Chainlink Falls Below $12 After Whale Moves $26M to Coinbase

The large, multiweek Coinbase deposits raise near-term selling risk even as record-low exchange reserves and surging CCIP volume point to continued on-chain demand.

Overview

An unnamed wallet deposited about 2.41 million LINK (roughly $26 million) to Coinbase over several weeks, a flow reported by on-chain trackers and covered on Friday that market participants see as a potential source of selling pressure.
LINK has retraced from early-September highs near $13.7 and is trading around $11.56–$11.80, with traders watching $12 as the first test and $10.80, $9.80 and $8.80 as lower support levels.
Derivatives and spot activity have cooled since the rally, with trading volume and futures open interest falling, which analysts say reflects some deleveraging and leaves the market vulnerable to sharper moves.
On-chain signals tell a different story: exchange reserves are at their lowest level since mid-2022, weekly CCIP volume jumped about 260% to roughly $1.3 billion, and active/new address counts retain a large share of August gains.
What to watch next: whether buyers can absorb any exchange sales and reclaim $12, because a failure to do so could trigger deeper profit-taking while renewed CCIP usage and network growth would support longer-term accumulation.