ARTICLE AD BOX
- LINK is one of the best cryptos to invest in, says one analyst, with Chainlink’s oracle network being the lifeblood that connects smart contracts in Ethereum, Solana and all other chains.
- Whales have scooped up over $100 million worth of LINK, showing heavy institutional interest in the token, which another analyst says will push it to $20 in the short term.
Chainlink is one of the best tokens to invest in, says popular cryptocurrency analyst and influencer Lark Davis. With Chainlink’s oracle network being the heartbeat of smart contracts on Ethereum, XRP, Solana, Avalanche and all other networks, LINK is bound to benefit from developments on all these chains, as technical indicators point towards a price doubling in 2024.
At press time, LINK trades at $15.15, dipping by 4.6% in the past day. In the past day, the crypto has also seen a significant dip in its trading volume, which stands at $462 million, 35% below Friday’s. At $8.6 billion, Chainlink’s market cap is 14th, ahead of Shiba Inu, Litecoin and oUniswap.
According to Davis, LINK remains one of the best crypto investments. However, unlike most coins, its price rise is tied to its utility, not social media speculation or artificial hype.
$LINK is about to melt your face off.
I'm expecting big things for Chainlink over the next few years.
But this isn't your mother's dog coin. We're talking serious utility here.
So if you actually want to understand what the heck you're investing in, then this is for you. pic.twitter.com/QeTt48iK6d
— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) December 29, 2023
Chainlink’s superpower lies in its oracles and their utility in crypto. Blockchain networks rely on smart contracts, which self-execute depending on conditions beyond any particular blockchain network. To communicate with the outside world and receive data, these smart contracts rely on oracles, which collect data from other blockchains and the off-chain world.
As Davis explains, “Chainlink is that communication bridge. Simply put, Chainlink relays information between SCs, real-world data sources, and SCs in other blockchains.”
Technically, Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network.
These oracles are computer programs that serve as communication bridges.
Point is that Chainlink's data is reliable because these oracles pull data from many sources and check the accuracy of that data with each other. pic.twitter.com/lbZtEGHLw2
— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) December 29, 2023
According to Chainlink developers, the network has facilitated $9.3 trillion in value on smart contracts, which is only growing.
LINK Price to Double as Chainlink Releases New Upgrades
In the past year, the price of LINK has shot up 176%, but according to analysts, it’s set to soar 200% in 2024. One of the key drivers of this price surge will be the continued development and improvements by the network’s developers.
The first upgrade is the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), which allows users to transfer tokens and send messages securely across different blockchain networks. According to Chainlink’s chief product officer, Kemal El Moujahid, CCIP will be one of the critical areas of focus in 2024.
In a recent blog post, he stated:
We will heavily prioritize CCIP to meet the demand fueled by the massive trend of capital markets moving on-chain and transitioning from proof of concept to production. This is fueled by tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), which are set to grow the value of on-chain economies exponentially.
Chainlink is also launching Data Streams, which enable users to leverage high-frequency market data to power DeFi applications.
For LINK, all these developments are critical. In the Chainlink ecosystem, all activities, including leveraging the oracles, require users to deposit some LINK into a smart contract.
“If the oracles provide accurate data to their users, they get paid the deposited LINK. If they fail, they don’t,” Davis explains.
These solid fundamentals, coupled with strong institutional interest (whales scooped up $105 million worth of LINK in one week), make Chainlink one of the best projects to invest in.