Category: Uncategorized

Chainlink Whale Wallets Reach All-Time High

On-chain data indicates that the number of large Chainlink (LINK) wallets has reached a new all-time high, signaling increased interest from significant investors in the network.

According to data from on-chain analytics firm Santiment, the number of Chainlink wallets holding at least 100,000 LINK has reached a record high. This metric, known as “Supply Distribution,” tracks the total number of addresses within a specific group based on their LINK holdings.

These investor groups are categorized by the number of tokens held. For this analysis, the focus is on wallets holding a minimum of 100,000 LINK, which, at current exchange rates, equates to approximately $957,000. This threshold typically includes large-scale investors, often referred to as “whales,” whose activities can significantly influence the network.

A chart shared by Santiment illustrates the change in Supply Distribution for these Chainlink investors over the past few months. The graph shows a rise in the number of wallets holding 100,000 LINK or more, indicating a growing presence of large investors on the network. Specifically, the Supply Distribution of LINK whales has increased by 8.2% over the last seven weeks.

This influx of large investors has occurred while the cryptocurrency has generally traded sideways. Currently, there are 805 wallets holding at least 100,000 LINK, a new all-time high. Santiment noted that “Key stakeholders are showing bullishness toward the #16 market cap in crypto.”

It remains to be seen whether this optimism among LINK whales will translate into price appreciation for the cryptocurrency.

In contrast to the accumulation trend observed in Chainlink, Bitcoin has seen distribution from its large holders. Analyst Ali Martinez highlighted in a separate X post that the supply held by Bitcoin whales has recently declined. The chart indicates that Bitcoin whales sold 18,447 BTC between the 18th and 21st of this month, equivalent to approximately $1.41 billion.

LINK Price

At the time of writing, Chainlink is trading around $9.57, unchanged from one week ago.

Hayes on Privacy-Focused Crypto

Arthur Hayes, Chief Investment Officer of Maelstrom, has identified NEAR Protocol and Zcash as the core of his privacy-focused cryptocurrency investments, arguing that the market is beginning to reprice assets tied to private value transfer, sovereignty in the age of AI, and sound protocol economics. In an interview with The Rollup, Hayes stated that NEAR could offer “20x potential,” while Zcash might have “5x potential” over the next year. He framed these assets as part of a broader reaction to the influence of “big tech, big government,” and AI-driven surveillance.

Macroeconomic Shift Fuels Investment

Hayes’ investment thesis is rooted in a macroeconomic shift. Earlier this year, he adopted a cautious stance, believing that Bitcoin had already priced in an “AI deflationary credit event.” He anticipated that monetary authorities would be hesitant to aggressively print money until a crisis forced their hand. However, he believes this changed after the Iran conflict, which crystallized a liquidity-positive environment for markets. “Governments print money to win war. AI is part of war. The AI capex will be underwritten, both in the United States and China, by the governments,” Hayes said. He added that governments in the US, China, and Europe would likely fund a wartime economy and AI infrastructure through monetary expansion, with some of that liquidity flowing into Bitcoin and select crypto assets.

The Case for NEAR and Zcash

Hayes’ strongest comments were reserved for privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. He reaffirmed Zcash as his “second biggest bag” and stated that the asset had become investable again after earlier concerns about its trusted setup, issuance profile, and developer subsidy faded. He views the current Zcash trade as cleaner, more liquid, and more relevant to the current political and technological climate. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have private money over the internet,” Hayes said. “And that’s what Zcash represents, that’s what Monero represents. And as we are learning the ability for big tech, big government and AI to essentially know everything about us and to trace everything that’s going on in our lives, to have pure, just cryptographically proven privacy with money is going to be super needed.”

Hayes’ renewed interest in Zcash was spurred by a conversation with Naval Ravikant during Tokyo 2049. According to Hayes, Ravikant argued that Monero’s ring signatures were weaker than commonly assumed, referencing a Japanese law enforcement case involving deanonymization. Hayes subsequently purchased $1 million of Zcash and continued accumulating the asset as he researched the thesis further.

NEAR’s Role in Private Value Transfer

Hayes’ price targets are linked to NEAR’s role in facilitating private value transfer across assets and chains. He argues that while shielded Zcash is important, the greater opportunity lies in the ability of users to move from shielded ZEC into other assets, including stablecoins, through NEAR Intents. “Within the ZODL app, I can now send any crypto asset I want to anyone across the Internet in an anonymous way. From Shielded Zcash, using Near Intents. Now I’m into, you know, USDT on Tron and I’ve sent it to whoever I’m going to send it to in an anonymous fashion. That’s huge,” Hayes said.

He believes Zcash remains the primary expression of the privacy trade, but NEAR may offer a more asymmetric setup due to its connection to the execution layer behind confidential transfers. “I think Near has a 20x potential where, you know, Zcash might have a 5x potential over the next year or something like that,” he said.

NEAR’s Economic Fundamentals

NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin reinforced the economic side of the argument, stating that NEAR Intents is approaching $20 billion in lifetime volume, with $18.9 billion cited during the interview, and has generated $33 million in fees. He explained that NEAR takes a fee from every transaction and uses it to buy back NEAR, while the ecosystem has already halved inflation and may push for further reductions as revenue grows.

Hayes also highlighted NEAR’s token structure, noting that it benefits from being “fully diluted,” avoiding the large overhang of venture allocations that still affect many Layer-1 assets. He believes this clean supply profile is advantageous for a token expected to perform well in an upmarket.

Risks and Outlook

Hayes acknowledges that the primary risk to his thesis is macroeconomic. He intends to hold his positions until the broader liquidity backdrop changes, but he cautioned that reduced government support for AI capital expenditure or a worsening war scenario could alter the setup. For now, he sees privacy, AI-linked sovereignty, and exchange revenue as the trades with the clearest market validation.

At the time of this report, Zcash was trading at $624.

Render’s value has surged to a four-month high, driven by increased demand for AI infrastructure and a surge in on-chain activity. Over the past week, Render has risen by more than 30%, bucking the trend of consolidation seen across the broader cryptocurrency market.

Recent Performance

The altcoin’s recent performance is illustrated in the following chart. Last Tuesday, RENDER was trading around $1.80, but has since climbed to $2.35. This represents an increase of over 30% in the last seven days, bringing the asset’s value to its highest point since January.

Factors Driving the Surge

Several factors may be contributing to this rally. Render differs from many cryptocurrencies in that its network functions as a marketplace for GPU computing power. The decentralized platform connects users seeking GPU rendering capabilities with those willing to rent out their hardware. As the AI sector has experienced recent growth, demand for GPUs has increased significantly. This has positively impacted platforms like Render, potentially explaining some of the momentum seen by the network’s native token.

On-Chain Activity

This momentum has been accompanied by a rise in the blockchain’s activity-related metrics, according to data from on-chain analytics firm Santiment.

Santiment noted on X that Render has seen a notable jump in Daily Active Addresses and Network Growth recently. Daily Active Addresses tracks the total number of addresses making at least one transaction on the blockchain each day, providing an estimate of daily user participation. Network Growth measures activity from newly generated wallets, indicating the level of adoption the chain is experiencing.

The following chart, shared by Santiment, illustrates the changes in these two indicators for RENDER over the past month. The chart shows a rise in both Network Growth and Daily Active Addresses alongside the recent price rally, indicating increased user adoption and activity. Currently, there are 394 active addresses and 118 new wallets on the network, the highest daily levels since March.