Key Takeaways:
- LINK price could lose 30% due to bearish technicals.
- Chainlink whales also expect a drop, as they halved their holdings year-over-year.
- The partnership with Coinbase Pro could benefit Chainlink, but it is unlikely to offset the overall market sentiment.
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Chainlink token LINK changed hands at just under $6.8 on Aug 17, after a 10% drop in the previous 48 hours. However, LINK bulls’ woes are far from over, as the coin eyes another 30% drop in the current quarter based on technical risks and macro factors.
LINK technicals hint at a 30% decline
The Chainlink (LINK) token has been range-bound between roughly $5 and $8 per coin for over a year. The described channel features parallel trendlines that envelop the price action through consecutive trendline retests, connecting the swing highs and lows.
LINK retested the channel’s resistance on July 21, losing 20% since, and sought support from the significant mid-range line on Aug 17.
However, a price decline to the support line appears likely due to the dwindling trading volumes. If a drop occurs, it could shave 30% off LINK value by the quarter’s end, pinning the target price at approximately $4.78.
Chainlink whales expect a value drop
LINK whales, i.e., accounts holding large amounts of LINK coins, have dropped their holdings from 33% in June 2023 to 29% in mid-August, possibly expecting more trouble ahead for the token.
Notably, a massive whale dump came in June 2022 as the top addresses halved their holdings from over 63%. The LINK price has not fully recovered since, trading 87% below its 2021 all-time high of $53.
Generally, retail investors could take cues from the whales, expecting them to have more information on the given asset. Thus, token dumps by retail investors could follow the whale trends.
As of Aug 17, Chainlink faced additional headwinds from the uncertainty on the Bitcoin ETF front and the macroeconomic challenges in the US market.
Chainlink partnered with Coinbase — what are the implications?
As announced on Aug 8, Chainlink partnered with the trading platform Coinbase Pro to provide “access to industry-standard Chainlink Data Feeds” and other web3 services. Jesse Pollak, the creator of Base and Head of Protocols at Coinbase, called Chainlink Price feeds “leading” price data solutions for developers.
Each price data feed reflects a volume-weighted average across the highest-quality exchanges (including both DEXs and CEXs), with built-in filters for suspicious volume and price outliers to ensure the delivery of a fair-market price.
eplained the press release.
Affiliation with Coinbase Pro could prove valuable for Chainlink. However, the influence on the LINK price might be precise. If the overall climate in the crypto market will not favor the bulls in 2023, Chainlink coin is likely to follow the trend rather than pull off a solo rally.
