Chainlink faced fresh selling pressure after a whale transferred 198,300 LINK worth $2.3 million to Coinbase following the cryptocurrency's retreat from recent highs. As reported by AMBCrypto, the whale had previously acquired these tokens from Cumberland before depositing them on the exchange, adding concentrated sell-side supply during an increasingly vulnerable phase. However, spot outflows of $8.35 million challenged this whale-led selling pressure, with aggregate exchange withdrawals exceeding incoming LINK supply during the measured period. The $8.35 million outflow was significantly higher than the whale's $2.3 million deposit, indicating that broader market flows remained more supportive than the whale transaction initially implied.
Chainlink [LINK] reached $12.60, its highest price in seven months, before quickly retracing to $11.76 at press time, according to reports from AMBCrypto. The cryptocurrency moved closer to erasing its 2026 losses but failed to sustain the breakthrough above the key resistance level. Trading volume climbed 84% to $1.2 billion, reflecting elevated market activity during the volatile move, as reported by AMBCrypto. Latest data shows LINK is retesting its ascending trendline after an aggressive move, with the CMP at $11.652 and Futures Volume running well ahead of spot volume at $1.30B. However, price quickly reversed, falling 3.04% in the 24 hours as profit-taking pressure set in around the recent highs, with RSI falling from about 88 to 72.21 after the buying wave, indicating a decrease in buying activity despite the indicator remaining above 70.
Chainlink's retreat coincided with considerable capital leaving the futures market, as reported by AMBCrypto. CoinGlass recorded $410.29 million in Futures Outflows, compared with $390.9 million in Futures Inflows. Consequently, Futures Netflow fell 280% to -$19.3 million, showing that more capital exited futures than entered them. However, derivatives exposure weakness occurred alongside institutional demand moving in the opposite direction, suggesting different market dynamics between derivatives and spot markets. Short-side liquidations are dominating every single window, running many times higher than long-side wipeouts across the 1h, 4h, 12h, and 24h periods, with $5.59M in short-side liquidations versus $526.57K long side. At press time, Open Interest had fallen 6.35% to $670.45 million as traders unwound leveraged exposure during the pullback.
Chainlink Spot ETFs recorded five consecutive days of Net Inflows as LINK approached its seven-month high, according to AMBCrypto reports. Grayscale received 132,950 LINK worth $1.53 million from Coinbase Prime, making it the only Chainlink fund recording Net Inflows that day. Its Daily Net Inflows reached $5.16 million, lifting Cumulative Net Inflows to $109 million. The previous day, Bitwise's Chainlink ETF added 163,379 LINK worth $1.85 million, suggesting that institutional demand continued despite LINK's rejection from $12.60. Grayscale's GLNK ETF now holds 10.66M LINK in total with about $124.16M in assets under management, with daily inflows climbing from $1.47M on August 14 to $5.16M on August 21. However, the decline in Open Interest to $670.45 million from previous levels indicates that traders were unwinding leveraged exposure rather than aggressively building positions during the pullback.
Chainlink's bullish structure remained intact despite the rejection, with the Positive Directional Indicator climbing to 55 while the Negative Directional Indicator fell to 3, according to AMBCrypto analysis. A rising Average Directional Index and Positive Directional Indicator reflected a strong prevailing trend. LINK rallied strongly up to the $9.537 and $10.693 levels, with buyers finally pushing the price up towards the $12.345 resistance area before sellers pushed back to the $11.227 level. Holding $10.693 could preserve LINK's recovery despite declining RSI and Open Interest, with buyers potentially challenging $12.345 again if selling pressure eases and exchange outflows continue. However, losing the $10.693 support level would expose the $9.537 support zone, while deeper weakness could bring $8.778 back into focus. The bullish structure holds as long as LINK stays above its ascending trendline, with direct continuation targets of $14.992, then $20.757, then $27.882 as the next resistance levels.
