Chainlink’s native token LINK rallied to $18.40 during Wednesday’s session, reversing losses from a strong intraday sell-off that saw the price fall below the key $18 support level.
A sudden surge in volume of 4.59 million tokens – 178% above the 24-hour average – confirmed the breakdown as sellers breached short-term support levels. The token briefly consolidated between $17.80 and $18.30 before buyers stepped in late in the day, market analysis tool CoinDesk Research suggested.
The rebound coincided with the stabilization of broader crypto markets after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s slightly hawkish speech saw Bitcoin briefly falling below $110,000.
LINK is up around 4% in the last 24 hours.
What traders should watch out for
Despite this downward trend, underlying accumulation trends remain at work. Since the beginning of October, approximately $188 million worth of LINK has been removed from exchanges by whale wallets, indicating long-term strategic positioning. Nonetheless, recent price movements show that near-term resistance near $18.60 continues to trigger profit-taking, clouding the near-term outlook.
Volume increased 26% above the seven-day average as traders reacted to increased volatility. The sharpest price drop occurred in the 60-minute window between $18.03 and $17.96, extending a downtrend that appeared to have exhausted itself by the close of the session. Extremely low volume during the last hour of trading suggests a possible slowdown in institutional selling.
For now, LINK’s ability to hold above $18 will be a key signal. A sustained rise could push the token towards the $19 level, but failure to hold the line could expose a decline towards the $17.60 support floor.
Key technical levels signal consolidation
- Support/Resistance: Critical support established at $17.60 with immediate resistance between $18.50 and $18.80.
- Volume Analysis: A 26% rise above weekly averages confirms the legitimacy of the outage, although the decrease in activity suggests a pause in sales.
- Chart Patterns: Limited consolidation between $17.80 and $18.30 after initial breakdown up to $18.00.
- Targets and Risk/Reward: Reclaiming the $18 level opens the way to the $18.50-$18.80 resistance zone, while failure to hold $17.60 could extend the decline towards $17.00.
Disclaimer: Portions of this article were generated with the help of AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team for accuracy and compliance. our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk Comprehensive AI Policy.




