Chainlink’s price has experienced a significant surge today, reaching over 12% growth in the last 24 hours and trading around $24.45. This impressive rally is fueled by whale accumulation and increased institutional interest. A notable $21.25M buy order by a large entity shortly before the pump highlights this trend. 8-month high levels for large transactions over $100k were also recorded on August 16th, suggesting significant involvement from institutions. Furthermore, decreasing LINK exchange balances (down 5.2% this month) indicate fewer tokens available for selling pressure. The positive momentum is driven in part by Chainlink’s partnership with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, which integrated real-time forex and precious metals data into Chainlink’s Data Streams. This collaboration positions Chainlink as a key player in institutional DeFi and tokenized assets, a market expected to reach over $30 trillion in value. However, this surge is not entirely smooth sailing. Crypto expert Ali points out that LINK price just failed at the mid-channel resistance on the chart, potentially suggesting a pullback towards $20 before a new breakout attempt. Despite this, the overall chart structure favors the bulls, and the near-term focus is on the support level of $20. If this support holds, the path to $30 and beyond appears promising.