The decentralized oracle project Chainlink Chainlink emerged as a standout star in the 2019 crypto world, making significant strides in areas such as adoption, strategic partnerships, and price movements.
The project's ascent wasn't entirely unforeseen: Oracles Building robust oracle networks is a challenging endeavor attracting great interest, and Chainlink was among the pioneers forging intriguing progress in this space.
One of the most significant achievements in Chainlink's history occurred last year with the activation of its mainnet. This milestone spiked interest around the oracle middleware and its native cryptocurrency, LINK, pushing it into the crypto spotlight.
Chainlink Partnerships
This intensified scrutiny led Chainlink to secure numerous new partnerships in 2019, including collaborations with major players, further boosting its profile. Celer , Harmony , Hedera Hashgraph , Matic , Ocean Protocol, Synthetix , Zilliqa and others. The year also witnessed LINK being listed on major crypto exchanges which was a significant step forward. Coinbase and Binance.US .
Significant industry players took notice of Chainlink last year too. The Google Cloud team devised a plan to create 'hybrid blockchain/cloud applications' utilizing the Ethereum and Chainlink framework. The software giant's startup division Oracle collaborated with Chainlink to assist startups in monetizing their data. Additionally, Thomson Reuters initiated work on a proof of concept (PoC) integrating their Contract Express service with smart contract technology via Chainlink.
If these associations weren't intriguing enough, Chainlink's researchers developed a new privacy protocol in 2019, dubbed Mixicles , leveraging oracles to integrate privacy features in smart contracts.
Amazing Year for LINK
With much buzz around Chainlink, the LinkedIn went on an upward trend last year, seeing a 500% rise from $0.29 USD to $1.80 between the start of January 2019 and the same date in 2020. This hype also propelled LINK to briefly hit an all-time high of $4.36 during the summer.
But that was then—what's next? Will 2020 bring Chainlink another stellar year, or will progress level off after such rapid advancements? Only time will tell.
These questions are top of mind for many Chainlink stakeholders, and there is no shortage of opinions. Let's explore some bold predictions for the project's trajectory in the near term to grasp what the future might hold.
Ryan Selkis: Watch out for 'Mass Liquidations' and Rising Competition
Ryan Selkis, a well-known crypto analyst, serves as the co-founder of Messari, a leading crypto research platform. Continuing his tradition from 2019, Selkis shared his ecosystem predictions for the new year in a publishment titled WhatsApp WhatsApp
Within it, Selkis speculated that treasuries engaging in 'dumpenings'—or widespread sell-offs driven by the project's financial backers—were imminent for token projects from the major 2017 ICOs that hadn't yet made public debuts.
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Chainlink Oracles
Among these forecasts, Selkis named Chainlink among the publicly traded projects with hefty treasuries that could be rapidly liquidated. His perspective? Live projects that have existing user bases could likely withstand these sell-offs better than those yet to launch. As Selkis expressed:
“In my view, most tokens will dwindle down over 99% from their peak values, primarily due to incredible sell pressure once teams and early investors start liquidating. For reference, XRP possesses a potentially market-dumpable treasury worth $2-3 billion, XLM around $800 million, and Chainlink approximately $600 million. These are publicly traded assets. For tokens that amassed enormous funding at sky-high valuations in 2017, what's ahead may be a swift decline upon market entry.”
While Selkis didn't make a concrete prediction specifically for Chainlink, his reference to the oracle project reminds us of reports that the Chainlink team sold off 14 blocks of 700,000 LINK last summer.
In essence, the developers have periodically accessed the treasury and likely will continue as required. As hinted, Chainlink is positioned fairly favorably to contend with intense sell pressures. Assuming LINK's price thrives in 2020 as in the previous year, expect the treasury might be tapped into once more.
Selkis had more to say regarding Chainlink in his analysis. He suggested that intensified competition in the oracle space might potentially outpace Chainlink, hinting that the project could gradually lose its market edge:
“Chainlink leaves me puzzled. Is it cracking the elusive Oracle Problem? Or is it just an overhyped venture … Both Oracle and Google recently announced plans to leverage Chainlink's network for data exchange … Yet, I'm still unclear on the token's economics. Furthermore, I'm baffled by its $1.3 billion valuation. Beyond Chainlink, numerous DeFi protocols—such as MakerDAO, Compound, and UMA—also introduced fresh oracle designs in 2019 to eliminate trust layers from their pricing feeds.”
Chainlink Partnerships
Tanya Abrosimova, a cryptocurrency analyst at Forex trading outlet FXStreet, provided her insights on January 8th, 2020, noting that a sustained LINK break above $2.3 might pave the way to a climb toward $3. Table of Contents As of a week after that statement, LINK was trading just over the noted $2.3 level. Could a surge be on the horizon? Abrosimova had explained beforehand:
“[B]road bullish sentiment within the crypto market aided LINK's breakthrough of deep-seated resistance at $2.0 augmented by the SMA50 daily. Upon confirming this break, the upside momentum escalated. As of now, LINK/USD is testing the daily SMA100 at $2.3, and a move above could herald further gains toward benchmarks of $2.5 and $3.0.”
Timo Harings, a community figure for Chainlink, holds an optimistically bullish outlook for LINK.
Timo Harings: $4 + Barclays Speculation
Back in early December 2019, Harings shared a chart suggesting LINK could end up between $3 and $4 as the new year approached, stating “this is where smart money accumulates.”
