TL;DR
- The SEC approved Bitwise’s spot Chainlink (LINK) ETF (ticker CLNK), enabling regulated U.S. equity market access.
- The ETF has a 0.34% management fee, waived for the first $500M in assets, with Coinbase as custodian and no initial staking.
- The announcement propelled LINK’s price over 11%, with a 45% volume increase, reflecting significant market interest.
The SEC approved the listing of Bitwise’s spot Chainlink ETF on NYSE Arca under the ticker CLNK, giving LINK a regulated path into U.S. equity markets. Filings indicate trading could begin within days. After the announcement, LINK gained over 11% on rising volume, while analysts outlined upside validation zones and nearby downside risk.
CLNK offers direct exposure to Chainlink without requiring investors to hold the token. The approval follows Grayscale’s debut of a LINK product on December 2, extending listed access to the oracle network across major financial media and brokerage rails.
The amended prospectus sets a 0.34% unitary management fee on the trust’s LINK holdings. Bitwise waives that fee for the first three months on the first $500 million in assets, lowering the effective cost at launch. Creations and redemptions occur in baskets of 10,000 shares, each tied to a specific amount of LINK, adjusted for accrued expenses and liabilities.
Coinbase serves as custodian, operating segregated LINK accounts. The document states that staking does not start at inception; Bitwise intends to file an amendment to allow staking as a secondary objective, with a dedicated “STAKING” section describing parameters for validator selection, reward handling, and risk controls.
Structure, fees, and custody of CLNK
Around the announcement, Chainlink advanced roughly 9.8% and traded near $14.18 (Coingecko), then slipped 1.5% over 24 hours on profit-taking. Daily volume rose nearly 45%, and futures data (Coinglass) showed open interest near $665 million, pointing to new position building rather than wholesale de-risking.
Bears highlight $13.20 and $12.80 as levels where sellers could regain control. Bulls look for sustained volume above post-headline intraday highs to confirm continuation. Order-book depth and spreads once CLNK opens will help judge flow quality and tracking versus spot.
Bitwise launched a spot Solana ETF in October, followed with XRP and Dogecoin products in November, and filed an S-1 for a spot Sui ETF along with an amended filing for a Hyperliquid vehicle. The pipeline signals broader listed access to major crypto assets through familiar creation/redemption mechanics and institutional-grade custody.
For institutional investors, CLNK supplies regulated access, basket operations, and segregated custody, supported by an introductory fee waiver that sharpens pricing early on. For traders, the priority centers on real volume, tracking error, and auction performance at the open and close. If LINK sustains rising turnover and CLNK holds two-sided liquidity with limited slippage, the instrument can build participation beyond headline effects and integrate into standard crypto-exposure toolkits.
