Chainlink whales have been on a buying spree, accumulating over 14 million LINK tokens in less than a month. On a single day this week, more than 20 transactions each worth over $1 million were recorded, according to on-chain data. The accumulation has pushed whale holdings from under 170 million to roughly 182-183 million LINK.
Whale activity surges
Analyst Ali Martinez noted that whale activity on Chainlink has surged over the past two weeks. The spike in large transactions — each exceeding $1 million — suggests that big players are positioning themselves ahead of a potential move. The pace of accumulation is notable: whales added roughly 12-13 million LINK in a matter of weeks, a pace that outstrips typical accumulation periods.
Chainlink's RWA ranking
Chainlink now ranks second in Santiment's Real World Assets (RWA) development ranking, trailing only Hedera. The ranking measures development activity on GitHub and other metrics tied to tokenization of real-world assets. Chainlink's oracle network is a key infrastructure layer for many RWA projects, which may explain why developers are staying busy.
Price predictions and ETF inflows
Analyst Crypto Patel predicts LINK could reach $50 to $100 in the next bull cycle, citing current market behavior and ETF inflows. Spot LINK ETFs have not recorded a single red month since launch, with cumulative net inflows exceeding $125 million. That steady demand from institutional products stands in contrast to retail sentiment. Patel claims that retail investor confidence in LINK is low despite the 'smart money' accumulation.
The disconnect raises a question: will the whale conviction eventually pull retail back in, or does the current divergence persist? For now, the accumulation continues, and the ETF flows remain positive — two signals that the big money hasn't lost interest.
