LINK has surged by 189% since the start of 2023, outpacing Bitcoin's rise of 139%. The driving force behind Chainlink's impressive performance is the upcoming v0.2 staking mechanism, which has attracted whales to accumulate tokens in their portfolios.

According to reports, the top 200 wallets have collectively increased their holdings by $50 million worth of LINK tokens, bringing the total to $11.84 billion worth of 746.57 million LINK tokens. This accumulation by whales has coincided with a decrease in token balance, signaling bullish sentiment in the crypto market.

This indicates that investors are opting for long-term holding rather than short-term gains, reducing the pressure to sell LINK tokens. On-chain data shows that the current supply of LINK tokens stands at 102 million.

Following the introduction of the new staking mechanism, approximately 20 million tokens have been staked out of the maximum limit of 40.87 million, driving up the price of LINK tokens. As of the drafting of this article, LINK was trading at $16.11, reflecting a slight decrease of 0.73% in the last 24 hours but an increase of 11.27% in the last 7 days.

Chainlink's forecast suggests that it could end 2023 at $12.88, indicating a positive trajectory beyond current expectations. The adoption of the Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has further propelled Chainlink's growth, with major institutions like Swift and Wemade integrating the protocol.

Chainlink has gained popularity among the top ten cryptocurrencies, as evidenced by its inclusion in the list by whales due to its strong performance. With the ecosystem transitioning to Chainlink Staking v0.2, there is optimism for LINK's continued rise, especially with the Priority Migration and early access phases scheduled for December 2023.

Despite experiencing both bull and bear runs, LINK remains above the resistance mark, leading to optimism for its performance in December 2023.