Chainlink has been underperforming Bitcoin and the aggregated crypto market as of late, with its price action largely mirroring that of the rest of the altcoin market.
While Bitcoin captures investors’ attention with its massive uptrend, major altcoins like Ethereum and LINK have been underperforming, facing inflows of selling pressure as traders chase the BTC uptrend.
During parabolic Bitcoin bull markets, it is quite common for BTC uptrends to occur primarily in isolation, with altcoins rallying once it finds some stability.
This could mean that the next market-wide movement will occur amongst Bitcoin’s smaller peers, like Chainlink.
One trader is now watching for a break above $14.50 before he flips bullish on LINK, noting that this is where its daily confluence currently exists.
He notes that, until this level is firmly broken above, it is too early to say with any certainty whether or not it will be able to see any significant near-term momentum.
Where it trends in the mid-term will likely depend on Ethereum, as it has become a benchmark for the entire altcoin market. Until it can break above its local highs within the upper-$600 region, there’s a strong possibility that consolidation is imminent.
Chainlink Struggles to Gain Momentum as Altcoin Uptrend Stalls
At the time of writing, Chainlink is trading sideways at its current price of $13.44. This is around the price at which it has been trading throughout the past few days.
Although it is up significantly from its recent sub-$11.00 lows that were set earlier this week.
It is still far underperforming Bitcoin, and faced a strong rejection within the mid-$14.00 region yesterday. Where it trends in the mid-term may depend largely, or entirely, on its continued reaction to this key level.
Analyst Claims LINK Needs to Break Above $14.50
While sharing his thoughts on where Chainlink might trend in the mid-term, one analyst explained that $14.50 is a key level it needs to break to see further upside.
He notes that he will gain some long exposure to the cryptocurrency if this level is broken in the near-term.
“If LINK can reclaim some ground between the weekly and daily confluence level around 14.5 I will definitely look to get some long exposure.”
Image Courtesy of Cantering Clark. Source: LINKUSD on TradingView.
Whether or not Chainlink can break above this key level will likely depend primarily on Bitcoin, as a continued parabolic ascent may create some headwinds for altcoins.
Featured image from Unsplash. Charts from TradingView.
