Chainlink has climbed 95% in two months, touching $13.77, but a technical sell signal and a sharp drop in whale activity suggest the rally could be cooling. The token's recent gains have been accompanied by a wave of institutional adoption, including a listing on Charles Schwab's crypto trading service and Wyoming's use of Chainlink to back its stablecoin.
The rally and the warning
Chainlink's run from around $7 to $13.77 has been one of the stronger moves in the market. But crypto analyst Ali Martinez flagged a sell signal from the TD Sequential on the weekly chart, a momentum indicator that often marks short-term tops. That doesn't mean the trend is over — LINK closed above the $10.87 higher-timeframe level, and as long as that holds, the bullish structure stays intact. The signal is a warning, not a death sentence.
Whale activity cools
On-chain data shows large holders pulling back. Transactions over $1 million dropped from roughly 59 to about 10 on September 7th. At the same time, 1.75 million LINK moved onto exchanges, pushing the total exchange balance from 269.25 million to approximately 271 million units. That's a classic distribution pattern — tokens moving to exchanges often precede selling pressure. The drop in whale transactions is particularly stark, suggesting the biggest players are taking profits.
Institutional doors open
The price action isn't the only story. Charles Schwab added Chainlink to its crypto trading service, alongside Solana and Avalanche. The brokerage launched the service in May with just Bitcoin and Ethereum. Wyoming is also expanding its use of Chainlink, tapping the oracle network for near-real-time, on-chain visibility into the reserves backing its official Frontier Stable Token (FRNT). The state moved FRNT to Chainlink's CCIP in August and has now adopted Chainlink Proof of Reserve. That gives the network a real-world use case beyond trading.
Michaël van de Poppe, a well-known trader, expects strong continuation toward the $14.50-15 area as a potential target zone. Longer-term, the price targets remain $50 and $100. But the immediate test is whether LINK can hold above $10.87. If it does, the path higher stays open. If it doesn't, the rally could take a breather. The coming days will show whether the TD Sequential signal plays out or gets overridden by the institutional flow.
