Chainlink’s volume increase has ‘large players’ written all over it

• Transactions on the Chainlink network jumped, and retail was not the main driver.
• LINK traders were bearish on the price action amid extreme volatility.

Chainlink [LINK], one of the most popular altcoins right now, got the attention of institutional investors on 13 October. According to on-chain analyst and trader Ali Martinez, there were over 20 million LINK transactions, valued at over $50 million, among this cohort on the said date.

Read Chainlink’s [LINK] Price Prediction 2023-2024

Watch out for the price action

Typically, large transactions like this signify an increase in speculation around a cryptocurrency. However, in most cases, the hike is not proof that the value of the said asset would immediately increase. 

While there is a chance that these whales could be gearing up for a potential rally, LINK has also been showing signs that it could be in the loop for an upward trajectory. At the time of writing, LINK’s value was $7.37, thanks to a 20% increase in the last 30 days.

However, it seems that a large part of the market was bearish on LINK at press time. On several occasions, there have been talks about an impressive LINK performance in the short to mid-term.

But most believe that it would take a retracement in the token value for the rally to come to pace.  

This was also evident in the Weighted Sentiment. As of this writing, Chainlink’s Weighted Sentiment was -0.872. Weighted Sentiment measures the unique social volume relating to an asset.

Source: Santiment

Bearish on LINK nonetheless

So, the Weighted Sentiment being in the negative region means that there were more expectations of a downside than the upside. A look at the Binance Funding Rate also showed that traders shared a similar sentiment.

Funding rates are periodic payments made between long-positioned traders and shorts. This rate also represents the difference between the mark price of the perpetual futures market and the index price.

When the Funding Rate is positive, it means that the traders are bullish on the price action. At press time, the Funding Rate had fallen into the negative area, meaning there were more shorts than longs in the market.

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On looking at the Price Volatility, on-chain data

Source: Santiment

So, there is a chance that there are a lot of price swings around the mean price. Should the buying pressure increase, the LINK may reach $8. On the other hand, if sellers continue to dominate, the token value may drop below $7.