tested a lot of things together, and overcame a hell lot of adversity together.

And now,…

— meow (@weremeow) February 7, 2024

As the pseudonym founder Meow stated, the LFG launchpad is Jupiter’s “initiative to grow the pie by helping great projects get the awareness, community, and users to thrive in the long term.” As a result, the founder presented three “OG” Solana projects to the community that could be part of the next launchpad.

The first candidate is Sanctum, a liquid staking service with “experience building the first SPL program used by stake pools, and liquidity sources like unstake.it.” The next project, Sharky, is an expanding NFT collateralization platform on Solana that allows “NFT holders to borrow and lend against NFTS to acquire leverage or earn yields.”

Closing the list, the cross-chain infrastructure provider deBridge is presented as a project that allows users to trade assets across chains in seconds without the need for wrapped assets or liquidity pools.

Jupiter’s founder highlighted that the community would have the final say in any project’s participation on the launchpad. Since LFG is a community initiative where Jupiter’s team “should play no role,” it’s up to the Solana users to discuss and decide if any projects are suitable for launch in the LFG platform.

Additionally, the post announced that the introduction process of the projects to the community would take part over the next two weeks through different channels, including special ones for each project and a summary on X. For the future, Jupiter’s team will provide application channels for other projects interested in participating.

Next Steps For The Project

On February 7, the project confirmed in an update that the launch pool was closing after seven days, as previously scheduled. In the process, 90 million JUP tokens were withdrawn and moved to a cold multi-sig wallet, effectively taking them out of circulation.

The project also announced that the launch pool was left with 65.5 million USDC, which would serve as a liquidity backstop for JUP.

However, the USDC will be removed over the next couple of months in $10 million batches to allow the JUP token to regain price discovery while simultaneously “assuring all participants that the team is committed to a long-term gradual withdrawal of USDC liquidity.”

While all the JUP has been removed, we are leaving ~63.5M of USDC in the launchpool to serve as liquidity backstop for JUP. The USDC will be removed over the next 2-3 months. pic.twitter.com/2AQ7zIKwJO

— Jupiter (@JupiterExchange) February 8, 2024

The founder’s post shared Jupiter’s intention to initiate a decentralized anonymous organization (DAO) this month and “incrementally evolve it into the most dynamic, most productive and proactive DAO in space.”

Initially, the JUP DAO would focus on evaluating and approving launchpad projects, ratifying budgets for working groups, approving grants, and releasing budgets for ongoing community and ecosystem initiatives.

The team’s update specified the steps to encourage the community’s participation and to fund it with the capital to pursue important initiatives. The steps include distributing 75% of future LFG launchpad fees to the governance participants, “100M in JUP earned from the LFG launchpad for voting incentives, and 6.15M in operational funds from JUP Launch.”

In the past 14 days, the Bitcoin price has displayed a significant uptrend of 14.5%, signaling a resurgence in bullish sentiment. This rally comes as Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been trading for nearly a month, with the market already factoring in this development. As a result, Bitcoin is back on its natural course, gaining momentum ahead of the scheduled halving in April.

Currently, Bitcoin has not only regained its bullish momentum after a brief dip to the $38,500 level but has also surpassed the $45,300 mark. It now edges closer to its 25-month high of $49,000, with the $50,000 milestone within reach. 

Achieving this level would significantly narrow the gap between the current price and Bitcoin’s all-time high (ATH) of $69,000. However, what are the main catalysts behind this uptrend, and how far can the Bitcoin price climb?

Reduction Of GBTC Flows And Net Positive BTC Spot ETF Inflows

According to the latest analysis by QCP Capital, two key factors are driving Bitcoin’s upward trajectory: 

Daily outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) have decreased from $500-600 million to $100-200 million. Simultaneously, total inflows across all Bitcoin ETFs are now positive. This shift in the GBTC flows, and the emergence of net positive BTC spot ETF inflows contribute to the current bullish trend, according to the crypto trading firm’s analysis

Additionally, notable price movements have been observed around “spot ETF fixings.” Between 3-4 pm EST, QCP has recorded that the Bitcoin price tends to tick higher, possibly due to the one-hour observation window used by the BlackRock ETF (IBIT) to calculate its Net Asset Value (NAV). 