Currently, it's shaking off less discerning investors since the Google and Coinbase news. RSI is considerably low at present, though price remains quite high since the rally began. Smart money sees the opportunity here.
Toggle Table of Content Toggle Though that target wasn't reached by January 1st, a wave of buying activity throughout the crypto market, especially focused on LINK, has revived the $3 target for traders. Chainlink Partnerships
Chainlink Partnerships Amazing Year for LINK
With this in mind, Harings probably remains as optimistic now as he did last December, envisioning $4 as realistically achievable in the near future.
perhaps hinting at an unheard-of potential collaboration with banking behemoth Barclays and Chainlink. While highly speculative, should it materialize, the impact on LINK would likely be substantial.
Amazing Year for LINK Other Price Predictions Optimism reigns among the machines when it comes to LINK. At least, WalletInvestor’s algorithms do. This forecasting site leverages Machine Learning techniques to predict crypto prices and currently views Chainlink quite favorably.
Other Price Predictions
At the time of writing, WalletInvestor envisioned LINK ascending to $4.35 within the next year and potentially nearing $13 within five years.
Naturally, WalletInvestor cannot predict each development over coming months, so treat these projections as speculative.
A topic often debated in Chainlink's community is whether LINK could ascend into the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap. Achieving that milestone in 2020 is uncertain, but what might the scenario look like if it did?
Tanya Abrosimova: $2.5 to $3
As of writing, the
valuation was around $850 million, ranking it as the 19th largest cryptocurrency currently. Tanya Abrosimova: $2.5 to $3 For LINK to secure a position among the top 10 coins, its market cap would need to double, nearing $2 billion. Achieving this growth would likely see its price appreciate by approximately 135%, potentially pushing LINK’s value just shy of $6.
Alternatively, climbing into the top 5 would require a market cap near the $6 billion range, possibly elevating LINK above the $10 threshold.
These speculative calculations, involving some optimistic napkin math, give a sense of the scenarios some bullish LINK enthusiasts are envisioning.
Much more would need to occur for LINK to achieve such rankings, though growing esteem in the crypto space could make such progress feasible.
Known by the pseudonym CryptoSponge, a Chainlink analyst compiled one of the most thorough
Timo Harings: ~$4 + Barclays Speculation
reviews of the oracle project encountered. WalletInvestor: $4.35 in 1 Year, $12.9 in 5 Years In conclusion, with a long-term perspective, the author expressed excitement for 2020, noting the real potential lies in preparing for 2021 and beyond:
“As an advocate of Chainlink, I can’t help but be enthused about 2020. The team is operating at full capacity, and it's increasingly clear they're planning several quarters in advance, aligning key moves with the broader market’s trajectory. While 2020 seems promising, I plan on cultivating a forward-thinking mindset much like Chainlink. Achieving the next milestones is invigorating, but positioning optimally for 2021 and the future will ultimately bring the greatest reward.”
Chainlink 2020 Price Forecast: Could It Rocket from $3 to $1,000 - Expert Opinions Unveiled
WalletInvestor: $4.35 in 1 Year, $12.9 in 5 Years
What lies ahead for Chainlink in 2020? Let's delve into expert forecasts and see if LINK is poised for another standout year.
2020 Chainlink Price Outlook: Could It Leap from $3 to $1,000? Experts Weigh In
Is 2020 set to be another stellar year for Chainlink? With insights from industry veterans, we explore LINK's potential over the next year.
In 2019, Chainlink emerged as a significant player in the crypto market with notable advancements in adoption, partnerships, and pricing.
Concluding Thoughts: All Eyes Are on Staking, DeFi Innovations, and Broader Partnership Opportunities
The ascent wasn't entirely unexpected:
- offer unique challenges and are highly sought after, with Chainlink being a pioneer in achieving meaningful progress.
- A monumental achievement for the project occurred last year when Chainlink activated its mainnet, sparking significant interest in its oracle middleware and the LINK token. Top 10 Coin to Top 5: $5.7–$10 Top 10 Coin to Top 5: $5.7–$10 CryptoSponge: It’s Really About 2021 CryptoSponge: It’s Really About 2021
- Ryan Selkis: Beware of Sudden Market Drops and Rising Competition No, Not $1,000! In Conclusion: Focus on Staking, DeFi, and Expanding Alliances
- This increased focus helped Chainlink secure numerous collaborations in 2019, involving key players like
, among others. Additionally, LINK gained listings on major exchanges such as
Big corporations also recognized Chainlink's impact last year. The
No, Not $1,000! References , References Celer Harmony team developed a method to create 'hybrid blockchain/cloud applications' utilizing the Ethereum alongside Chainlink framework. The innovation arm of a tech behemoth
teamed up with Chainlink to assist startups in monetizing their data. Concurrently,
Hedera Hashgraph
- https://messari.io/pdf/crypto-theses-for-2020.pdf
- https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/chainlink-is-about-to-smash-sma100-daily-for-the-first-time-since-november-2019-202001080810
- https://messari.io
- https://medium.com/@timo.harings/why-i-think-barclays-is-working-with-chainlink-c840393adf29
- https://walletinvestor.com/forecast/chainlink-prediction
- https://medium.com/aave/the-aave-oracle-network-powered-by-chainlink-is-now-live-45bb8a5a8c4e
- https://staking.linkpool.io/help
- https://defipulse.com/
