Chainlink (LINK) is about to receive its first spot ETF, as Grayscale's GLNK begins trading on December 2 on the NYSE Arca.
However, after recent altcoin ETFs failed to raise prices, investors are wondering if LINK will break the trend or become the next victim of weak market sentiment.
Grayscale advances with third ETF launch in two weeks
The launch marks Grayscale's third ETF in less than 14 days, following GDOG and GXRP, with the Zcash (ZEC) ETF also in progress.
This also reinforces the company's strategy to expand beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, targeting altcoins with strong institutional narratives.
Grayscale Chainlink Trust ETF (Ticker: $GLNK) offers investors direct exposure to $LINK. $GLNK starts trading on @NYSE Arca tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/9L31odpLPX
— Grayscale (@Grayscale) December 2, 2025
The ticker for the prospective financial instrument is GLINK, with the notice already in effect.
However, the market scenario is challenging, as recent altcoin ETFs have failed to lift the prices of Solana and XRP.
Altcoin ETFs are not driving prices—and data shows this.
Despite the initial excitement, the recently launched altcoin ETFs have underperformed as market sentiment shifted to a lower risk posture.
The SOL ETF, launched on November 13, fell 18%.
The XRP ETF, launched on November 14, fell more than 10%.
The broader liquidity of altcoins has weakened along with the decrease in ETF-driven inflows. This raises the main question for investors: will GLNK trigger a significant rise in the price of LINK or will it follow the same post-launch selling pattern?
At the time of this analysis, with just a few hours until the financial instrument's debut, LINK was trading at $12.09, a drop of nearly 1% in the last 24 hours.
Whale accumulation reveals significant losses before ETF day.
Meanwhile, Onchain Lens identified a large LINK investor who spent months accumulating the asset.
“An investor gradually accumulated LINK from the OKX and Binance exchanges. Over the last 6 months, they accumulated 2,33 million LINK for $38.86 million, currently valued at $28.38 million, facing a loss of $10.5 million,” they wrote.
The investor's address, tracked via Nansen, highlights a significant unrealized loss before the ETF's debut day. Heavy positions in loss could increase the risk of short-term selling during any liquidity peaks driven by the ETF.
However, not all signals are pessimistic.
Data from CryptoQuant shows that the circulating supply of LINK on exchanges has just dropped to its lowest level since 2020.
Analysts comment that every time this chart displays this behavior, the price does not stay low for long.
$LINK supply on exchanges just nuked to levels we haven’t seen since 2020.
Every time this chart does this → price doesn’t stay cheap for long.
Smart money has been quietly loading while CT argued about memes.
If you know, you know. pic.twitter.com/C4GiVv9DYW
— Ronnie M Green (@ronniemgreen) December 2, 2025
Historically, decreasing balances on exchanges have heralded major rallies for Chainlink, as reduced supply often tightens available liquidity during periods of high demand. The timing, just hours before the launch of GLNK, is significant.
Tomorrow, the debut of the Chainlink ETF creates a rare crossroads:
Bearish forces: weak performance of altcoin ETFs, negative market sentiment, large whale positions in loss.
Bullish forces: reduction in supply on exchanges, sustained long-term accumulation, and an imminent exposure to the traditional market via GLNK.
For investors, the critical window will be the first 72 hours of ETF trading, when flows, volume, and sentiment will reveal whether GLNK is a catalyst or just another ETF launch overshadowed by macroeconomic pressures.
In any case, Chainlink enters this week as one of the most watched altcoins in the market.
The article 'Chainlink ETF nearing debut and pressure builds: can LINK finally reverse the decline?' was first seen on BeInCrypto Brazil.
