US Banks’ Pilot Program Propels LINK Price Up 6%, Details

The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has partnered with blockchain oracle Chainlink and several prominent banking institutions in the United States to conduct a successful pilot aimed at accelerating the tokenization of funds. 

The collaboration has not only paved the way for the adoption of blockchain technology in the traditional asset management sector but has also had a significant impact on the price of Chainlink’s native cryptocurrency, LINK, which has surged past the $14 threshold.

Major Asset Managers Join DTCC And Chainlink

The pilot, called Smart NAV, was developed by DTCC to explore the extension of its Mutual Fund Profile Service I (MFPS I), an industry-standard platform that transmits “Price and Rate” data, also known as “NAV data.” 

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By leveraging Chainlink’s cross-chain interoperability and blockchain abstraction capabilities, the pilot aimed to investigate the potential of on-chain price and rate data as a key enabler for new initiatives, particularly in the realm of mutual fund tokenization.

To evaluate the industry value of a DLT-based price and rate dissemination solution, DTCC collaborated with asset managers, service providers, and distributors, including American Century Investments, BNY Mellon, Edward Jones, Franklin Templeton, Invesco, JPMorgan, MFS Investment Management, Mid Atlantic Trust, and State Street. 

On-Chain Data Delivery For Fund Tokenization

According to the announcement, the results of the pilot were positive. The collaboration between DTCC, the US banking institutions, and Chainlink reportedly showed that structured data can be delivered on-chain, enabling the embedding of foundational data into multiple on-chain use cases. 

This capability has far-reaching implications, including supporting brokerage portfolio applications and facilitating real-time, automated data dissemination. Moreover, Smart NAV aims to provide built-in access to historical data and simplify the relay of price and rate data through new interfaces for data consumption.

Furthermore, the pilot reportedly achieved several key milestones, including validating user interfaces and applications that leverage on-chain data, establishing automation of data routing through smart contracts for dynamic data management, and preventing future fragmentation through Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). 

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Ultimately, the DTCC stated that the partnership with Chainlink has played a key role in the success of the Smart NAV use case. By providing an abstraction layer through its cross-chain interoperability capabilities, Chainlink has facilitated “seamless” transmission of data across multiple blockchains. 

This approach eliminates the need for DTCC to establish individual connections to each blockchain, mitigating costs and operational complexities while ensuring data accessibility and optimization.

Bullish Momentum For LINK 

As of the time of this press release, the LINK token has successfully surged above the $14.88 mark, experiencing a notable 6.8% increase in price since the initial announcement on Thursday. 

Data from CoinGecko indicates that the token’s trading volume has also seen a significant surge of 17% in the last hours, reaching a substantial figure of $400 million. 

However, for LINK to recover from its 72% losses from its all-time high of $52.70 reached in May 2021, it faces two key resistance levels as shown on the token’s daily LINK/USD chart above. 

These resistance walls are located at $15.18 and $17.8 respectively, before potentially moving towards the $20 mark. It remains to be seen whether the current bullish momentum will persist and further propel the price of LINK beyond these levels.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com