Foreign media: LINK demand may be supported by the new mechanism

Foreign media analysis suggests that after LINK has remained weak for an extended period, market attention is shifting from the token’s price to how Chainlink can convert network usage into token demand. The article outlines three main themes: adjustments to the token mechanism, changes in whale holdings, and a potential decline in Bitcoin dominance.

Payment mechanism unified and converted to LINK

The article states that Chainlink is launching Payment Abstraction in March 2025, allowing users to pay service fees with stablecoins or gas tokens, which will then be uniformly converted to LINK. By August 2025, Chainlink Reserve had accumulated purchases of around 5.3 million LINK at an average price of approximately $11.19.

In June 2026, the Build program also adjusted its settlement method. Increasingly, partnership agreements are settling directly with LINK, or first with liquid assets, then converting to LINK and transferring to reserves. Following this logic, if network usage continues to grow, passive demand for LINK purchases may also increase.

The article also notes that about 750 million LINK are currently in circulation, and roughly a quarter of the supply is planned to be gradually released by 2029. Whether the reserve mechanism can continually absorb the new supply is seen as a key factor to watch for LINK’s medium- to long-term performance.

Significant increase in large on-chain transactions

Data from on-chain analytics platform Santiment shows that on August 12, within a 24-hour period, there were 246 LINK transactions exceeding $100,000 each, marking a five-month high. Addresses holding between 100,000 and 10 million LINK now control about 466.31 million tokens, accounting for approximately 46.57% of total supply.

The article also cites chain analyst Ali Martinez, stating that individual LINK transfers exceeding $1 million have also seen a clear uptick recently. Meanwhile, the MVRV indicator has seen a so-called “golden cross,” and the monthly TD Sequential is signaling a buy. Foreign media believe that if large holdings continue to accumulate, it could amplify the new token mechanism’s support for the market.

If altcoins rotation rebounds, LINK may target $13 to $14

On the price side, after LINK fell below $14 previously and failed to reclaim the daily 200-day moving average, it retraced to the $7 to $7.5 range. The article notes that LINK is once again testing this moving average level.

In terms of relative performance against Bitcoin, LINK has remained weak versus BTC for about 1,880 days, but its long-term downward trendline is currently facing a test. Meanwhile, after about 1,300 days of Bitcoin dominance climbing, signs of a decline have emerged.

The article concludes that if Bitcoin’s price stabilizes and dominance falls to the 55% range, LINK could reopen upside potential, targeting the $13 to $14 zone. Based on this assessment, $7 to $10 remains the larger accumulation range. The core variable is whether Chainlink’s new value capture method can continuously convert institutional usage, enterprise revenue, and network activity into real demand for LINK.