In recent times, decentralized products and services have been flourishing. The networks that support these products and services are also flourishing, and only those who are well-informed of how the systems work can gain maximum benefits from it.
While Ethereum is often regarded as the supreme smart contract network, several other cryptocurrency platforms are doing great in the emerging sub-sector. Chainlink is one of the many new cryptocurrencies that are well-positioned to take advantage of the expected massive growth in the cryptocurrency universe.
Chainlink has become a go-to decentralized oracle network (DON) for efficient integration of real-world data into smart contracts. It is also well-known for its security features and has become the network of choice for many businesses adopting the technology.
From the few things we’ve considered in the paragraphs above, it is easy to see that Chainlink can be an incredible investment option for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, especially those who understand the potentials of Decentralized Finance (DeFi). That, however, does not answer the original question behind this post.
To know whether Chainlink will make you rich in ten years, you have to study the coin and its base network properly. You will also need to look at the past and recent performance of the token, as well as predictions from authority experts and websites.
Here, we are going to discuss the most important things you need to know about Chainlink in order to determine if it is the right long-term investment for you. We recommend that you read every part of this post carefully to be fully loaded with relevant information to make a sound decision in the end.
What Is Chainlink?
According to Wikipedia, “Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network and cryptocurrency that provides real-world data to blockchains." It is one of the unique cryptocurrencies in the world and also one of the major sources of data used to feed information to applications in decentralized finance.
Chainlink is specialized designed to ensure that smart contracts can have access to accurate, real-life data in a timely manner. It brings some needed change to the emerging DeFi sub-sector, helping other networks to perform better.
Ideally, smart contracts lack the capacity to obtain external data for use. Chainlink utilizes secure oracles to bridge the gaps and relay information to smart contracts in the most reliable and tamperproof manner. As the middleman in the DeFi ecosystem, Chainlink serves as a software solution by allowing smart contracts to communicate, send, and receive to and from off-chain sources.
In just a few years of existence, Chainlink has become very popular among decentralized finance protocols. It is great for obtaining the latest data on the prices of altcoins. The proponents of the project are convinced that its use can extend to several other sectors and industries, including shipping and logistics, weather forecasts, sports statistics, and medical records.
Before we get carried away by the innovative features and potentials of the Chainlink network, note that it is also a cryptocurrency platform. Therefore, it has a native currency, which is the subject of this investment post/guide. The native currency is conveniently called LINK but can also be referred to as Chainlink. LINK is an ERC-20 token based on Ethereum.
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A Brief History Of Chainlink And How It Is Different
Chainlink was founded by a 28-year-old programmer, Sergey Nazarov, in 2017. Steve Ellis, another programmer, is often credited as a cofounder. Nazarov co-wrote the whitepaper for the project with a Cornell University Professor, Ari Juels, who served as a technical advisor for the project. Steve Ellis, on the other hand, headed the development team at a California-based consulting firm, Pivotal Labs.
Prior to founding Chainlink, Sergey Nazarov had been involved in a couple of incredible projects. Including the peer-to-peer marketplace, ExistLocal, and the Secure Asset Exchange (SEA) project. When the latter was closed in January 2016, Nazarov and Ellis set out to create a project called SmartContract. The project was later renamed Chainlink.
To get the project underway, Chainlink raised $32 million through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2017. This was at a time when a lot of scams were going on in the name of ICOs. The business started in earnest and won so many hearts in its first year of operation.
In 2019, Chainlink recorded one of its biggest wins when search engine giants, Google, announced that it was integrating its BigQuery data analytics platform with Chainlink. This simplified the process of getting data from outside sources for use in applications built directly on the Chainlink blockchain.
Chainlink was also partly used in the 2020 Presidential Election in America. The Associated Press announced that the voting data for the election it posted through Everipedia used Chainlink. There are several other high-profile use cases, but we need to stop here.
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What Major Problem Does Chainlink Solve?
