Which Altcoin Are Whales Secretly Accumulating Ahead of the Next Market Move?

Large holders, specifically those with wallets containing between 100,000 and 1 million tokens, have been consistently accumulating Chainlink (LINK) throughout 2025. On-chain data from Santiment indicates this trend, suggesting a renewed confidence in one of the cryptocurrency space's established utility projects.

Over the past 12 months, these "whales" have increased their holdings by a total of 40 million LINK. This represents a 28% increase in the total amount held by this segment of investors, with 103 new addresses joining this category. The accumulation has accelerated recently, with 12.9 million LINK purchased in the last six months and an additional 8.7 million LINK acquired in the past three months. Even within October alone, large investors bought 2.8 million LINK, demonstrating sustained conviction despite overall market volatility.

Analyst Ali, identified on Twitter as @ali_charts, observed that whales acquired 13 million LINK in the past week. He characterized this activity as "a clear sign of accumulation" preceding potential upward price movements. Historically, similar patterns in Chainlink's whale activity have been precursors to significant price recoveries, particularly during periods of consolidation when retail investor sentiment remains neutral.

Beyond Chainlink: Other Altcoins Gaining Whale Attention

While Chainlink is a prominent example, whale positioning across other top-performing altcoins suggests a broader shift towards infrastructure-focused projects. Avalanche (AVAX) and Sui (SUI) have both experienced increased inflows from large wallet holders. This surge is attributed to their expanding developer ecosystems and ongoing enterprise blockchain initiatives.

Hedera (HBAR), another cryptocurrency consistently ranking high in Santiment's development activity metrics, continues to attract institutional interest. This attention stems from its strategic partnerships in areas such as tokenized assets and payment solutions.

This growing emphasis on utility and interoperability tokens reflects a discernible change in whale behavior. Instead of pursuing speculative trends, major investors are concentrating their resources on assets with demonstrable long-term network value. These are the blockchains that are foundational to the development of decentralized finance, tokenized assets, and cross-chain communication.

As Santiment's report concluded, "consistent accumulation by whales and sharks signals good signs of things to come." With LINK, AVAX, SUI, and HBAR leading this trend, it appears that significant investors are identifying their preferred assets for the next market cycle well in advance of broader retail adoption.