Chainlink Hits All-Time High Price, Crashes 20% 3 Hours Later

Is it alt season yet? Chainlink would like a word.

Earlier today, LINK—the native token of decentralized oracle provider Chainlink—broke its previous all-time high of just over $19, reaching a price of $21.39. Link Marines, those that hold Chainlink’s coin and champion its cause, were surely filled with emotion.

But that joy was short-lived.

The token almost immediately corrected its course, falling to a much-less impressive $17.50 per coin within three hours. That’s a 20% drop (oh no, is it a bear market?) and a hefty loss for anyone might have bought the coin today at the top.

On the other hand, anyone who bought Chainlink in early 2020 or prior still has a lot to be happy about. The coin has been on a monster run over the last year, exploding in price by over 1000% and gaining widespread attention beyond even strictly crypto circles.

And over the last 24 hours, Chainlink is still up 17%—over the last week, 24%.

Considering the wild ride Bitcoin investors have been on since BTC hit its own all-time high a few days ago, Chainlink’s price correction is proportionally smaller. Bitcoin crashed almost 30% in a matter of hours after reaching its all-time high, from $42,000 to $30,500 in what was its worst price drop ever in dollar terms.

For Chainlink—and for many other such alternative crypto assets—these corrections are normal. Compared to Bitcoin, the low trading volume of these currencies makes it easier for prices to fluctuate so quickly. The over-excitement of traders also amplifies volatility.

It’s unclear what, if anything, pumped the price of LINK today, standing out with solid gains on a day when most of the market is in the red. (Bitcoin, for example, is down 8%, while Ethereum sunk nearly 4%.) It’s possible that Chainlink’s latest announcement of yet another integration—this time with Neutrino, a bridge between the Waves and Ethereum blockchains—may have had something to do with it.

Either way, with such wild price swings over such short periods of time, it’s a good day to be a scalp trader.

Editor's note: This article was updated to clarify LINK's previous all-time high price.