A spot Chainlink ETF has moved closer to market as it appears in key filings, with multiple managers advancing proposals. At the same time, LINK continues to face persistent selling, shaping the landscape for access and risk. This matters to institutional managers, custodians and compliance teams, and affects liquidity and the risk profile for retail and institutional investors.
Bitwise advanced with an S‑1 and the proposed spot Chainlink ETF appeared in the DTCC record, an operational step that usually precedes launch. This positioning signals concrete progress toward potential listing.
The planned structure includes Coinbase Custody and an in‑kind creation and redemption mechanism, aligning with practices designed to reduce frictions in ETF operations. Grayscale also filed an S‑1 and considered a staking component, which adds regulatory complexity given the SEC’s attention to yield‑generating activities.
Despite these institutional signals, LINK has shown selling pressure, with an approximate 30% drop since early October—from $22.58 to $15.77—and sessions of up to 9% pullbacks. On‑chain behavior shows opposing flows: large holders are said to have accumulated roughly $144M and 25M tokens since February, while more than 63M LINK left exchanges in the last month toward cold storage.
Context and impact of the Chainlink ETF
Circulating supply is indicated to shrink by around 0.4% monthly, partly due to DeFi usage and the creation of a Strategic LINK Reserve intended for long‑term holdings.
The coexistence of institutional momentum and selling pressure has practical consequences across liquidity and volatility, regulatory risk, operations and custody, and the balance of institutional demand versus retail supply. These factors will influence the ETF’s initial NAV and AUM dynamics, as well as the compliance requirements for managers and custodians.
Appearance in the DTCC is an operational step that brings a potential listing closer; selling pressure persists with an estimated ~30% drop since October despite institutional progress; on‑chain movement shows 63M LINK leaving exchanges alongside accumulation by large holders; staking components introduce regulatory complexity that could affect SEC approval conditions.
The SEC’s evolution after the DTCC appearance will be decisive; the decision on approvals and conditions—especially around staking—will set the final launch timeline and define compliance requirements for managers and custodians.
