Grayscale Investments raised its holdings of Chainlink (LINK) to a record 1.3 million tokens in November 2025, while the asset’s price had fallen nearly 50% from the previous quarter peak. The institutional accumulation coincides with an S‑1 filing to convert its Grayscale Chainlink Trust into a spot ETF (GLNK), an operation scheduled around December 2, 2025.
Grayscale quadrupled its position in LINK over two years and, according to its own research report titled “The LINK Between Worlds”, views Chainlink as a critical infrastructure layer for DeFi and asset tokenization. The firm, a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group with about $35 billion in AUM and more than 40 products, filed an S‑1 statement with the SEC to launch a spot ETF called GLNK and explore the inclusion of a staking component in the new structure.
The exchange supply ratio is an on‑chain metric that shows the proportion of tokens available on trading platforms relative to the total supply; low values indicate withdrawal of liquidity from public markets. On‑chain data report that Chainlink’s exchange supply ratio fell to a historic low of 0.13 in November, reflecting token withdrawals from exchanges and lower selling pressure.
Large addresses increased purchases around the $18 support, while the launch of the Cross‑Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) on November 19, 2025 and staking improvements support the utility narrative.
Trust performance, structure and risks for investors
Despite the accumulation, Grayscale’s legacy vehicle exposing investors to LINK has shown negative performance. The Grayscale Chainlink Trust registered a year-to-date total return as of November 19, 2025 of -66.85% and suffered an additional decline of 3.15% on that date. Some independent valuations flagged it as a strong-sell candidate with forecasts of further declines, partly attributable to the trust’s structure and relatively high fees.
Trusts can trade at premiums or discounts to net asset value (NAV), which erodes performance for investors when more efficient alternatives emerge, such as a spot ETF. The proposed conversion to an ETF aims to reduce those mismatches and improve liquidity and accessibility, as well as potentially allow yield generation via staking. Operational and competitive impact: Bitwise also appears in the race with an ETF listed on the DTCC platform (CLNK), suggesting increased competition for institutional access to LINK and pressure for the SEC to resolve spot product applications under more consistent criteria.
Grayscale has bet on massive accumulation of LINK and on restructuring its exposure toward a spot ETF that could include staking; however, its legacy trust shows significantly negative performance. The initiative reinforces institutional demand for oracle infrastructure and tokenization, but raises questions about costs and vehicle efficiency for retail and institutional investors.
