- Chainlink (LINK) unlocks 19M LINK ($269M); 78% sent to Binance for liquidity, 22% to multisig per quarterly protocol.
- Trader “ETH 50x” opens 10x longs, buys $12.1M LINK, sells hours later amid $4M loss history.
Chainlink (LINK) unlocked 19 million LINK tokens, valued at $269 million, adhering to its quarterly token release plan. Of these, 14.87 million LINK ($212.9 million) were sent to Binance, likely to increase exchange liquidity.
The remaining 4.12 million LINK ($56.2 million) went to a multisig wallet, a recurring action since 2022. Data shows Chainlink has released 176 million LINK since August 2022, with 151.3 million deposited on Binance at an average price of $11.41. The project retains 342.5 million LINK in reserves, worth $4.7 billion.
Concurrently, a trader known as “ETH 50x Big Guy” executed conflicting trades involving LINK. On March 14, the trader opened a $31,000 leveraged long position (10x) on Hyperliquid and GMX, while purchasing 863,174 LINK ($12.1 million) in spot markets.
Blockchain records show the trader later sold portions of these holdings via small swaps to stablecoins. This follows a March 12 incident where the same trader’s high-risk bets caused $4 million in losses for Hyperliquid, prompting the platform to revise margin rules.
“This update is intended to maintain healthier margin requirements and reduce the systemic impact of large positions with hypothetical impact upon market closeout,” Hyperliquid explained.
Starting March 15, Hyperliquid requires a 20% margin for unrealized profit and loss (PnL) withdrawals from open positions. The platform clarified that isolated trades can still use up to 40x leverage, but cross-margin trades exceeding 5x leverage will trigger margin adjustments. The changes aim to reduce platform risks tied to large positions.
Despite these events, LINK’s price rose 4% to $13.90 in 24 hours, offsetting part of its 12% weekly decline. The token remains down 27% over the past month.
Chainlink’s scheduled unlocks and trader volatility highlight contrasting forces influencing LINK’s market behavior. While programmed token releases aim to stabilize liquidity, individual trading strategies introduce unpredictability. ETHNews analysts note that sustained price recovery depends on broader market conditions and demand for oracle services.
As of today, Chainlink (LINK) is trading at $13.99, reflecting a 6.29% increase in the past 24 hours. Despite this short-term recovery, LINK has experienced a 18.76% decline over the past week and a 25.68% drop over the past month. Over the past year, LINK is down 33.00%, indicating ongoing bearish pressure in the market.
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