3.67 million USDC bought 270,000 LINK within an hour. What game are the on-chain whales playing?

According to the latest news, three wallets associated with the same entity spent 3.67 million USDC within just one hour, buying 272,979 LINK at an average price of $13.45. This large transaction occurred in the afternoon local time, and its scale and coordination are noteworthy. Coincidentally, this action resonates with several recent positive signals for LINK, prompting the market to consider: what exactly are large investors布局?

On-Chain Signal Summary: Frequent Large Investor Actions

Recent days have seen an acceleration in on-chain activity around LINK. Here’s a complete timeline:

These three events occurred on the same day. What is the underlying logic?

Buying Background: Fundamentals Support

LINK’s recent performance has indeed been warming up. According to data, it has risen 2.88% in 24 hours, 8.08% over the past 7 days, though it has a 30-day decline of 4.01%. Nonetheless, the recent rebound momentum is clear. The current price is $13.47, ranking 12th by market cap, with liquidity in the mid-to-upper range among crypto assets.

More importantly, signals from the futures market are noteworthy. According to the latest data, open interest in LINK futures increased by 8.61%, reaching $607.9 million, indicating that market participants are increasing leverage bets. When reserve wallets reduce circulating supply while large investors establish spot positions, this kind of bullish-bearish resonance often signals a shift in market expectations.

Buying Intent Analysis: Three Possibilities

Possibility 1: Strategic Positioning by Institutions or Funds

The synchronized buying by three related wallets appears very professional, suggesting coordinated action by a single entity. This approach is often used to avoid market impact from large single purchases and is typical of institutional-level operations. In this case, they are likely looking at LINK’s medium-term value rather than short-term volatility.

Possibility 2: Release of Oracle Demand

As a leading oracle token, LINK’s fundamentals are directly linked to on-chain activity. If large investors expect on-chain activity to heat up in the coming months (e.g., new DeFi protocols launching, increased cross-chain activity), then building positions now is reasonable.

Possibility 3: Optimism Toward Stablecoin Trends

Interestingly, BlackRock recently pointed out in its 2026 global market outlook that stablecoins will challenge government control over fiat currency. If this trend materializes, on-chain activity could surge significantly, and demand for oracles would grow accordingly. Large investors might be pre-positioning for this expectation.

Market Impact: Short-term Volatility vs. Long-term布局

This buy-in has two sides for LINK’s short-term trend.

On one hand, large purchases could push prices higher, especially if trading volume isn’t very high. On the other hand, if this is the start of institutional accumulation, subsequent buying might continue, providing sustained support. But caution is needed: sometimes large buys can also be a prelude to price manipulation or profit-taking, so observing whether the price can hold above is crucial.

Technically, LINK is currently near $13.45, close to the previous high of $13.43. If it can break through and stabilize above this level, the next target could be $14.00. Conversely, if it pulls back, $12.80 will serve as the first support.

Summary

This large purchase of 3.67 million USDC is not an isolated event but part of several positive signals for LINK recently. From reserve accumulation, exchange outflows, futures open interest increase, to this large-scale accumulation, market participants are expressing confidence in LINK through concrete actions. My personal view is that this signal warrants attention but should not be over-interpreted. The key is whether the price can break through the $13.43 resistance and whether trading volume can be maintained. If these conditions are met, this large buy-in could indeed be an important bottoming signal.