Two major altcoins are turning heads in the market right now. And both of these are crypto whales’ favourite alts. One is Chainlink, and another is Cardano ADA.
Link has jumped 40% since Aug 2025, while ADA is up 13% since Aug 2025. But crypto whales are equally bullish about these alts. Which of these two powerhouses should you focus on for the rest of 2025? Who’s positioned to come out on top? Let’s dive in!
1) Cardano (ADA)
Crypto whales have been accumulating large quantities recently, with over 150 million ADA accumulated by whales within a few weeks in August 2025. This accumulation often happens off exchanges, moving tokens into long-term wallets, signaling strategic, non-speculative buying. Why is this happening?
Whales scooped up 180 million Cardano $ADA over the past 48 hours! pic.twitter.com/ZkfCIhXkMW
— Ali (@ali_charts) August 22, 2025
Reason #1
Anticipated U.S. SEC approval of a Cardano ETF, with approval odds rising to around 87% significantly attracts institutional money. And the final approval date for this has been set to the final ETF decision deadline, set for October 26
ETF approval would enable easier, compliant access to ADA for large investors and funds
🇺🇸 SEC’s deadline to approve or deny the Grayscale Cardano $ADA Trust ETF is October 26, 2025.
• On Polymarket, current approval odds are at 87%
• Bloomberg analysts estimate 75% odds of approvalDo you think it will get approved? pic.twitter.com/mhTTNyQu32
— Cardanians (CRDN) (@Cardanians_io) August 29, 2025
Reason #2
The schedule goes hand in hand with the CLARITY Act, expected to pass the U.S. Senate around October, which stands to unlock sidelined capital from institutions waiting on regulatory clarity.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 Congressman Hill says there is overwhelming bipartisan support for the crypto market structure bill (Clarity Act). 🚀
“Hope to see it done in the next few weeks.” pic.twitter.com/3H71rwZd3j
— Bitcoin Archive (@BTC_Archive) September 3, 2025
Reason #3
Adding fuel, markets expect a base-case of 50 bps in U.S. interest rate cuts before year-end, starting as soon as September, with the potential to stimulate new demand for risk assets like cryptocurrencies and ADA tops that list.
JUST IN 🚨: The odds of a September rate cut now stand at 96% pic.twitter.com/xwr3HRRjx9
— Barchart (@Barchart) September 3, 2025
Reason #4
The biggest news for the Cardano army in 2025 was the Glacier airdrop. Following that will be the Midnight Mainnet event launch, which is expected to happen by the end of 2025. The Midnight mainnet launch will occur in Q4 2025, following the airdrop claim window, and represents a major update to Cardano’s capabilities and ecosystem. Midnight acts as a Layer 2 sidechain, offloading transactions from Cardano’s main chain, thus significantly improving scalability and throughput
Also, Midnight supports multi-chain asset functionality, allowing wrapping and movement of assets across eight blockchains through its NIGHT token airdrop, facilitating cross-chain synergy and expanding Cardano’s ecosystem reach. Midnight brings privacy features through zero-knowledge proofs, scalable Layer 2 sidechain architecture, cross-chain interoperability, and governance utility tokens to Cardano, collectively enhancing its competitiveness, usability, and appeal to institutional and privacy-focused users.
BREAKING: Midnight has opened the claim portal for the Glacier Drop 🔥
A free $NIGHT token distribution is now live for 33.6 million eligible addresses across $ADA, $BTC, $ETH, $XRP, $SOL, $BAT, $BNB, and $AVAX.
Cardano $ADA holders are eligible for the largest share. pic.twitter.com/itxmHygKpG
— Cardanians (CRDN) (@Cardanians_io) August 5, 2025
This is a huge happening in Q4 of 2025, and that is why whales are bagging in as much ADA as they can.
2) Chainlink (LINK)
Chainlink has seen significant developments and bullish momentum in early September 2025, with major partnerships, government collaborations, and technical signals supporting its upward trend.
1.25 million Chainlink $LINK bought by whales in the last 48 hours! pic.twitter.com/hX4I7Ep7jg
— Ali (@ali_charts) September 2, 2025
Whales acquired approximately 1.29 million LINK tokens (~$31 million) in mid to late August, concentrated in single addresses through large transfers, indicating strategic accumulation. Why have they been accumulating?
Reason #1
U.S. Government Partnership: The U.S. Department of Commerce will begin publishing key economic data (like GDP and PCE Price Index) on blockchain platforms including Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Optimism, using Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). This move positions Chainlink as a trusted data source for government metrics and sets a new standard for blockchain transparency.
🚨 BREAKING: @chainlink is partnering with the U.S. Department of Commerce to bring official government data on-chain, a first-of-its-kind move that sent the LINK token surging over 5%. pic.twitter.com/l6R7DpGr5W
— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) August 28, 2025
Reason #2
ETF Filing: Bitwise has filed for a spot Chainlink ETF with the SEC, signaling increasing institutional interest and validation of Chainlink’s technology from the traditional finance sector. And we could see an ETF approval coming in on Oct 26, 2025.
👀 CRYPTO ETF FLOODGATES: Pages of crypto ETFs are lined up at the SEC—$SOL, $XRP, $AVAX, $LINK, $SEI, $SUI, $DOGE and more.
Next wave is multi-asset and alt-focused. 🚀
Source: Bloomberg pic.twitter.com/TisSOBvrk9
— CryptosRus (@CryptosR_Us) August 29, 2025
Reason #3
SBI Group Partnership: Japanese financial giant SBI has partnered with Chainlink to develop cryptocurrency tools and infrastructure for banks and financial institutions across Japan and the Asia-Pacific, with a focus on tokenized real-world assets and stablecoin validation
🚨BREAKING: Chainlink partners with Japan’s $200B SBI Group to push “crypto adoption across global markets.”🌏
Chainlink’s CCIP protocol will be used to tokenize RWAs such as real estate and bonds.
Bullish for LINK?🚀 pic.twitter.com/5oGhXoaWGk
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) August 25, 2025
Reason #4
Recent Disney Collaboration: Disney has initiated work on a personalized content engine using Chainlink, further broadening the tech’s mainstream adoption.
1/@Disney is quietly building a real-world content engine.
In July, they patented a system where digital assets unlock real-world outcomes.
Today’s filing levels it up, bringing that personalization inside the vehicle.
And yes, they cited $LINK.
— Arca (@arcamids) September 2, 2025
Cardano and Chainlink together
Charles Hoskinson announced – Cardano and Chainlink are working on a strategic partnership focused on integrating Chainlink’s oracle infrastructure into Cardano’s unique UTXO-based blockchain model to enable real-world data access for Cardano smart contracts and DeFi applications.
Who will win?
This is a close competition, and it is going to be very difficult for us to pick one of the two. Although Link has had very promising partnerships and adoptions, we might see ADA witnessing a higher price pump because of the ADA army and whales. Let us know ywhat ou pick for the rest of 2025.
Disclaimer
The information discussed by Altcoin Buzz is not financial advice. This is for educational, entertainment, and informational purposes only. Any information or strategies presented are the thoughts and opinions of the writer/reviewers, and their risk tolerance may differ from yours. We are not responsible for any losses you may incur due to any investments directly or indirectly related to the information provided. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are high-risk investments; therefore, please conduct your due diligence. Copyright Altcoin Buzz Pte Ltd.
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