In brief:
- A vulnerability was discovered on the new DeFi project of Yam Finance.
- The news prompted a market selloff with Bitcoin falling to as low as $11,271.
- ChainLink (LINK) was also affected by the crypto-wide market selloff.
- However, LINK has since bounced back and looks set to claim the $17 price level.
Earlier today, the team at Yam Finance issued a warning that they had discovered a vulnerability in the code that governs the DeFi project. The announcement was quick and advised investors to exit their YAM/yCRV pool before a rebase at 8 am UTC. This gave YAM investors only 35 minutes to act on the recommended action prompting a crypto-wide panic. Below is the Tweet from the team at Yam Finance.
Governance proposal submitted (0x1d64875b24732bc2e8880cd0870ea8e301ddde683ce81fea418e9ab4feea90bb)
🚨 we are urgently investigating a potential flaw that would prevent proposal execution.
We strongly advise exiting the Uniswap YAM/yCRV pool prior to rebase at 8am UTC (35 mins)
— Yam Finance (@YamFinance) August 13, 2020
YAM Market Cap Crashes, Affects Entire Crypto Market
Within minutes of the Tweet, the market capitalization of YAM Finance dropped hard from approximately $475 Million to $20 million.
The rapid selling associated with the YAM finance vulnerability spread to as far as Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto markets. Due to the YAM finance incident, Bitcoin fell hard to $11,271 levels from comfortable levels of $11,600. This was close to a 3% drop but the damage spread further as Ethereum dipped to as low as $376 from$390 levels.
ChainLink Holds Steady Amidst the Yam Finance Crypto Selloff
The news of a vulnerability on the YAM finance protocol also affected ChainLink, albeit briefly. As news spread of the issue, LINK dropped to the $15.90 price level; which also happens to be a previous all-time high value set on the 12th of August.
ChainLink has since rebounded above $17 and seems set to retest its most recent all-time high value of $17.74 set today.
Can Anything Stop ChainLink in the Crypto Markets?
As mentioned numerous times, ChainLink price continues to follow a parabolic path in the crypto markets. Its chart continues to enter uncharted territory and caution is advised when going long on LINK.
Furthermore, the markets seem to be at the beginning of a crypto-wide bull market led by Bitcoin. Therefore, a continuation of this environment could provide the fuel necessary for LINK to continue on its upward trajectory.
Additionally, the developments surrounding the ChainLink project and DeFi, could provide another reason for ChainLink (LINK) to surpass Tether and maybe XRP, in terms of market capitalization.
As with all analyses of Chainlink, traders and investors are advised to use adequate stop losses and low leverage when trading LINK on the various derivative platforms.