Whale Dumps $7.5M in Chainlink and stETH as Markets Strain

• Whale address sold 163,990 LINK for $3.32M and 1,074 stETH for $4.2M within hours.
• LINK traded at $20.41 with $1.14B daily volume while defending the $20 support.
• stETH dropped to $3,933 with $84.14M in daily trades and 556,110 holders active.

A major whale transaction sparked attention today after Onchain Lens reported large-scale swaps involving Chainlink (LINK) and Lido Staked ETH (stETH). Blockchain records show wallet 0xc6f7…e187 executed two notable trades via CoW Protocol’s settlement system. The address sold 163,990 LINK, worth $3.32 million USDC at $20.24, and 1,074 stETH, valued at $4.2 million USDC at $3,917, exiting about $7.54 million in total. Both swaps occurred within four hours, placing the wallet in the Top 100 on the LINK Leaderboard.

LINK Faces Crucial Support

The whale sale coincided with renewed pressure on Chainlink prices. According to LINK slipped 2.87% on September 26 to $20.41, after touching $21.02 earlier in the session. Market capitalization fell to $13.84 billion, while its fully diluted valuation stood at $20.41 billion.

Trading activity, however, rose sharply. Twenty-four-hour volume climbed to $1.14 billion, an increase of 68.93%, indicating elevated market engagement. The volume-to-market cap ratio reached 8.28%, reflecting intense turnover. circulating supply remains 678.09 million, out of a total 1 billion tokens. Analysts continue to watch the $20 support zone, as further weakness could expose the token to deeper corrections.

Market analyst Ali Martinez put the long-term breakout picture for LINK while sharing a chart on X. He pointed to the formation of a symmetrical triangle on the weekly time frame. As of press time, LINK stands at $21.89, affected -4.55%, but maintaining its rising trendline since 2022. Martinez said, for him, a dip down to $16 is “like a gift” from the market, making it a prime accumulation level. His assessment reveals upside targets in the $32, $53, $73, and $100 zones, which correspond to Fibonacci extension levels.

stETH follows Ethereum’s Weakness

On the other hand, stETH is trading at $3,933.31, according to with a 1.86% drop coursing through a 24-hour interval. Its capitalization slipped to $33.59 billion, a drop of 1.78%, while its fully diluted valuation remained constant on the same number.

Despite price weakness, trades were more fervent during the past session. Daily volume recorded an increase of 6.57%, standing at $84.14 million, placing the volume-to-market-cap ratio at 0.2486%. The holder numbers remain steady at 556,110, while circulating supply and total supply remain at 8.54 million stETH each.

Being a liquid staking derivative for staked ETH, stETH rebases on staking bonuses or penalties. It thus depends on market demand to maintain its parity with ETH. A research paper published on arXiv warns that large outflows or liquidity stress situations from LSDs like stETH could increase volatility. There have been past instances of stress, including discount phases vis-à-vis ETH, which simply show its vulnerability in times of market distress.

Related: Chainlink Becomes Super Validator for Canton Network’s Blockchain 

Broader Market Implications

The action by large whale(s) accounts for shifting liquidity across the big assets. Both LINK and stETH are now found at these inflection points. LINK is struggling to defend $20, while stETH, echoing ETH’s weakness below resistance, trades near $3,950. Analysts speculate whether the continued pressure from the whale sellers will increase downside risks or if inflows into stablecoins may buffer against this risk.

For now, traders are monitoring whale wallets, stablecoin flows, and technical patterns. Since these assets are susceptible to quick swings in sentiment, such rebounds could affect demand and macroeconomic factors. 

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