Markets don’t punish failure—they punish patience.
$LINK sitting near $8 isn’t a verdict on relevance, it’s a reflection of timing. While price drifted, Chainlink kept shipping: CCIP expanded cross-chain settlement pilots and staking v0.2 tightened circulating supply without chasing hype.
On the chart, a bounce from ~$7.15 formed on declining sell pressure, not panic volume. Fundamentals moved forward while attention moved elsewhere.
Conclusion: infrastructure doesn’t trend fast, but it rarely disappears. Chainlink