Investors’ interest in Chainlink [LINK] has surged notably despite the bearish market sentiment and the ongoing decline in the asset’s price.
Over the past few days, the broader crypto market has shifted sharply to the downside, with that shift clearly reflected in LINK’s price action, as the token has lost several key support levels.
At press time, LINK lost 12.75% of its value over the past 24 hours and was trading at $8.01. At the same time, investor and trader participation has surged significantly, reflected in a 76% jump in trading volume to $2.02 billion.
Rising volume during a price decline signals growing fear, as it suggests market participants are increasingly aligned with the current bearish trend.
Investors eyes accumulation
However, when it comes to investor behavior, the trend appears quite unusual, as they seem to be adding tokens to their holdings.
On-chain analytics platform SoSoValue disclosed that on the 5th of February 2026, U.S. spot LINK exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded an inflow of $1.18 million.
This ETF inflow indicates that Wall Street investors are deploying fresh capital into these funds, signaling increased exposure to LINK tokens.
In addition to ETF activity, exchange reserves have also declined over the past 24 hours, according to the analytics platform CryptoQuant.
Data shows that Chainlink’s total exchange reserves across all platforms fell from 130,807,419 LINK to 130,270,399 LINK, a decrease of 537,020 LINK tokens. This notable drop in exchange reserves suggests potential accumulation, as assets are being moved off exchanges into private wallets.
LINK price action and key levels to watch
Looking at the daily chart, it appears that LINK’s recent decline has broken down a long-standing support level at $8.35, which the asset had held since October 2023.
However, during this drop, the price also tested another support near $7.20 and now appears to be experiencing a potential reversal. This level previously acted as a consolidation zone for an extended period before LINK broke out above $8.35 back in 2023.
Based on past performance and current price action, if LINK sustains above the $7.20 level and reclaims $8.35, a potential reversal could unfold.
However, if the price fails to hold $7.20 support, it may extend its downside momentum, potentially dropping another 20% to $5.85 in the coming days.
At the time of writing, the Average Directional Index (ADX), which measures the strength of an asset’s trend, reached 50.63, well above the key threshold of 25, indicating a strong directional trend in LINK’s price movement.
Traders lean bearish
From a derivatives perspective, intraday traders appear to be following the prevailing trend. According to CoinGlass’ LINK Exchange Liquidation Map, traders are heavily positioned around the $7.91 level on the downside and the $8.42 level on the upside.
At these levels, they have built approximately $1.44 million in long leveraged positions and $4.32 million in short leveraged positions.
This imbalance clearly reflects bearish market sentiment.
Final Thoughts
- Following a 10% price dip, Chainlink (LINK) has lost control of its long-standing support at $8.35, a level the asset had held since October 2023.
- Despite this sharp decline and key breakdown, investors appear to be accumulating tokens, while intraday traders continue to follow the prevailing bearish trend.