Conversely, downward pressure is typically observed after 4 pm EST as GBTC employs a point fix, leading market makers to sell around and after the fix.

Strong Performance In US Equities

Despite the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance and higher US yields driven by robust February Non-Farm Payroll data (353k actual vs. 180k expected), US equities continue outperforming. 

Companies like NVDA and META have rallied due to strong earnings and positive headlines. Underallocated investors will likely continue buying any equities dips as they chase returns. 

According to the analysis, this bullish sentiment is expected to “spill” over into BTC and Ethereum (ETH), further fueled by the upcoming BTC halving and the ETH spot ETF narratives.

Ultimately, the trading firm assesses significant interest in accumulators, which enable investors to purchase Bitcoin or ETH at a “substantial discount” to the current spot price. This strategy is believed to present an attractive opportunity for bullish investors looking to build long positions throughout the year.

Bitcoin Price Faces Strong Barriers On Its Way To $50,000

Despite the uptrend, notable resistance levels could impede further upward movement and potentially lead to a consolidation phase for Bitcoin. 

To assess the nearest-term resistances accurately, the 1-hour chart indicates potential price paths for Bitcoin in the coming days if these bearish thresholds are breached.

In the immediate time frame, the $45,500 level emerges as Bitcoin’s next resistance level. This level previously marked a correction in the Bitcoin price shortly after the introduction of ETF trading.

Subsequently, the next target would be the $46,600 level if the immediate resistance at $45,500 is surpassed. However, while these two thresholds may present challenges, no significant resistance levels are evident on Bitcoin’s hourly chart until the $48,500 level. 

This particular level represents the final hurdle for Bitcoin before reclaiming its previous high reached on January 11, immediately following the approval of ETFs by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Considering the combined factors of Grayscale’s reduced sell-off and the overall performance of the equity market, alongside renewed investor sentiment, Bitcoin could potentially surge to previous highs and even surpass them, marking new highs since the end of the crypto winter. 

The key factor to be seen is how Bitcoin’s price will respond when encountering these highlighted resistance walls and whether the buying pressure will be sufficient to propel Bitcoin back on track toward the bullish momentum observed at the beginning of 2024.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com

Tom Dunleavy, Partner and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at MV Capital, recently elaborated on the reason for his price predictions for Bitcoin and Cardano. As part of his predictions, the crypto analyst had, at the beginning of the year, stated that Bitcoin was going to hit $100,000 soon enough. 

Why Bitcoin Will Rise To $100,000

In an interview with Scott Melker, Dunleavy alluded to the Bitcoin Halving as the reason why he believes Bitcoin will hit $100,000. Interestingly, he stated that this prediction was a “bit light” if the past post-halving numbers are to be considered. He noted how Bitcoin’s price usually sees at least a 4x increase once the Halving event takes place. 

Bitcoin Halving continues to be predicted as the event that will spark the next bull run, ushering in these price increases for Bitcoin. Skybridge Capital CEO Anthony Scaramucci also referred to this event as the reason for his prediction that Bitcoin will rise to $170,000. Like Dunleavy, he also noted how Bitcoin usually sees at least a 4x increase after miners’ rewards are cut in half. 

Indeed, Bitcoin is known to have experienced a big rally after the Havling took place. Historically, Bitcoin’s price has seen an 8,000%, 284%, and 559% gain one year after the Halving in 2012, 2016, and 2020 respectively. Furthermore, Bitcoin’s price has hit a new all-time high (ATH) in each of these instances, making the $100,000 price prediction very feasible. 

Dunleavy also highlighted the Spot Bitcoin ETFs and macroeconomic factors like the expected interest rate cuts as other reasons why he thinks a 2x increase in Bitcoin’s price is a “solid base case.” These ETFs are expected to keep contributing to an increased demand for the flagship crypto token, while a rate cut is usually bullish for Bitcoin. 

Why Cardano Is Dead

In his predictions for 2024, Dunleavy boldly claimed that Cardano would lose its relevance and a new chain would take its place. Elaborating on the reason for this assertion, he alluded to the network’s lack of a stablecoin and that DeFi (Decentralized Finance) was basically “non-existent” on it. 

