U.S government taps blockchain – Here’s why PYTH’s price rallied and LINK’s didn’t!

Key Takeaways

Open Interest behind PYTH surged by 472% in the last 24 hours. On the other hand, Chainlink’s OI fell by 5.2%, proving that both oracle tokens reacted differently to a certain update.

Chainlink [LINK] and the U.S Department of Commerce (DOC) will be working together to bring macroeconomic data onto the blockchain. This, according to an announcement made on 28 August. Six data points, including Real GDP Level and Percentage Change, PCE Price Index, and Real Final Sales to Private Domestic Purchasers, would be made available initially.

The data would be updated monthly or quarterly, as applicable. This announcement will follow the steady work Chainlink has done with the government in 2025. The oracle platform has had several meetings with the SEC, while also engaging with the U.S Crypto Task Force regarding compliance networks and their importance.

In fact, Commerce Department officials have confirmed that President Trump’s administration intends to expand the program further beyond its initially limited scope.

Why is PYTH pumping, and will it continue to outperform LINK?

Pyth Network [PYTH], another oracle network, also confirmed that the DOC selected the network to distribute economic data on-chain. The government’s adoption of blockchain technology followed criticism of official government statistics, particularly employment market data.

The announcement saw PYTH’s price pump by 91% in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, LINK fell by 1.36% in 24 hours at press time. This disparity could be explained by Bitcoin’s [BTC] price action that negatively affected LINK in recent hours, as well as the relatively smaller size of PYTH.

Source: PYTH/USDT on TradingView

The 91% gains for PYTH were accompanied by a 472% explosion in Open Interest over the same period, according to Coinalyze data. This hinted at a massive spike in speculation, trading activity, and bullish conviction in the short-term.

The 1-day price chart highlighted that PYTH’s price shot past key resistances. It had a bullish structure on both the 1-day and the 1-week charts. There was a chance that the market was temporarily overbought though, especially as Bitcoin’s strength waned on its own chart.

A retracement to $0.196-$0.2 would likely offer a buying opportunity for PYTH traders and holders.

Source: LINK/USDT on TradingView

Meanwhile, Chainlink saw a 5.2% downtick in Open Interest over the last 24 hours.

While its OBV was on an uptrend, the price fell out of a short-term rising channel. Its 1-day chart was bearish following its drop below $23.6 on Monday, 25 August.