Chainlink (LINK) has surged by over 21% in the last 24 hours. Here’s what the data says might be behind the augment.

Chainlink surprised the cryptocurrency market with a breakout last day

While most cryptocurrency sectors have seen flat or diminutive green returns over the past 24 hours, Chainlink has shown separation as it has observed keen bullish momentum during this window.

Here’s a chart showing what LINK’s recent results looked like:

Thanks to this sudden augment, Chainlink touched $16.7 for the first time since the crash in the first half of April. Although assets have recovered most of the decline, a full recovery has not yet taken place.

However, if LINK’s bullish momentum continues, it may not be too long before the cryptocurrency is able to regain the $17.8 level it was trading at just before the crash.

In terms of Chainlink’s position in the broader market, the table below shows that it is currently the 15th largest coin by market capitalization.

LINK is no longer too far from Polkadot (DOT), so it is possible that if the price continues to rise, the coin will dethrone DOT and take 14th place on the list.

What could be the reason for Chainlink’s sudden separation from the rest of the market? Data from analytics firm Santiment may provide some clues.

LINK whale total numbers are now at a 6-month high

As Santiment noted in post on X Chainlink investors with 100,000 or more asset tokens in their balance have recently seen an augment in the number of addresses.

This cap equates to approximately $1.67 million at LINK’s current exchange rate. Investors with such vast shares are popularly called whales.

Whales can influence the market because they can move vast amounts of goods in a compact time. As such, their behavior may be worth monitoring.

From the chart, we can see that after the recent augment, the total number of whale addresses on Chainlink has reached 564, which is the highest since October last year. This augment in the number of whales on the network may be due in part to the augment that LINK has just observed.

In the same chart, the analytics company also included data on another indicator: social dominance. This metric tells us the share of cryptocurrency-related social media discussions that LINK is currently hosting.

This rate increased with this growth, which means that interest in the coin has increased. Historically, such an augment in attention has been a bearish signal for this asset, so it remains to be seen whether these high values ​​will be maintained. “If social dominance calms down and FOMO doesn’t take over, bullish conditions will follow,” Santiment notes.

Featured image from iStock.com, CoinMarketCap.com, Santiment.net, chart from TradingView.com