Chainlink just unlocked $166M of LINK and politely asked Binance to hold it

Chainlink's quarterly token unlock on June 20 released 21 million LINK, valued at approximately $166 million, from non-circulating supply addresses, with 18.375 million LINK worth $144.93 million subsequently deposited into Binance, according to Arkham data. The remaining 2.62 million LINK, valued at $20 million, was transferred to a multisig wallet used to distribute rewards to LINK staking participants.

The project routinely moves unlocked tokens to exchanges for liquidity, sells a portion to fund operations, and allocates tokens to reward operators and support staking programs, per the token distribution schedule. On-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant recorded LINK Exchange Netflow jumping to 10.3 million following the transfers, indicating a net increase in tokens entering exchanges.

LINK traded at $7.9 as of writing, up 1.4% over 24 hours, after reaching a low of $7.7 following the collapse of an uptrend at $8.5. The altcoin has been closing at successive lower lows amid broader weakness across crypto markets.

Institutional demand has shown no sign of recovery, with SoSoValue data showing LINK Spot ETF net inflows at zero for nine consecutive days. The Momentum Shift indicator has remained negative for two consecutive weeks, and LINK continues to trade below the MACD SMA. With sustained weak demand, a move toward $7.4 remains possible, while a short-term reversal would require LINK to flip $8 and close above $8.3.