Altcoin Chainlink (LINK) is back at the center of the agenda on crypto social channels, hitting a five-week high in social volume. The increase was recorded after the project updated its Data Streams infrastructure to provide US stock and ETF prices in near real-time, 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Santiment data shows that even while the broader market is under pressure, attention is particularly focused on Chainlink’s “infrastructure” narrative. While the tone of commentary has become increasingly cautious over the same period, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan maintains that the LINK coin is still severely underrated.
Data Streams Update Brings LINK Back to the Showcase
Chainlink’s Data Streams upgrade aims to enable DeFi protocols to monitor pre-market, regular session, post-close and overnight trading in US markets. The system has been expanded to stream U.S. stock and ETF prices in “near-near” real-time on a 24/5 cycle; Thus, it is aimed to reduce the significant constraints in moving traditional financial markets to blockchain.
According to Santiment’s latest findings, the jump in social volume occurred while the overall market remained weak. The data indicates that participants are discussing Chainlink as the infrastructure stone of tokenization and on-chain finance, rather than a regular altcoin that moves in the same rhythm as Bitcoin.
In the same data set, a regular change was observed in the ratio of buy-oriented expressions compared to sell-oriented expressions in the last month. The fact that bearish comments are approaching levels not seen for more than a year shows that high interaction alone does not mean optimism; It shows that the discussions are increasingly shifting to a more cautious framework.
Developer Momentum and the “Deep Value” Debate
On the development activity side, Chainlink stands out by far on various metrics. It is reported that by many metrics, including weekly “important GitHub events”, it is positioned as the most developed project in the DeFi space, and these indicators have been rising steadily since launch.
While market sentiment is leaning towards caution, some industry names think that the project valuation does not reflect reality. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said Chainlink is one of the most important but most misunderstood crypto assets, and may even be “deeply undervalued.” It is noteworthy that the comments coincided with a period when Bitwise’s quietly launched Chainlink ETP saw limited early volume compared to Bitcoin ETPs.
According to Hougan, many investors simply label Chainlink as a “data oracle”; However, he describes the project as a rapidly growing software platform that connects blockchains to each other and to real-world data and systems. In addition to its emphasis on dominant market share, it supports main sectors such as stablecoins, DeFi, tokenization and prediction markets; It also points to adoption by institutions such as SWIFT, JPMorgan, Visa, Fidelity and DTCC.
