More than 80% of LINK is controlled by 125 wallets

According to crypto market data aggregator Glassnode, Chainlink’s (LINK) token distribution is at record levels of centralization — with more than 80% of LINK not held on exchanges currently residing in the top 1% of Chainlink wallets. 

Glassnode’s research found that 81% of LINK not held on crypto exchanges of smart contracts is currently stashed away in 125 wallets, with the number of tokens held by Chainlink’s whales steadily increasing over the past two years.

When including the tokens held on exchanges and in smart contracts that Glassnode’s data excluded, the centralization of Chainlink’s token distribution appears extreme — with Etherscan data indicating that 82.7% of LINK is held by just 100 wallets, or less 0.03% of LINK-holding addresses.

However, Glassnode estimates that only 12,500 of these addresses are currently active, suggesting nearly 83% of LINK’s supply resides in 0.8% of active wallets.

Chainlink’s whales appear to have accelerated their accumulation since July 2019, with the share of supply represented by the top 1% of LINK holders steadily increasing from 53% to 81% over the past 18 months.

With whales continuing to buy despite LINK again rocketing into new all-time highs this month, Glassnode’s Liesl Eichholz concludes “bullish sentiment” remains strong among Chainlink’s veteran traders:

“The continued concentration of supply suggests that, even with the available supply increasing, LINK’s top holders are still bullish on the token, and are continuing to acquire more.”

LINK whales are accumulating despite Chainlink’s core team appearing to sell a significant share of their private stash of tokens, with Glassnode identifying 52 million LINK that have moved from the reserve wallets of Chainlink’s team over the past 100 days.

Chainlink established itself as the most widely used oracle network in 2020, securing partnerships with  tech behemoth Google and Ethereum-rival Tezos (XTZ).

On Jan. 18, Chainlink flipped Bitcoin Cash to become the eighth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.