Chainlink jumps 5% as Mantle's $2.5B CCIP migration boosts LINK demand

Mantle moved $2.5 billion in total value locked to Chainlink's cross-chain infrastructure, sending LINK to an intraday high of $8.38.

Chainlink rose 5% to $8.38 after Mantle migrated its $2.5 billion Super Portal to CCIP, extending a crypto rally fueled by softer US inflation data.

"LINK's holder base growing during weak market conditions is a strong signal," Santiment, the on-chain analytics firm, said in a July 13 post on X. "Adoption is clearly moving in the right direction."

The migration adds to a wave of CCIP integrations. Aave selected Chainlink's cross-chain protocol for vault rebalancing, deposits and transfers inside its mobile app. Eight integrations across four services and four chains were logged in Chainlink's latest adoption update, with users including Commertize, Poppie Finance and YuzuMoney. CCIP now spans 35 chains and supports 76 cross-chain tokens. Tokenized-asset value on the protocol climbed 36.5% to $330.21 million over 30 days, per RWA.xyz data.

The tension between adoption and price defines Chainlink's current setup. LINK trades near $8.27, down roughly 49% over the past year and about 85% below its 2021 peak of $52.70. A daily close above $8.315 could open the path toward $9.193, while losing the $8.24 support level would put $7.52 back into focus. The coming quarters will test whether protocol usage eventually pulls the token with it.

Record Holder Growth

The number of non-empty LINK wallets on Ethereum reached an all-time high of 900,000, with more than 20,000 added over the past month, Santiment data shows. The additions came without a price breakout, suggesting accumulation by long-term holders rather than speculative demand.

Macro Tailwind

The broader crypto market rallied after US June CPI fell 0.4%, far exceeding the 0.1% decline economists had forecast. Bitcoin rose 3.59% to $64,726.85, lifting altcoins across the board. The soft inflation data cooled expectations for Federal Reserve rate hikes, with July rate hike probabilities dropping from 42% to near zero, per CME FedWatch.

LINK's 24-hour trading volume climbed 16.61% to approximately $254.22 million, indicating the price increase attracted meaningful market participation.

Key Levels to Watch

The daily Relative Strength Index stands at 58.75, leaving room for additional upside without suggesting the market has become overheated. LINK has climbed above its 10-day, 20-day and 50-day exponential moving averages but remains below both its 100-day and 200-day EMAs, reflecting a short-term uptrend within a longer-term downtrend.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.