LINK Is Up 24% in Weeks: But This Key Growth Metric Is Barely Moving

Chainlink’s LINK has rocketed by approximately 24% since the start of September, but the latest on-chain data from Santiment reveals an unusual disconnect as new wallet creation has barely moved in the right direction.

Today’s price correction, though it’s happening alongside the rest of the market, has raised questions about whether demand is keeping pace with the recent rally or whether another leg down is in the making.

The Good and the Bad

The analysts from Santiment Intelligence noted that Chainlink averaged 1,249 new addresses per day during the four weeks ending October 6, compared with 1,225 during the four weeks leading up to September 1. This is a very modest increase of less than 2%, even though the native token rocketed by almost 25% within the same period.

The contrast with other chains such as Solana is worth mentioning. Santiment reported that new SOL addresses skyrocketed 33% alongside a price surge of around 20% over comparable periods. Ethereum looked more similar to Chainlink, with new addresses remaining relatively flat. However, ETH’s price increase was a lot more modest during that period at 11%.

It’s worth noting, though, that Santiment’s metric counts LINK activity on Ethereum mainnet, so it doesn’t capture tokens bridged through Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) or held through exchange-traded products.

$LINK is up 24% since Sep 1. Are new wallets following? Not really, according to our data.

LINK went from $11.22 to $13.96 between the Sep 1 and Oct 6 closes.
New LINK addresses averaged 1,249 a day over the four weeks to Oct 6, against 1,225 in the four weeks to Sep 1. That’s a rise of under 2%.
Over the same windows, Solana’s new addresses rose 33% on a ~20% price move.
Ethereum’s new addresses were flat while ETH gained ~11%.

One caveat: this counts LINK on Ethereum mainnet. LINK bridged through CCIP or held through ETFs doesn’t show up here.

The headlines keep coming, but the new wallets do not.

Explore LINK network growth in Sanbase: https://t.co/TLd0ygMsnh

— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) October 7, 2026

Nevertheless, Chainlink has generated substantial headlines and price momentum, but that has yet to translate into a significant influx of new on-chain wallets. Separately, as we reported recently, the number of non-empty LINK wallets had declined to 912,020 while the asset rallied to a multi-month peak of over $15. This suggested that some smaller holders were using this run to secure profits.

LINK Slides

LINK was rejected at the recent high of $15.80, and the past 24 hours have been quite painful, with the token slumping to $13.40 as of press time. Beyond the broader market correction, another plausible reason explains its pullback.

Further on-chain data from Onchain Lens showed that GSR has transferred another 303,010 LINK to Binance after receiving the tokens from a Gnosis Safe. This was the second major asset transfer to the leading crypto exchange over the past couple of days, with the total exceeding 578,000 LINK (valued at $8.25 million). Similar developments could intensify the immediate selling pressure but also be mimicked by smaller investors.