Crypto currency analysts indicate that a new Chainlink (LINK) exchange-traded fund (ETF) is expected to launch soon. As companies move beyond blockchain ETFs to real-world asset tokenization, LINK tokens are benefiting in the tokenization space.
Ark Invest’s Accumulation
Ark Invest’s ETF partner 21 Shares currently owns 693,639 LINK tokens. The ETF provider offers these tokens to institutional investors, suggesting that there is already a market for the Chainlink ETF. According to ARK CEO Cathie Wood, 21Shares could become the world’s largest crypto ETF provider. Additionally, 21Shares integrated Chainlink’s Proof of Reserve to verify Bitcoin assets for Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETFs. Ark could pay external data providers in LINK to ensure accurate information about its Bitcoin assets. Therefore, other cryptocurrencies’ ETFs could be secured through LINK rewards, creating a new use case for the token.
The new demand is also reflected in LINK’s rising price. On February 12, 2024, LINK reached its highest level of the year at $20, while the Grayscale Chainlink Trust, which tracks the LINK price, recently hit $125. The Trust’s operator, Grayscale, was one of the first to step into the crypto ETF space and launched the first regulated Bitcoin transaction intermediary for institutions. The company also applied to convert its Ethereum Trust into an ETF. Thus, it could be the first firm to offer a fund that directly tracks the LINK price.
Institutional Investors Turn to LINK
As institutions look beyond ETFs to blockchain tokenization, the price of LINK could rise even further. Chainlink CEO Sergei Nazarov recently told Bloomberg that after the excitement over crypto ETFs, institutions could create a unique token economy, stating:
Banks are essentially going to create another securitization wave, but now it will be called tokenization, and there are many things that can be tokenized, from money market funds and interest-bearing assets to more advanced technology items like carbon credits, real estate, and private equity tokenization.