The crypto analyst went on to call Cardano’s founder, Charles Hoskinson, a “megalomaniac” who is “unwilling to change or adapt to the ecosystem.” He suggested that this was the reason why projects on the network are looking to migrate to other networks, a move which he believes is going to cause Cardano to fade off in the long run. 

Dunleavy also noted how Cardano’s lack of Venture Capital (VC) has handicapped the network, considering the recognition and users these VCs bring “directly through their capital.” This was another reason why the crypto analyst wasn’t so hopeful about the network’s future. 

On-chain data shows an Ethereum metric is giving a bullish signal as the cryptocurrency’s price has broken past the $2,400 barrier during the past day.

Ethereum Has Continued To Leave Exchanges Recently

In a CryptoQuant Quicktake post, an analyst explained the recent relationship between the Ethereum price and data of the exchange netflow indicator.

The “exchange netflow” here refers to a metric that keeps track of the net amount of the asset entering or exiting out of the wallets of all centralized exchanges. The indicator’s value is calculated by subtracting the outflows from the inflows.

When the flow has a positive value, the inflows are overwhelming the outflows right now, and a net number of coins is moving into the custody of these platforms.

One of the main reasons investors might deposit their tokens on the exchanges is for selling-related purposes. This trend can potentially have bearish implications for the asset’s price.

On the other hand, the negative indicator implies the holders are making net withdrawals from these platforms. Such a trend suggests the investors may be accumulating for the long-term, which would naturally be bullish for the cryptocurrency’s value.

Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Ethereum exchange netflow, as well as its 14-day exponential moving average (EMA), over the last few months:

As highlighted by the quant in the above graph, the Ethereum price has observed an overall bullish trend in the last few months as the 14-day EMA exchange netflow has mostly been inside the negative territory.

There have been some spikes in the positive region. With these net deposits, the cryptocurrency has usually encountered some degree of resistance, implying that these transfers added to the selling pressure in the market.

Recently, the indicator has assumed red values for more than a week straight, suggesting that investors have been constantly making net withdrawals. The scale of the negative spikes has also been quite significant this time, meaning that some whales are involved.

Off the back of this potential accumulation from the investors, Ethereum has observed its recovery below the $2,400 level. Since the netflow has continued to be quite negative recently, it’s possible that this rally isn’t all the coin would see; there may still be potential for further upside.

Spikes back into positive territory may be to watch for; however, if the pattern followed in the past few months is to be believed, they may cause the cryptocurrency to hit at least a local top.

ETH Price

At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at around $2,420, up more than 6% over the past week.

The Shiba Inu (SHIB) price has emerged from a persistent downtrend that dominated the past two months. A detailed analysis of the daily and weekly (SHIB/USD) charts indicates a series of critical technical factors that are currently influencing SHIB’s price movements.

Shiba Inu Bulls Take Over

On the daily chart, SHIB has broken through the upper boundary of the descending channel pattern that had been in place since the high at $0.00001193 reached in mid-December last year. This channel, characterized by lower highs and lower lows, had been containing the price action, but a recent surge in volume and buying pressure has allowed SHIB to breach this confinement.

The breakout was confirmed by a close above the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA, blue line), which is now acting as a support level. However, with the 20-day, 50-day, and 100-day EMAs converging just above current price levels (between $0.00000912 and $0.00000932), the bulls still have some work to do.

Notably, the Fibonacci retracement levels, drawn from the peak to the trough of the recent major move, reveal the following key price levels: the 0.236 level at $0.00000878 is still the most important support, followed by the 0.382 level at $0.00001050, the 0.5 level at $0.00001189, and the 0.618 level at $0.00001328 as the next crucial price targets. These levels often act as resistance during recoveries and, as such, are important targets for traders to watch.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the daily chart is hovering around the 51 mark, indicating a neutral momentum with a slight bias towards buying pressure. This leaves room for the RSI to climb before reaching overbought conditions, which are typically considered to be above the 70 level.

End Of The Consolidation Phase?

