--- title: "Chainlink quarterly unlock completed; FTX sold 6.94 million DRIFT tokens." type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/281668633.md" description: "Chainlink completed its quarterly unlock, releasing approximately 19 million LINK tokens valued at around $165 million, with most transferred to Binance. Meanwhile, FTX sold 6.94 million DRIFT tokens worth about $320,000 following a security incident at Drift Protocol. In Q1 2026, crypto startups raised nearly $5 billion, with prediction markets leading investments. Additionally, Circle minted 250 million USDC on the Solana chain, and the Drift Protocol team deposited 56.25 million DRIFT tokens to exchanges. President Trump stated that a US warplane crash would not impact negotiations with Iran." datetime: "2026-04-04T01:47:18.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/281668633.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/281668633.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/281668633.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # Chainlink quarterly unlock completed; FTX sold 6.94 million DRIFT tokens. ## Headline **▌Chainlink Quarterly Unlock Completed, Approximately 19 Million LINK Flows into the Market** On April 4th, according to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, the Chainlink token unlock, which occurs every three months, was completed approximately one hour ago. A total of approximately 19 million LINK (approximately $165 million) was unlocked and transferred from three non-circulating supply addresses. On-chain data shows that approximately 14.375 million LINK (approximately $125 million) have been transferred to Binance, and approximately 4.625 million LINK (approximately $40.1 million) have been transferred to the multi-signature address 0xD50...8Af. It is reported that Chainlink typically unlocks approximately 10 to 20 million LINK tokens from non-circulating supply each quarter. The majority of these flow into Binance, while a smaller portion is transferred to the aforementioned multi-signature address and further used in the LINK staking reward distribution contract to support the distribution of staking user rewards. On April 4th, according to on-chain analyst Yu Jin, following the approximately $285 million security incident at Drift Protocol, FTX/Alameda sold 6.94 million DRIFT tokens via Wintertermute, worth approximately $320,000, six hours prior. Data shows that Alameda previously acquired approximately 8.33 million DRIFT tokens through vesting unlocks as an investor, worth approximately $6.22 million at the time; their current value has decreased to approximately $380,000. \*\*Market Updates\*\* As of press time, according to CoinGecko data: BTC price is $66,850.35, a 24-hour change of 0.00%; ETH price is $2,050.14, a 24-hour change of -0.50%; BNB price is $587.85, a 24-hour change of +0.60%; SOL price is $80.09, a 24-hour change of... rgb(0, 176, 80);">+0.70%； DOGE price is $0.09119, 24-hour change+0.80%； XRP price is $1.32, 24-hour change+0.10%； TRX price is $0.3160, 24-hour change+0.30%； WLFI price is $0.09834, 24-hour change * * * ## Blockchain Applications **▌SurfLiquid Launches AI-Powered Stablecoin Savings Vault on the Polygon Chain** On April 4th, Polygon announced on its X platform that SurfLiquid has launched an AI-powered stablecoin savings vault on the Polygon chain. Each user can have their own dedicated non-custodial account and earn returns by holding USDC through the lending market. ****▌**Chainlink-related addresses transferred 2.5 million LINK tokens to Binance, worth approximately $21.65 million** On April 4th, according to on-chain analyst @ai\_9684xtpa, three addresses with non-circulating supply of Chainlink transferred a total of 2.5 million LINK tokens to Binance in the past 4 hours, worth approximately $21.65 million. ****▌**Data: Crypto Startups Raised Nearly $5 Billion in Q1 2026, Prediction Markets Lead with Over $1.7 Billion** April 4th news, according to DLNews citing DefiLlama data, crypto startups raised nearly $5 billion in the first quarter of 2026, a 16% year-on-year decrease. However, the investment ecosystem continues to evolve, with funds flowing significantly from speculative tokens to practical sectors such as payments and transaction infrastructure. The prediction market sector led with over $1.7 billion, while payments and transaction infrastructure attracted $735 million and $423 million respectively. Top non-crypto institutions such as Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, Bain Capital, and Alibaba are also accelerating their entry into the market. The top 10 funding rounds for Q1 are as follows: • Kalshi: $1 billion, valued at $22 billion, led by Coatue Management, a leading prediction market regulated by the CFTC; • Polymarket: $600 million, invested by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a leading decentralized prediction market platform; • Rain: $250 million Series C, valued at nearly $2 billion, led by Iconiq Capital, a stablecoin payment infrastructure; • BitGo: $213 million, NYSE IPO, valued at over $2 billion, a crypto custody provider; • Flying Tulip: $206 million, public token sale, led by DeFi architect Andre Cronje, integrating trading/lending/insurance; • Whop: $200 million, Tether. Circle minted another 250 million USDC on the Solana chain 4 hours ago. According to Lookonchain monitoring on April 4th, Circle minted another 250 million USDC on the Solana chain 4 hours ago, bringing the total minted amount in the past month to 10.25 billion USDC. Drift Protocol team-linked wallet deposited 56.25 million DRIFT tokens, worth $2.44 million, to Bybit and Gate. According to Onchain Lens monitoring on April 4th, since the hacking incident, a wallet associated with the Drift Protocol team has deposited 56.25 million DRIFT tokens, worth $2.44 million, to Bybit and Gate. \*\*Important Economic Developments\*\* \*\*Trump: US Warplane Crash Will Not Affect Negotiations with Iran\*\* \*\*On April 4th, according to NBC News, in a brief phone interview, US President Trump stated that the crash of a US warplane would not affect negotiations with Iran.