Before Chainlink was launched, everyone believed that it was only ideal for blockchains and smart contracts to interact and receive data only from their own networks. Chainlink came in and changed all of that. It quickly enhanced the potentials of all other cryptocurrencies based on smart contracts.
By serving as a middleman between networks in the blockchain universe, Chainlink expanded the capabilities of these networks by allowing them to access relevant market data, event data, and many more. It even became easier for these networks to facilitate bank payments.
Chainlink solves the problem of sourcing data for other platforms and decentralized applications. For instance, it is now easier to create a dApp that can provide real-time sports results in DeFi because Chainlink will make it possible for the app to interact and receive data from sources outside the blockchain.
Chainlink also helps to ensure that information distributed through a network is accurate. It uses a network of decentralized nodes that provide decentralized, trustless oracles. What this implies is that if the network receives data from different sources, it uses what is called Aggregation Contract to discover nodes with wrong data and ignore them. This way, the risk of delivering erroneous data to smart contracts.
Is Chainlink A Good Investment?
Chainlink is undoubtedly an incredible network, which is why it has become so popular in just a few years of existence. Unfortunately, popularity doesn't translate to value at all times. Besides, investing in Chainlink (for regular traders and investors) actually means buying the cryptocurrency LINK.
So how can you ascertain whether LINK is a good digital asset? The best way to do so is to look at the history of the coin, consider its current price performance, and then look at predictions from reliable sources. We are going to do all of that in a detailed manner to help you make an informed decision.
Chainlink Price History
Without mincing words, we can say that Chainlink has been one of the biggest success stories in the cryptocurrency universe if you are to take away the bull run of 2017.
LINK was listed in major cryptocurrency exchanges right from the initial coin offering. On September 21, 2017, the coin was selling for $0.1697 per token. By December 30, the price had dropped to $0.5861.
January 2018 was good for most cryptocurrencies, and Chainlink gained value to reach $1.29. The bear market of 2018 set in without warning, and the price of the coin collapsed, just like other cryptocurrencies. By June, it has reached as low as $0.17 per token.
The price started improving around September, and by October 8, it traded for $0.3436. Chainlink managed to finish 2018 at $0.2894, according to data provided by Coin Market Cap.
2019 was a good year for Chainlink. It started strong and continued to follow the bull market trend, reaching $4.45 on June 29. The same day, the coin reached a yearly high of $1.5 billion in market capitalization. This was a time other cryptocurrencies were still losing. The price started to drop afterwards, but the coin was able to close the year at $1.7695, outperforming Bitcoin and other frontline cryptocurrencies with a 600% profit.
The coronavirus pandemic did not affect the price of Chainlink the way it affected other cryptocurrencies. The coin opened in 2020 at $1.80. It continued on an upswing until it reached $20 on August 16, which is a jaw-dropping +1100% ROI in less than eight months. The price fluctuated significantly between August and December, but the coin was able to finish the year at $11.27, which is still considered impressive.
Recent Performance And Current Position Of Chainlink
2021 was relatively good for Chainlink. It started the year well, and by January 4, it was selling for $13.57 per token. In just two weeks, the coin reached $21.85 on January 20. By February 21, it has reached $34.15.
The upward trend continued for a while, though there were times the coin dropped. By April 14, it has reached $41.42. The coin reached an all-time high of $52.88 on May 10 and dropped considerably afterwards.
At the time of writing this piece, Chainlink was selling at $26.20, according to Coin Market Cap. In the last 24-hours, the coin recorded a low of $25.77 and reached a high of $27.17.
Chainlink’s market capitalization at the time of writing this post is $12 billion, making it the 16th ranked cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization. The fully diluted market cap, however, stood at $26 billion at the time.
LINK’s circulating supply is 467,009,550.44 LINK, which is just 47% of the expected total and maximum supply of $1,000,000,000.
Chainlink Price Predictions
Chainlink has been doing pretty well from the time it was launched to this point. It is a no-brainer to expect that the price will continue to rise in the coming years. Most of the top prediction websites are predicting positively for Chainlink, but some are not so enthusiastic.
