The LINK price looks set for a potential 20% breakout as momentum builds from both technical patterns and growing adoption across the ecosystem.

According to data from crypto.news, Chainlink (LINK)  was up roughly 6% trading at $17.27 on May 14 afternoon Asian time, extending its rally, which began May 6, as macro conditions eased. It is now up nearly 70% from its lowest level this year, giving the token a market valuation of nearly $11.39 billion.

Open interest in LINK has also climbed sharply, reaching $768.65 million, its highest level since March 11, when it stood at $400 million, according to CoinGlass. Rising open interest typically signals increasing trader participation and heightened speculative activity, often seen ahead of major price moves.

Data also shows that the altcoin’s weighted funding rate has remained positive for the past 7 days. A positive funding rate basically means that traders going long are paying a small fee to shorts. It’s a sign that more people are leaning bullish and willing to pay up to hold their long positions.

The daily chart shows that LINK has recovered strongly after bottoming at $10.21 in April. It has now broken above the 50-day moving average, a strong sign that the bulls are gaining ground.

The token has also formed an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern, a classic setup that often signals a trend reversal. The head sits around $10, with the two shoulders near the $16 mark.

Adding to the momentum, the Average Directional Index has climbed to 20, indicating that a strong trend is starting to take shape.

Zooming into the 4-hour chart, LINK has been trading inside an ascending broadening pattern. If it manages to break above the upper boundary of that channel, it could trigger another leg higher.

Based on this setup, the next likely price target for LINK is around $20.95, which would be a 21% gain from current levels. If bullish momentum continues, LINK could push toward its year-to-date high of $27.3 in the coming weeks, further extending gains to 58%.

Ecosystem growth supports bullish narrative

Momentum on the technical front is also being matched by a series of fundamental catalysts across Chainlink’s ecosystem. New partnerships and protocol-level integrations are positioning Chainlink to capture greater utility, which could amplify demand for LINK in the weeks ahead.

Chainlink was recently picked as an official service provider for BNB Chain’s Kickstart Program. That means new projects on BNB Chain can now tap into Chainlink’s tools for data, cross-chain support, and computing, along with direct support from Chainlink Labs and co-marketing exposure.

Dolomite, a decentralized margin trading platform, also integrated Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), allowing secure, seamless transfers across Arbitrum, Ethereum, and Berachain.

Earlier last week, Chainlink also expanded its footprint with 12 new integrations of the Chainlink standard across six key services, including deployments on eight different blockchains: Gravity Alpha, Monad, NEX Protocol, Polygon, Ronin, Rootstock, Superseed, Taiko, and Zora.

Meanwhile, LINK could also benefit from regulatory tailwinds. The U.S. administration is reportedly exploring updates to crypto rules to better accommodate on-chain securities and other digital assets.

If clearer regulations come into play, that could unlock a wave of tokenized real-world assets moving on-chain, something Chainlink is well-positioned to support. More demand for tokenization could mean more projects integrating its services, which would naturally boost LINK’s utility and possibly its price.

Chainlink is also a made-in-USA cryptocurrency, which could strengthen its appeal as the Trump administration pushes for homegrown blockchain projects.