\*\* Trump declined to discuss the specifics of the ongoing search and rescue operation following the crash in Iran, but he expressed displeasure with some reports about the military operation, which he described as clearly a tense and sensitive matter. When asked whether today's events would affect negotiations with Iran, Trump stated that they would not. He stated, "No, absolutely not. No, this is war, we are at war." On April 4th, US President Trump posted: "Happy Easter to all, especially the 186,000 Americans who got private sector jobs in March! My economic policies have created a powerful engine of economic growth, and nothing can slow it down. Factory construction jobs have increased dramatically due to rapid localization and a surge in investment, while the trade deficit has shrunk by 52% in one year!" On April 4th, the Israeli Homeland Defense Command stated early in the morning local time that it had detected missiles launched from Iran towards Israel and was intercepting them. Air raid sirens sounded in several parts of southern Israel. (CCTV News) On April 4, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly stated in an interview with Fox News that the March unemployment rate falling to 4.3% was "good news," giving policymakers "more time" to balance the risks of both inflation and the labor market. She stated that Friday's jobs report was "really good news" and "very encouraging"; even with various confidence indices remaining low, the data indicated that "the economy and the job market remain stable"; the widening divergence in job growth was also "good news"; the labor market showed no signs of deterioration, which "gave us more time to balance risks, and the current level of monetary policy is just right for this task"; the conflict in the Iranian region could simultaneously affect inflation and economic growth, and the duration of its impact is still difficult to determine; consumers are facing pressure due to rising gasoline prices, which may affect consumer spending; the latest data shows that consumers are still spending, "indicating their confidence in the economy," she said. (Zhitong Finance) She believes that against the backdrop of a policy environment fraught with uncertainty, businesses have become more cautious, hiring intentions are cooling, and companies are increasingly inclined to protect profit margins and respond by increasing productivity rather than expanding employment. "Looking ahead, we expect the labor market to be essentially frozen in 2026, characterized by selective hiring, limited wage growth, and strategic personnel adjustments amid historically tight labor supply." Boussour predicts job growth will be slightly below breakeven, and the unemployment rate will gradually rise to approximately 4.7%. "Given the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, downside risks dominate, and the probability of a recession is 40%," she added. On April 4th, US non-farm payrolls increased by the largest amount since the end of 2024 in March, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly declined. Nick Timiraos, the “new Fed mouthpiece,” points out that this data temporarily alleviates the thorny policy dilemma of “preserving jobs versus controlling inflation.” Interest rate swap markets show that expectations for a rate cut this year have fallen from about 4 basis points before the report's release to almost zero, and bets on a rate cut next year have also narrowed. **▌Federal Reserve's Daly: The Fed should focus on the employment rate, not the number of jobs** On April 4th, Federal Reserve's Daly stated that the economy does not need to create as many jobs as before to maintain the same proportion of the population employed. In this environment, monthly hiring data no longer most accurately reflects the health of the labor market. The unemployment rate may be a better measure. ... She stated, "Ratios and indicators such as the employment-to-population ratio, unemployment rate, turnover rate, or hiring rate can reflect changes in the size of the labor force, thus providing a clearer picture of the health of the labor market." \[Golden Encyclopedia\] \[Can Bitcoin Still Be Called "Digital Gold" During Geopolitical Crises?\] Every geopolitical crisis causes gold prices to rise and Bitcoin prices to plummet. After six tests, the claim of "digital gold" has never been substantiated by data. Countries hoard gold but exclude Bitcoin from their reserves. For investors, Bitcoin exhibits asymmetry: it falls with stocks but does not rise with them. Three structural asymmetries prevent Bitcoin from achieving safe-haven status: an oversupply of derivatives (market structure), the dominance of leveraged traders (participant composition), and a lack of repeatable behavioral records (behavioral accumulation). Bitcoin is not a safe-haven asset, but it is a "crisis-prone asset," capable of functioning effectively when borders are closed and banks fail. If these three asymmetries narrow, Bitcoin may no longer be a replica of gold, but rather a completely new "next-generation gold." 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