According to Wallet Investor's algorithm-based forecast, Chainlink is still set for a bullish market in the coming future. They believe that the coin will be worth around $39.651 in 2022. In the next five years, they predict that the coin will be worth as much as $105.069.
Digital Coin Price also expects Chainlink to become more valuable in the coming days. However, their forecast is less enthusiastic than what we got from Wallet Investor. They predict that Chainlink will be worth around $35.79 in 2022. They predict that it will reach $46.78, $40.38, $57.83, and $44.86 in 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026, respectively.
Trading Beast is surprisingly not so enthusiastic about Chainlink as their prediction shows. They predict that the coin will average 29.804 in December 2022. They also predict that the coin will rise very slowly, averaging $28.491 in December 2023 and $42.421 by December 2024. They also believe that the coin will only average $53.145 by the end of 2025.
Long Forecast is another serious prediction site to follow, and their forecast is more positive than Trading Beast's. They expect Chainlink to close 2022 at $43.11. They also expect the price to rise in January 2023 to about $49.47 and keep rising steadily afterward. By the end of 2023, they expect the coin to grow as high as $96.28. They also predict that the price of the coin will fluctuate throughout 2024 but that it will eventually finish the year at $93.11. By December 2025, they expect that the coin would have reached about $100.40.
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Where Will Chainlink Be In the Next Ten Years?
If we focus only on Chainlink's past performance in the past few years, it will be logical to conclude that the cryptocurrency will be significantly more valuable than what we have now. But ten years is a long time, and a lot can happen in the cryptocurrency universe before that. In fact, a lot can happen within an hour in the crypto market, which is why people are mostly advised to be careful.
Regardless of the nature of the market and the uninspiring predictions from some of the sites above, we strongly believe that Chainlink will be much more valuable than it is at the moment. We can't provide an exact value, but we are confident that the price of the coin will rise significantly with time.
Top Reasons To Invest In Chainlink
Most of what we have discussed about Chainlink is positive, so you should already have some reasons to invest in the coin. If you research further, you may find many more reasons to invest in cryptocurrency. Here, however, we will highlight some of the biggest reasons to invest in this digital asset:
- Chainlink has created a market that has never existed before in any form. Its infrastructure has surprised and attracted many, and the rewards of this innovative technology are yet to fully manifest.
- Chainlink is advancing the capabilities of dApps and networks in the decentralized sector. This will certainly bring major activities and reward for Chainlink and its native currency, LINK.
- Chainlink has secured notable partnerships and is definitely poised to attract many more institutions from different sectors. Such activities always have positive effects on the prices of cryptocurrencies.
- Chainlink is one of a kind cryptocurrency platform that can work for many different types of businesses, as long as they have implemented smart contracts.
- LINK, the native currency of the Chainlink network, has performed wonderfully well on the cryptocurrency market. Many investors are already convinced that the coin is very valuable, and that can always have a positive effect on its price and future value.
Why You Should Think Twice Before Investing In Chainlink
Chainlink obviously has a lot going for it, but it is always a long rosy road when it comes to investing in cryptocurrencies. Here are some major reasons you should think twice before investing in Chainlink:
- Chainlink is still at an infant phase, so you shouldn't be quick to consider it in the league of bigger cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- Chainlink is still a cryptocurrency, even though it is unique and solves a major problem with blockchains. It can still be affected by the factors that influence the prices of cryptocurrencies.
Should You Play The Long-Term Game With Chainlink?
There are just so many wonderful things about Chainlink that can quickly capture the mind of an average crypto trader or investor. But does that mean a long-term investment in the coin is a wise decision?
We expect Chainlink to become a lot more useful and valuable in the future. We expect the price of LINK to rise significantly. This implies that an investment of 10 years can be really massive.
As cool as it sounds, it is important that you don't get carried away and invest more than necessary in LINK. It is still a new digital asset, and a lot can happen in ten years. Remember also that you don't necessarily have to wait till ten years before cashing. You need to watch the market trend carefully and know when to pull out to maximize profit and reduce loss.