On the weekly time frame, a larger trend line, which is providing support derived from an ascending triangle pattern, suggests a longer-term bullish sentiment underlying the recent bearish phase. This support line is critical as it has been respected numerous times in the past, making it a significant level for long-term holders.

A decisive weekly close above the 20-week EMA at $0.00000904 this Sunday could pave the way for significant momentum. Subsequently, attention shifts to the 50-week EMA at $0.00000970, signaling potential further advances.

The volume profile on both time frames has been relatively high during the breakout, providing further confirmation of the move. However, traders should be cautious as high volume can also precede volatility and potential price retracements.

In summary, SHIB has exhibited a clear breakout from a two-month downtrend with immediate support and resistance levels identifiable through EMAs and Fibonacci retracements. Traders and investors should be closely monitoring these levels to gauge the sustainability of the breakout and the potential for a trend reversal.

Chainlink (LINK) has traders buzzing as its price has been up by 40% since the last week of January, massively outpacing the broader cryptocurrency market. Amidst this price spike, mysterious whale wallets have been topping up their holdings, as evidenced by on-chain data. 

According to blockchain tracker Lookonchain, there’s been a massive outflow of LINK from crypto exchange Binance in the past two days, particularly with 49 new wallets receiving 2,745,815 LINK within this timeframe. 

Massive LINK Accumulation Occurs On Binance Before Withdrawal

Details from Binance point to an ongoing accumulation of LINK from the crypto exchange. In the middle of this accumulation, a particular whale or institution has been going on a buying spree, gobbling up more than 2.7 million LINK tokens worth $49.9 million. This accumulation came days after the Lookonchain noticed that four new wallets had withdrawn over 119,583 LINK tokens worth over $2.15 million from Binance.

Whales/institutions continue to accumulate $LINK!

This mysterious whale/institution withdrew 2,745,815 $LINK($49.9M) from #Binance via 49 new wallets.

Whale”0x2A19″ withdrew 494,957 $LINK($9M) from #Binance in the past 10 days.https://t.co/QoP2waErBShttps://t.co/iaPHa9f0XB pic.twitter.com/GUW1S33NHf

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) February 7, 2024

Similarly, Lookonchain noted that another whale address “0x2A19” has withdrawn 494,957 LINK tokens worth $9 million from Binance in the past 10 days. Notably, whale transaction tracker Whale Alerts has also noted some accumulation of LINK tokens from other crypto exchanges.

800,000 #LINK (14,701,915 USD) transferred from #Bybit to unknown wallethttps://t.co/RQEu3CxLVM

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) February 7, 2024

Analytics platform Santiment also noted that LINK whale addresses have upped their activity amidst the price surge as large amounts of coins were moved by previously stagnant wallets. This influx of tokens back into the network’s circulation, coupled with a minor liquidation of wallets, seems to have contributed to the price spike.

#Chainlink has jumped ahead of the #altcoin pack after some previously dormant wallets created the highest Age Consumed spike (5.38B, calculated by multiplying coins moved by the amount of days those coins had been dormant). This influx of $LINK back into the

(Cont) pic.twitter.com/eHVpeJz2HW

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) February 1, 2024

How Will New Chainlink Whales Impact Price Action Going Forward?

The crypto industry is currently going through a modest price gain led by Bitcoin recently breaking above the $44,000 level again. As a result, the industry is now up by 3.25% in the past 24 hours, with a 22.60% increase in trading volume. 

LINK hasn’t been left out of this price gain, registering a 4.30% gain in the past 24 hours. However, LINK has been on a sustained breakout since January, reaching as high as $19.68 on February 5. 

The price spike isn’t particularly surprising, as fundamentals of the Chainlink ecosystem point to a steady price growth for LINK. Chainlink’s role in DeFi and NFTs with its smart contracts oracles cannot be overstated. Chainlink also recently released its Staking v0.2 protocol in December, allowing investors to stake a minimum of 1 LINK for a base floor reward rate of 4.5% per year in LINK.

Consequently, the massive accumulation of LINK by whales is a very bullish signal for the token’s price action going forward. These large investors see LINK’s long-term value and potential and are loading up their bags in anticipation of higher prices.