Most of the current popular cryptocurrency has been struggling to recover their momentum as a spike in volatility hit near the end of May 2021. Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Dogecoin are some popular cryptocurrencies that have taken a plunge in just one day. Meanwhile, Chainlink (LINK) continues to be on the positive among the others.
What Is Chainlink (LINK)?
Chainlink is a decentralised oracle network that plays an important role in the real-world implementation of blockchain technologies. This network provides input on a variety of external sources of data, APIs, and payment systems. Chainlink was created and formed by an organisation called SmartContract, founded by CEO Sergey Nazarov and CTO Steve Ellis back in September of 2014.
Although blockchain is great at what it does, it isn't great at taking input for things happening outside the blockchain. Oracles are bridges that allow several blockchains to interact with off-chain resources such as fiat currencies and credit cards that influence market data. On the other hand, Chainlink can provide input to what's known as smart contracts as a decentralised oracle. Smart contracts are agreements that are programmed to be executed if and when certain conditions are met. Currently, they have been used for everything from creating novel crypto-financial products to developing new crypto assets.
Chainlink node operators extract data from off-chain systems and adjust it into blockchain compatible formats. According to the developers, the LINK price is closely associated with the number of node operators. Chainlink has nearly doubled in the first two weeks of 2021 in a strong follow-through to last year's 530 per cent rise.
What Is LINK?
LINK, Chainlink's native token, is meant to help finance the project's growth, similar to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Just like BTC and ETH act as a mining incentive for users, LINK does the same.
Chainlink launched this token in 2017 with a price that remained under a dollar from its launch until 2020. Like most cryptocurrency, LINK was also met with volatility, reaching a high price of $36 in February 2021 and falling to $10 in March. After reaching its peak of $51 in May, it drew a lot of attention from people and attracted new users to its project. Experts have predicted that LINK may reach a price of $80 to $100 by the end of 2021.
Predictions For The Future
According to Coinpedia (2021), LINK might welcome 2022 with a trading price of over $100 and might even significantly increase its price every month if the marketers concentrate on investing in Chainlink. If it competes well with the other currencies, it may hit a high cost of $250 - $300 by the end of 2022.
If Chainlink gets more partnerships, a large treasury of reserve funds, and an in-demand service, then the platform may be well-poised to handle any challenges that may crop up and end with a trading value of $900 to $1k in five years.
Is Chainlink (LINK) A Good Investment?
As evidenced above, LINK's value remains fickle despite its huge gains since early 2020. Its high volatility is not uncommon among popular cryptocurrencies; however, LINK has the inherent capability to expand smart contracts, allowing data accessibility for events and transactions in the same trend. The involvement of major institutional investors in the future might result in a hike in the altcoin price.
According to the experts of Bitcoin Digital, Chainlink is also considered an important technology as cryptocurrencies continue to evolve, and so it may be a good investment if you plan to invest for a long time. Decentralised finance is even younger than the still-young blockchain technologies, so having an oracle such as Chainlink in place will be key to cryptocurrency's long-term stability and viability in general. Therefore, LINK may be a sound investment if you believe that Chainlink will become the industry standard as the most widely-used, decentralised oracle network.