Key takeaways
How are whales responding to the decline of LINK?
Whales increased their holdings by 4.59% to 646 million LINK, while Netflow reached –$7.62 million, showing strong spot accumulation.
What do derivatives suggest next for Chainlink?
Futures Taker CVD remained bullish, the Long/Short ratio reached 3.38 and the EMA20 at $20.3 remains the key resistance.
Chainlink (LINK) faced strong rejection at $20 after its short breakout attempt. Since then, the token has fallen for three consecutive days, reaching a low of $17.70.
At press time, LINK was trading at $17.98, down 5.3% in 24 hours and 16.8% for the week.
Amid this, whales increased their accumulation after the September recovery retracement.
LINK whales buy the dip
According to Nansen data, top holders increased their balances by 4.59%, bringing total whale holdings to 646 million LINK. Changes in whale balance remained positive for four consecutive days, confirming a steady accumulation.
Source: Nansen
In addition to this, Onchain Goal Saved a single whale purchase of 934,516 LINK worth $16.92 million. Historically, accumulation at local lows reflects confidence and a medium-term bullish bias.
Moreover, exchange activities echoed this accumulation trend.
In fact, CoinGlass data showed LINK net flow at -$7.62 million at press time, signaling increased outflows and strong spot accumulation pressure.
Source: CoinGlass
Futures activity shows whale dominance
Significantly, when we look at whale activity, AMBCrypto observed that these whales were primarily rushing into the futures market.
CryptoQuant’s CVD Futures Taker has remained green over the past week, showing continued long dominance in derivatives markets.
Source: CryptoQuant
Interestingly, this development aligns with an increase in average order size, where whale trades have dominated the market for four consecutive days.
This reinforced the argument that institutional traders were increasing their exposure during LINK’s correction.
Source: CryptoQuant
At the same time, data from Coinalyze showed that the Long/Short ratio stood at 3.38, with long positions accounting for 77.15% of total contracts – a clear bullish trend among derivatives traders.
Source: Coinalyse
Chainlink price still lags behind accumulation
Despite these bullish measures, AMBCrypto observed that the price of LINK has not yet reflected the accumulation wave.
Therefore, under these conditions, LINK could record more losses before rebounding. If the downtrend continues, the altcoin could find support at the lower boundary of the Bollinger Bands at $16.94.
Source: TradingView
However, sustained whale inflows could absorb the selling pressure and lead to a recovery towards the EMA20 near $20.3.
A break above this level could open the way to $24 – the upper Bollinger band – marking the next upside target.
