Whales Circle as Chainlink (LINK) Plunges 16%—Can Big Money Reverse the Tide?

Chainlink's native token LINK just got mauled by the bears—down 16% in a brutal market shakeout. Now, all eyes are on crypto whales to see if they'll throw the embattled oracle token a lifeline.

Smart money moves or desperation plays? With LINK's price action looking like a ship taking on water, major holders could either stage a dramatic recovery... or abandon ship entirely.

Remember folks: in crypto, 'whale manipulation' is just what we call Tuesday. The real question is whether LINK's fundamentals still justify the hype—or if we're watching the slow-motion unwinding of an overleveraged oracle position.

Key Takeaways

How are whales reacting to LINK’s decline?

Whales boosted holdings by 4.59% to 646M LINK, while Netflow turned –$7.62 million, showing strong spot accumulation.

What do derivatives suggest next for Chainlink?

Futures Taker CVD stayed bullish, Long/Short Ratio hit 3.38, and EMA20 at $20.3 remains key resistance.

Chainlink [LINK] faced a strong rejection at $20 after its short-lived breakout attempt. Since then, the token has fallen for three consecutive days, reaching a low of $17.70.

At press time, LINK traded at $17.98 — down 5.3% in 24 hours and 16.8% over the week.

Amid this, whales increased accumulation after the retracement from the September recovery.

LINK whales buy the dip

According to Nansen data, top holders boosted their balances by 4.59%, bringing total whale holdings to 646 million LINK. Whale balance changes stayed positive for four straight days, confirming steady accumulation.

Source: Nansen

On top of that, Onchain Lens recorded a single whale purchase of 934,516 LINK worth $16.92 million. Historically, accumulation at local dips has reflected confidence and mid-term bullish bias.

Furthermore, exchange activities further echoed this accumulation trend.

In fact, CoinGlass data showed LINK’s Netflow at –$7.62 million at press time, signaling rising outflows and strong spot accumulation pressure.

Source: CoinGlass

Futures activity shows whale dominance

Significantly, when we examine whale activity, AMBCrypto observed that these whales mostly rushed into the Futures market. 

CryptoQuant’s Futures Taker CVD stayed green through the past week, showing consistent buyer dominance in Derivative markets.

Source: CryptoQuant

Interestingly, that MOVE aligned with a surge in Average Order Size, where whale transactions dominated the market for four consecutive days.

This reinforced the case that institutional traders were scaling exposure during LINK’s correction.

Source: CryptoQuant

At the same time, Coinalyze data showed the Long/Short Ratio rising to 3.38, with long positions representing 77.15% of total contracts — a clear bullish skew among derivatives traders.

Source: Coinalyze

Chainlink price still lagging accumulation

Despite these bullish metrics, AMBCrypto observed that LINK’s price has yet to reflect the accumulation wave.

Therefore, under these conditions, LINK could record more losses before it rebounds. 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 may absorb selling pressure and drive recovery toward the EMA20 NEAR $20.3.

A breakout above this level could pave the way toward $24 — the upper Bollinger Band — marking the next upside target.