- Saudi Awwal Bank leverages Chainlink to develop regulated on‑chain financial applications.
- Exchange reserves of LINK have fallen to multi‑year lows, suggesting accumulation.
- LINK price has held support near $23 but faces strong resistance around the $25 level.
The Chainlink token LINK remains anchored near $23 as strategic partnerships expand and exchange balances drop to multi‑year lows.
A mix of growing institutional adoption, a move into AI infrastructure, and a tightening token supply has set the stage for a potential breakout, although traders remain cautious at key resistance levels.
Saudi Awwal Bank partners with Chainlink for blockchain finance
Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB), one of the kingdom’s largest financial institutions with over $100 billion in total assets, has signed an agreement with Chainlink to begin building regulated on‑chain financial applications.
SAB’s developers will use Chainlink’s Cross‑Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) and Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE) to create tokenized applications that can connect Saudi markets to global blockchain networks.
Saudi Awwal Bank (@alawwalsab), one of Saudi Arabia’s largest banks with over $100 billion in total assets, is leveraging several Chainlink services to facilitate the deployment of next-generation onchain applications in Saudi Arabia.
Under the innovation agreement, SAB is… https://t.co/DAvUawI3Yg pic.twitter.com/Zhlm1GJdGp
— Chainlink (@chainlink) September 16, 2025
The agreement aligns with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030, which aims to diversify the economy beyond oil revenues.
Through the partnership with Chainlink, SAB is paving the way for tokenized capital markets in Saudi Arabia—an industry estimated to exceed $2.3 trillion locally.
This move could accelerate the rollout of regulated blockchain infrastructure across the region and position Chainlink at the center of institutional finance in the Middle East.
Chainlink’s institutional push dovetails with AI expansion
The Saudi deal follows another strategic initiative.
On September 16, Chainlink announced it had joined the AI Unbundled Alliance led by AethirCloud, a program designed to advance Web3 infrastructure for artificial intelligence.
As part of the initiative, Chainlink will offer its CRE platform to developers building AI‑driven decentralized applications, and it will fund hackathon prizes and targeted grants.
By joining the alliance, Chainlink has broadened its role from supporting decentralized finance (DeFi) to enabling verifiable AI workflows across both blockchain and traditional systems.
This expansion increases Chainlink’s appeal and positions LINK as a core infrastructure token for the next phase of Web3 adoption.
Declining LINK reserves point to accumulation
While headlines about adoption are encouraging, on‑chain data may offer an even clearer signal.
The number of LINK tokens held on centralized exchanges has dropped from nearly 200 million in 2023 to about 158.1 million as of September 2025.
$LINK on exchanges hit a multi-year low while the biggest institutions on the planet are adopting Chainlink pic.twitter.com/0g78TjNZDu
— Quinten | 048.eth (@QuintenFrancois) September 16, 2025
The steady decline reflects accumulation by long‑term holders and reduces the supply available for immediate sale.
In prior cycles, sharp drops in exchange reserves often preceded major rallies.
This trend, combined with increasing institutional partnerships, strengthens the bullish case for LINK despite recent market hesitation.
Specifically, shrinking reserves signal tighter liquidity, which can amplify price moves if demand increases.
Price outlook for Chainlink suggests a possible breakout
The current mix of supply tightening, expanding institutional use cases, and Chainlink’s entry into AI infrastructure creates a constructive backdrop for LINK.
Short‑term sentiment remains cautious, but the longer‑term setup favors growth as demand converges with reduced token availability.
At the time of writing, Coingecko reported LINK trading at $23.28 with a market capitalization of $15.79 billion.
Over the previous 24 hours, LINK traded between $23.18 and $23.73 and has risen more than 119% year‑over‑year.
Nevertheless, it still sits about 55% below its all‑time high of $52.70 recorded in May 2021.
Technical indicators point to a consolidation phase, with LINK maintaining support above $23.
Bulls face significant resistance around $25; a decisive daily close above that level could open the path to $26.10 and higher.
If adoption in Saudi Arabia accelerates and the AI alliance gains momentum, traders expect Chainlink could overcome resistance and target higher levels, with some analysts citing $52 as a possible milestone by year end.
On the downside, a break below $23 risks a pullback toward $20 or even $19.53, which analysts view as important support zones.