Mastercard Partnership Sparks Accumulation in Chainlink Despite Bearish Trend

Chainlink's price has been struggling to regain momentum despite the recent partnership with Mastercard. The token has remained in a persistent downtrend over recent weeks, falling roughly 9.7% over the past seven days and about 43.8% over the past year.

The Mastercard deal introduces a fiat-to-crypto gateway that routes traditional card payments directly into on-chain protocols. This development has raised questions about whether it could improve long-term sentiment around LINK, particularly as technical indicators continue pointing to weakness.

However, institutional integration and early accumulation signals suggest that larger holders have continued accumulating during the downturn rather than reducing exposure. Wallet data from Santiment shows that addresses holding at least 100,000 LINK have risen to 805, marking an 8.2% increase over seven weeks.