Chainlink moves $149 million in LINK to Binance amid fresh token unlock

Chainlink non-circulating supply wallets have moved 17.875 million LINK tokens worth $149 million to Binance. This comes after today’s scheduled unlock and continues the trend of transferring unlocked LINK tokens to the exchange.

According to Lookonchain, which reported the transfers, this is the eleventh unlock of tokens linked to the Oracles platform. The unlocks, which happen quarterly, have been accompanied by massive transfers of most of the supply to Binance.

While transfers to exchanges represent signs of potential sell-off, the frequent Chainlink transfers to Binance might be a way to increase LINK liquidity on the exchange, given that this is where most of its trades happen.

Interestingly, almost 170 million LINK tokens have been sent to Binance since August 2022, representing around 80% of the tokens that have been unlocked.

At the current price above $12, the value of LINK tokens that have moved to Binance in the last four years is over $2 billion. However, there is still more to come, given that over 300 million LINK tokens remain locked and scheduled for future release.

LINK is struggling despite a history of post-unlock gains

Meanwhile, LINK has seen a 3% decline in value over the last 24 hours, continuing its struggle to grow all year. While the decline coincides with the unlocks, the increase in selling pressure and higher circulating supply is not necessarily why the LINK price dropped.

Instead, LINK decline today is part of the broader crypto market dip in the last 24 hours due to rising tensions amid the ongoing war between Israel and Iran. Bitcoin fell 2% to $103,000 within that period, and altcoins declined too.

Still, LINK has struggled for some time and has gained 22.69% in 30 days. Compared to other major cap altcoins, such as XRP, ETH, and SOL, which have also underperformed but show signs of recovery, LINK, which is at $12.62, is down by more than 40% this year.

Nevertheless, Lookonchain noted that most of Chainlink’s unlocks have been followed by increased LINK value. It remains to be seen whether that will also happen this time around.

Chainlink’s potential could drive LINK price up

Despite LINK’s current struggles, token holders remain bullish on its long-term prospects. They consider it undervalued because of its long-term potential to become a critical infrastructure for the crypto ecosystem.

Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov expressed this sentiment in a recent post, noting that Chainlink is crucial for stablecoins. He said that if the GENIUS stablecoin bill passes in the US Congress, the country will see a wave of new stablecoins.

According to him, these stablecoins need cross-chain connectivity and proof of reserves, which Chainlink offers in one system. Thus, the growing complexity of the blockchain ecosystem will allow Chainlink to serve as a key infrastructure for compliant stablecoins.

One user said:

“Chainlink has already built an entire automated compliance engine with proof of identification, proof of onboarding, accredited investor verification, and a sanctions check before anyone else has ever even typed those words.”

Interestingly, his view aligns with that of others in the community. It captures the evolution of Chainlink from being an Oracles provider for DeFi protocols to an interoperability infrastructure provider connecting several blockchain networks.

Meanwhile, Chainlink is reportedly set to integrate with the Cardano blockchain. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said that Chainlink leadership has already shown interest in the integration, but delays are due to the project’s business arm having other priorities.

This continues its DeFi and TradFi institutional adoptions, which will likely continue as the need for cross-chain connectivity increases and tokenization becomes a reality. Institutions such as Swift, UBS Asset Management, Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), and others have already deployed Chainlink tools and products.