Key takeaways
Why did Chainlink decline?
Whale sold 1.62 million LINK as Spot Taker CVD showed week-long selling dominance.
What lies ahead for LINK price?
If LINK stays below $16.50, liquidation sets suggest another 45% drop.
A large whale unloaded 1.62 million Chain link [LINK] With a value of $28.9 million, which intensified selling pressure throughout the market.
This step He grew up Concerns about whether LINK’s downtrend may deepen or a short-term rebound may follow.
Sellers retain control
This massive dump occurred when the overall cryptocurrency market was struggling to gain momentum, and LINK was no exception.
At press time, LINK was trading at $17.40, down 3.35% in 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. Trading volume rose 18% to $1.23 billion, indicating strong speculative activity despite the decline.
In addition, the latest data from CryptoQuant revealed that Spot Taker CVD (Cumulative Volume Delta) for last week showed strong dominance over Taker Sell in the market.
Source: Cryptoquant
Between October 15 and October 22, the chart showed steady red bars, indicating that selling pressure was outpacing buying activity throughout the week.
This indicates that market participants are increasingly disposing of their holdings, indicating the possibility of continued bearish momentum, unless buying interest returns in the coming days.
Connect price action and next level
LINK’s bearish outlook has been further strengthened by price action, as it appears to be forming the second consecutive red candle on the daily chart, hovering near the key support level at $16.50.
On the daily chart, LINK is hovering near the $16.50 support, marking its second consecutive red candle and remaining below the 200-day EMA ($18.97).
Meanwhile, the Average Directional Index (ADX) reached 39.31 (well above the key threshold of 25), indicating strong directional momentum, indicating that the trend may continue in the coming days.
Source: Trading View
Based on price action, a sustained hold above $16.40 could trigger a 23% recovery towards $21.50. Failure to hold this area could lead to a 45% decline towards $8.70, reversing previous breakdown levels.
The liquidation map points to resistance at $18.5
Derived measures echoed a similar weakness. CoinGlass’ LINK exchange liquidation map showed heavy short positions around $18.50, totaling $21.05 million, compared to $7.19 million in long positions near $17.10.
Source: Coinglass
Across exchanges, Binance, OKX, and Bybit contributed to the cumulative short leverage.
Data indicates that traders expect LINK price to remain capped below $18.50, viewing any bounce as a short-selling opportunity rather than a breakout setup.
