Chainlink’s LINK Slides 8% Below Support Despite Growing Adoption via Ondo Partnership

Chainlink’s native token, LINK ($17.38), fell sharply on Thursday, tracking the broader crypto market downturn even as adoption continued to expand through a new partnership with real-world asset (RWA) platform Ondo Finance.

The token dropped 8% from $18.39 to $16.92 over the past 24 hours, slipping beneath a descending trendline that had guided recent price action, according to CoinDesk Research’s market insight tool. Trading volume surged to 3.94 million units during the initial breakdown—nearly double its daily average—signaling strong institutional activity behind the move.

Short-term data shows LINK trading below $17 within a tight consolidation band. Multiple failed attempts to reclaim the psychological level coincided with a 58% drop in trading activity from session highs, suggesting institutional buyers remain cautious despite developing oversold technical conditions.

On the fundamentals side, Ondo Finance announced it will use Chainlink’s oracle infrastructure to provide price feeds for more than 100 tokenized stocks and ETFs, including real-time updates on corporate actions such as dividend payments. The integration will leverage Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) and expand collaboration under the Ondo Global Market Alliance, supporting seamless asset valuation across multiple blockchains.

Meanwhile, the Chainlink Reserve, which repurchases LINK tokens using protocol revenue, executed its largest buyback since August, adding 64,445 LINK on Thursday. The reserve now holds approximately $11 million worth of LINK accumulated from ongoing partnership revenue.

Key Levels to Watch

• Resistance: Immediate barrier at $17.00, with stronger resistance near $18.20 from the latest failed rebound.
• Support: Initial downside target at $16.50, with risk of a deeper slide toward $16.00 if consolidation breaks down.
• Volume Signal: The 3.94 million unit spike confirmed aggressive institutional selling during the breakdown.
• Pattern Insight: The trendline breach triggered an acceleration of selling pressure through multiple support zones.