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Chainlink (LINK) USD Price
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About Chainlink
Chainlink Price Data
Chainlink (LINK) currently has a price of $8.33 and is down -5.13% over the last 24 hours. The cryptocurrency is ranked 18 with a market cap of $6.2B. Over the last 24 hours, it saw $221.3M of trading volume. The token has a circulating supply of 748.1M tokens out of a total supply of 1B tokens.
Chainlink (LINK) is an oracle network that connects blockchains to external data, other blockchains, and offchain systems. It is already widely adopted by major financial institutions, national governments, and top DeFi protocols.
Unique features of Chainlink:
The Chainlink data standard includes tools like Data Feeds and Data Streams, which are used to provide:
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Financial data for DeFi applications,
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Proof-of-reserve and valuation data for tokenized assets,
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Identity and compliance data for institutions,
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General-purpose data access for decentralized applications.
The Chainlink interoperability standard, powered by the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), supports data and value transfer across both public and private blockchains, and between blockchains and external systems like banks and government infrastructure. CCIP secures tens of billions of dollars in asset value and has enabled the transfer of billions of dollars in cross-chain value.
The Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE) enables developers to build applications that integrate data, blockchains, legacy systems, and offchain computation into a unified application. CRE supports modularity, making it easier to update application connections without modifying the core logic."
When was Chainlink created or founded?
Chainlink was created in 2017. It was founded as a decentralized oracle network on the Ethereum blockchain. The idea behind Chainlink was to create a secure and reliable way to connect smart contracts on the blockchain with real-world data and off-chain resources. The project gained a lot of attention and quickly became one of the leading oracle solutions in the cryptocurrency space.
Who are the founders of Chainlink?
The founders of Chainlink are Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis. Nazarov is a technology entrepreneur with a background in computer science and finance. He has been involved in the blockchain industry since its early days and has a deep understanding of smart contracts and decentralized applications. Ellis, on the other hand, has a background in software engineering and has worked on various blockchain projects before co-founding Chainlink. Sergey Nazarov co-founded SmartContract.com, the company behind Chainlink, in 2014. This was a significant milestone as it laid the foundation for the development of Chainlink.
Nazarov recognized the need for a secure and reliable way to connect smart contracts with real-world data and external APIs, which led to the creation of Chainlink. Chainlink conducted an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in September 2017, raising approximately $32 million. This ICO played a crucial role in funding the development and growth of the project. The funds raised allowed Chainlink to expand its team and establish partnerships.
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© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Chainlink is the dominant oracle infrastructure for smart contracts, providing off-chain data to on-chain applications in a tamper-resistant way. The architecture uses Decentralized Oracle Networks (DONs): multiple independent node operators each retrieve external data (price feeds, weather, sports results, etc.), aggregate responses, and submit a median or consensus value on-chain. No single node controls the output, removing the single-point-of-failure vulnerability of centralized oracles. Node operators stake LINK as collateral and are compensated in LINK for honest data delivery.
Chainlink’s staking mechanism (v0.2 launched late 2023) allows LINK holders to stake in a community pool or as node operators. Slashing penalizes nodes that submit faulty or manipulated data by burning a portion of their staked LINK. This creates cryptoeconomic security: the cost of attacking an oracle feed must exceed the profit from manipulation. Current staking is capacity-limited and functions as an early iteration toward a more complete cryptoeconomic security model.
CCIP (Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol) is Chainlink’s messaging and token transfer standard across blockchains. SWIFT partnered with Chainlink to explore using CCIP for cross-border interbank messaging over blockchain rails. Euroclear, ANZ, and DTCC have run pilots using Chainlink infrastructure for tokenized asset settlement. The strategic play: CCIP positions Chainlink as the TCP/IP layer for cross-chain institutional finance, rather than just a price feed provider.
Chainlink’s oracle infrastructure is essential for RWA tokenization because tokenized bonds, equities, and real estate require reliable off-chain price feeds, NAV calculations, and compliance data pushed on-chain. Fidelity, UBS, and ANZ have used Chainlink for proof-of-reserve attestations and NAV feeds for tokenized fund products. The TAM scales with the RWA market, which BCG projects at $16T by 2030. Chainlink’s moat: it holds the dominant market share in oracle infrastructure with deep integration across 2,000+ projects.
Economics 2.0 is the framework for converting protocol revenue into LINK demand. The core mechanic: service fees paid in any token are converted to LINK through the Chainlink BUILD and SCALE programs, and the Chainlink Reserve routes a portion of platform fees to stakers. The thesis is that as on-chain economic activity grows, oracle demand grows, fee volume grows, and that revenue becomes LINK buy pressure. The weakness in this model is that LINK supply is still predominantly held by the Chainlink team/foundation, and fee accrual to stakers is still in early implementation relative to the total LINK supply.