Chainlink's LINK token has climbed from below $7 in June to a new 2026 high near $15.35, even as the number of non-empty wallets holding the asset declined to 912,020. On-chain analytics firm Santiment Intelligence reported that LINK rose to $14.89 while its holder count slipped, with the rally coinciding with the launch of CCIP 2.0 and new institutional integrations involving Coinbase and the state of Wyoming. Non-empty wallets — addresses carrying any nonzero LINK balance — are a standard on-chain gauge of how widely a token's supply is spread across its holders.

Rally Comes as Holder Count Eases

According to Santiment, Chainlink recovered from below $7 in June to reach what the firm reported as its yearly high of $14.89. Over the same stretch, however, the number of non-empty wallets declined to 912,020 — a shift Santiment suggested may indicate that some smaller holders opted to take profits as prices climbed.

Despite the dip, Santiment noted that the holder count remains near historic highs. The platform also raised the possibility that larger holders have been absorbing the tokens sold by smaller investors.

Santiment's chart data shows LINK reaching $15.353 on September 29, extending a rally that has carried through September. Trading volume increased during the advance, with the displayed reading reaching approximately 1.41 billion LINK.

LINK had previously fallen from its May highs to around $7.05 in June, the low from which its recovery began. After consolidating through July and early August, the token broke out around August 23 and climbed above $12 in September.

CCIP 2.0 Adds Cross-Chain Security Controls

Chainlink has launched CCIP 2.0, an upgrade to its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol that gives applications greater control over cross-chain security arrangements while retaining the network's default verifier system. According to Santiment, CCIP has processed more than $24 billion in cumulative transfer volume to date — a usage figure that offers a sense of scale for a protocol whose upgrade now affects how applications configure cross-chain security.

Institutional integrations have expanded as well. Coinbase selected Chainlink as oracle infrastructure for its tokenized stocks, while Wyoming expanded its use of Chainlink for the state-backed FRNT stable token. The combination highlights the role oracle infrastructure plays in tokenized-asset applications, where on-chain systems need to reference off-chain market data. According to Santiment, these integrations connect Chainlink's infrastructure with tokenized assets and financial applications.

LINK Tests Resistance Near $16

According to the chart, LINK is testing the $15.50–$16.00 resistance zone, with the upper boundary of the range sitting near $15.97. Immediate support is located at $14.53, followed by the 50-day moving average at $13.58. The 200-day moving average sits lower at $12.19, leaving LINK trading above both key averages. The 50-day average also remains above the 200-day average, and a sustained move above $16 would clear the resistance identified on the chart. Those chart levels, read alongside Santiment's holder-count data, give observers concrete markers to watch — whether the wallet count stabilizes near its historic highs and whether price holds above the moving averages — as LINK trades near its yearly high.

Source: Cryptofrontnews