Why Chainlink Skyrocketed 33% Higher This Week
Popular oracle network Chainlink (CRYPTO: LINK) had soared by 33.4% since last Friday's close, as of 7:30 a.m. ET. on Jan. 7. That was among the largest weekly moves among the top 20 cryptocurrencies, and took place during a particularly challenging period for many top tokens.
Much of Chainlink's rise has been attributed to the utility this oracle network provides the crypto sector in general. As an oracle network, Chainlink allows for off-blockchain data such as price feeds to be incorporated into the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, particularly decentralized and centralized exchanges. This infrastructure is critical to the healthy functioning of the DeFi space, a growth area of the crypto world that many investors are laser-focused on right now.
Others point to the exponential growth of Chainlink's ecosystem as a reason to hold LINK tokens for the long term. Chainlink's total value secured increased from approximately $7 billion at the start of 2021 to more than $75 billion at year's end. This 10-fold increase in total value secured occurred in tandem with the crossing of a psychological barrier: More than 1,000 projects now use the Chainlink protocol via this network's hybrid smart contracts.
Source Fool.com
