Chainlink could rally past $16.5, but THIS hurdle weighs on LINK

• The high development activity of Chainlink inspired long-term investors.
• The high supply of profit and lack of network-wide accumulation posed a significant obstacle to the bulls.

Chainlink [LINK] was one of the fastest-developing Ethereum [ETH]-based assets. In a Santiment Insights post, user Brian noted how Chainlink continued to lead in development activity.

Santiment data revealed that Chainlink’s development activity over the past 30 days was 50% higher than Ethereum’s. This metric tracks software development events across different blockchains and their dApps.

Despite this strong developer engagement, Chainlink has been experiencing notable on-chain profit-taking activity.

Chainlink bulls’ attempt to breach $16.5

The dormant circulation chart showed a large spike on the 25th of April. The metric is useful in understanding a swift uptick in network activity.

It shows the number of unique tokens not moved within the previous 180 days that were transacted on a given day.

Its surge in April coincided with a drop in the Mean Coin Age (MCA). The two metrics go hand-in-hand, and together indicated a flurry of selling activity when LINK approached the $15.5 level. This level marked the highs of a range at that time.

The MCA, which had been trending upward since December, was interrupted in March and again in April. The holders’ willingness to sell as Chainlink prices knocked on the doors of key resistance levels reflected a lack of conviction.

A key metric that may concern long-term investors is the percentage of supply in profit. At press time, 76% of LINK holders were in profit. Notably, previous waves of selling on the MCA in March and April occurred when this figure was at 65% and 56%.

Over the past few days, Chainlink has retested the $15.5 level—previously a resistance, as a support zone, with bulls attempting to push the price higher.

However, despite leading in development activity, LINK still faces selling pressure and a lack of market conviction, which remains a concern.