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Chainlink's 1.03% Price Increase to $6.80: Key Takeaways for September 20, 2023

Albert Morgan

— 3 min read

Chainlink's LINK token saw a 1.03% price increase over the past 24 hours to $6.80. With a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, LINK remains one of the top cryptoassets by market value. Trading volume over the past day totaled $190.62 million, showing decent interest in the token. This article will analyze the key data points for LINK and uncover insights into where the price may be headed next.

Over the 1-hour timeframe, LINK's price actually declined slightly by 0.06%. However, zooming out to the daily view shows the more meaningful uptrend of 1.03%. When looking at the past week, LINK has surged an impressive 12.99%, making it one of the week's top performing major cryptocurrencies.

The monthly view is also positive for LINK, with gains of 9.60% over the past 30 days. However, on the 6-month timeframe, LINK is still down 3.80% as it continues to recover from the broader market downturn earlier this year. Overall, the short-term and medium-term outlook looks positive for LINK, while the long-term view remains mixed.

LINK's strong performance over the past week can be attributed to a few key factors. First, excitement is building around an upcoming Chainlink project called Chainlink 2.0. This will introduce new features like Cross-Chain Interoperability and Hybrid Smart Contracts. The upgrades aim to make Chainlink oracles faster, more decentralized, and more flexible.

Second, Chainlink has continued to announce partnerships, demonstrating the real-world demand for its oracle services. Recently, it partnered with The Associated Press to bring verified, trusted news data to blockchains. It also teamed up with leading financial institutions like Swisscom, Dialectic, and Baseline Protocol.

These developments are proving that Chainlink is one of the most useful and widely integrated protocols in the blockchain industry. As adoption continues growing, LINK stands to benefit greatly.

Given the recent market conditions and Chainlink developments, my prediction is that LINK will trade between $10-15 by March 2024. Here's why:

  • Chainlink 2.0 will launch in early 2023, bringing major improvements that should significantly increase the value of LINK tokens.
  • Chainlink's strong partnerships and real-world adoption will continue rapidly expanding, especially among major enterprises.
  • The crypto market typically moves in cycles. We appear to be entering the next bull cycle, which should lift LINK and other top altcoins.
  • Technical indicators like the RSI and moving averages show LINK is in an uptrend and has room to run. As long as Bitcoin stays above $20k, the macro environment should be positive.

Of course, risks remain around regulatory concerns, competitors, and potential Bitcoin breakdowns. But LINK looks well-positioned to outperform the majority of the crypto market over the coming 6-12 months. An advance to the $10-15 range seems achievable based on current conditions.

At a glance, Chainlink looks potentially undervalued right now for a few reasons:

  • LINK still hasn't reclaimed its all-time high near $50, even though Chainlink adoption has grown exponentially since then.
  • Many competing oracle projects have much higher market valuations despite less adoption. Chainlink remains the clear market leader.
  • Chainlink's strong partnerships and real-world usage give it an actual underlying value that most cryptocurrencies lack.

So in terms of technology and adoption, there is a case that LINK should be trading higher based on fundamentals. However, some potential risks around increasing competition and market cycles may be limiting LINK's upside for now. But as Chainlink continues cementing itself as the leading decentralized oracle network, LINK does look underpriced compared to its potential.

Will Altcoins Outperform Bitcoin in 2023?

In 2023, altcoins likely will outperform Bitcoin for a few key reasons:

  • Bitcoin tends to establish new price ranges during its halving cycles before attention eventually shifts back to altcoins. 2023 is timed well for an altseason.
  • Many altcoins like LINK support innovative features and real-world usage that Bitcoin cannot match due to its limitations. This gives them more upside potential.
  • Speculative hype tends to flow out of Bitcoin into promising altcoins later in bull markets. With Bitcoin prices stagnant in 2022, momentum may shift to alts.

However, Bitcoin still remains the crypto market leader. If its price were to crash, it would likely drag down altcoins as well. The altcoin-Bitcoin cycles do seem fairly predictable though, so 2023 trends favor altcoins unless some unpredictable catastrophe impacts the whole crypto space. But for steady long-term crypto investors, diversifying across top altcoins like LINK looks wise.

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