Project wallets release new LINK every few months.
LINK pays for Chainlink data and cross-chain services. 766.85M of 1B coins circulate; the rest waits in project wallets.
Sell pressure. Those wallets release about 7% of supply a year: 18.75M LINK left on Oct 9 2026, and about 11.25M is expected in December.
Buy pressure. Nothing is burned. The Reserve bought 1.40M LINK, but it holds them inside the float, so it removes nothing.
Net. Net, supply grew about 2.45% in 90 days, with about 1.47% next.
LINK has no mining, no staking issuance and no mint function. All 1B coins were created in September 2017, and the token contract has no way to make more.
There is no dated vesting calendar for team or investors. The early sale coins were free from launch; the coins still held back are released by the project itself, counted in row 3.
33 project wallets hold the coins not yet released: 233.15M LINK today. The project says it releases about 7% of supply a year, and since 2023 it has done so in the same four steps every year (19M, 21M, 18.75M, 11.25M). The latest step left on Oct 9 2026: 18.75M LINK, 16.88M of it sent to a large exchange and 1.88M to the team wallet that funds staking rewards. The December step (11.25M) came on Dec 15 2023, Dec 20 2024 and Dec 19 2025, so we expect it again around Dec 18 2026.
No bankruptcy estate, trustee or long lock is releasing LINK. Funds and US-listed products that hold LINK bought it in the market, so those coins were already in the float.
The Chainlink Reserve buys LINK every week with fees users pay for Chainlink services: 1.40M LINK in these 90 days, taking it from 4.80M to 6.20M. It has never sold, and the project says it expects no withdrawals for years. But its coins are still counted as circulating, so the buying moves coins between holders and takes nothing out of the float.
LINK has no burn. Fees are paid to node operators or swapped into the Reserve above, and the token contract has no burn function. Only a stray 0.75 LINK reached a dead address in these 90 days.
Apart from the Reserve's weekly buying above, nothing this window shows the project or its team wallets buying LINK.
The community staking pool is full at 40.88M LINK and did not change in these 90 days. Staked LINK still counts as circulating, so staking takes nothing out of the float.
Two sides: how much people want LINK right now, and how much buying could come later.
This part is based on social media. It shows how hot LINK is right now. A better rank means more people are talking about it.
Today, people are talking about LINK for two reasons:
On Oct 8 2026 Chainlink said DeFi vaults can now take deposits from more than 80 blockchains while staying on one home chain. Aave, Lombard, Venus and others are already using it. People ask if more use like this will turn into more demand for LINK itself.
By Oct 11 2026 Zcash had passed $20 billion in value and moved ahead of Chainlink and Cardano. On Oct 14 LINK was near $12.71, about $9.75 billion in total value, close to 15th place. People ask why LINK is falling while Chainlink keeps signing big partners.
Checked Oct 14 2026
Supply and demand point to a mixed long-run signal for Chainlink (Oct 15 2026, score 6.5/10). Chainlink adds +1.47% new supply in 90 days, and demand reads very strong (4.5/5). Chainlink's price drivers: 2 ▲ price up, 0 ▼ price down.
New supply is the likely weight. Chainlink adds +4.01% new supply in the next 90 days and +9.36% in a year, so buyers must soak up a lot of fresh LINK. Demand itself reads exceptional at 5/5 (Oct 11 2026), which is why we call the picture mixed. Our supply-and-demand read for Chainlink stays mixed.
On supply and demand, Hyperliquid has the edge: 8.5/10 against Chainlink's 6/10 (Oct 11 2026). Both see strong demand. The gap is new supply, with Hyperliquid adding just +0.13% in 90 days while Chainlink adds +4.01%. That leaves Chainlink's long-run signal at mixed, by supply and demand.
Chainlink trades near $12.9 (Oct 15 2026). $100 a coin means a $76.7B market cap, 7.8 times today's $9.89B. Chainlink's supply also grows +9.13% in the next year, so every extra coin needs buyers too. Supply and demand still read mixed for Chainlink in the long run.
We would read Chainlink differently if new supply keeps arriving (+1.47% in 90 days), or demand falls from very strong. Until then Chainlink's signal stays mixed. Mark this date for Chainlink: Oct 29 2026 — Link:NYC event.
Chainlink scores 6.5/10 on our framework (Oct 15 2026): supply 2/5 (growing), demand 4.5/5. Over the next year Chainlink's supply changes +9.13%. The long-run signal is mixed.
Supply and demand favor Chainlink most when little new supply is coming, demand is strong and the price drivers point up. Right now Chainlink has +1.47% new supply in 90 days (growing), demand very strong (4.5/5), drivers 2 ▲ / 0 ▼.
Chainlink's price drivers today: 2 pointing up, 0 pointing down, out of 2. ▲ ETF LINK pile: Grayscale's fund grew its LINK pile about 8x in 365 days ▲ Banks on Chainlink: Swift's bank ledger is open; Chainlink now links banks to it
Chainlink: mixed signal, 6.5/10 · Bitcoin: positive signal, 8.5/10 (Oct 15 2026). By supply and demand, Chainlink reads weaker than Bitcoin today.
Every answer here applies basic economic theory — the law of supply and demand — to this coin's data. It is not financial advice. How we read every coin →
We look at two things, half each: supply and demand. Fewer new coins mean less selling pressure. A meme coin scores 1.5 at most on supply: its team got its coins for free, so no new supply does not make it safe. We also show each coin's age, with a warning when it is younger than 1 year. Demand looks at how much people want the coin now and how much buying could come later. Price Drivers (Beta) are the 2 or 3 things that can move one coin's price that supply and demand miss; they have no score. LINK supply grows +1.47% in the next 90 days, so it shows in red: more LINK reaches the market than is removed. Zero or falling supply is always green, any growth is red.
One email before each big supply event, and the day our verdict changes. Nothing else. You can watch 2 coins for free.
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