Swift Payments Update Causes LINK To Surge Over 10%

U.S. financial markets paused for Memorial Day, leading to a relatively quiet beginning to the week for most crypto markets. However, Chainlink (LINK), the 14th largest cryptocurrency by market cap, experienced significant growth after surging more than 10% in the past day, reaching a trading price of $18.75.

The Reason Behind The Surge

Chainlink focuses on providing decentralized oracle services. Oracles act as bridges between blockchain-based smart contracts and external data sources. They allow smart contracts to interact with real-world data, enabling a wide range of use cases such as DeFi, insurance, gaming, and supply chain management.

LINK serves as the native token for Chainlink, an oracle project operating on Ethereum, facilitating secure information transfer within and between blockchains. This surge is likely attributed to optimism among LINK holders and supporters following the announcement that Chainlink would be co-presenting with Swift, an international payments platform, at the recent Consensys conference in Austin, Texas.

Still A Ways To Go

The Chainlink network consists of nodes that retrieve data via off-chain sources, such as APIs, and deliver it securely to smart contracts on various blockchain platforms, including Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and others. This process ensures the reliability and accuracy of data inputs, crucial for the execution of smart contracts.

The aforementioned collaboration, initiated last fall, demonstrates the integration of existing infrastructure with blockchain technology. Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of the Chainlink project, expressed optimism for Ethereum and digital assets following the recent approval of Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), indicating a broader trend towards tokenization.

The recent successes of Chainlink include progress across nine different blockchains and its involvement in a tokenization pilot with DTCC, JP Morgan, and BNY Mellon. Despite these achievements, LINK still has a significant distance to cover, with a more than 64% climb needed to reach its 2021 all-time high of $52.70.