LINKChainlink: history, founders and key events
From Sep 2017 to today, every major rally, crash and upgrade, each with a dated, sourced price.
Open the interactive timelineLatest close in our data: $12.77 (Coinbase Exchange LINK/USD daily close, 2026-10-14).
Origin story
Chainlink is an oracle network: it brings outside data such as prices onto blockchains so smart contracts can use it. Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis published the whitepaper with academic Ari Juels in 2017 and sold LINK in a September 2017 token sale.
Chainlink price feeds went live on Ethereum mainnet in May 2019 and now secure much of DeFi. LINK pays node operators and is used for staking.
Founders: Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis.
Source: Binance LINK/USDT daily closes 2019-01-16 to 2019-06-26; Coinbase Exchange LINK/USD daily closes 2019-06-27 to 2026-10-14. Fetched Oct 14, 2026 from free public APIs. Click a dot for the event and its price on that day.
Browse by year
Key events
- Sep 19, 2017launch
LINK token sale
Chainlink raises about 32 million dollars. - Jan 16, 2019milestone
First daily close in our data $0.4895 (Binance LINK/USDT daily close, 2019-01-16)
Our sourced LINK price history begins on this day. - May 30, 2019launch
Chainlink mainnet $1.00 (Binance LINK/USDT daily close, 2019-05-30)
Oracle services go live on Ethereum. - May 9, 2021rally
Highest close in our data $52.34 (Coinbase Exchange LINK/USD daily close, 2021-05-09)
The highest daily close for LINK in our price history. - Dec 6, 2022upgrade
Staking v0.1 $7.13 (Coinbase Exchange LINK/USD daily close, 2022-12-06)
LINK holders can stake to back the network. - Jun 19, 2023crash
Lowest close after the peak $5.13 (Coinbase Exchange LINK/USD daily close, 2023-06-19)
The lowest LINK close in our data after its highest close.
Updated
Sources
Facts written in our own words. Last checked Oct 14, 2026.