LINK is the most interesting crypto project out there given the recent news from the financial world. What does everyone else think?

Here’s my thought process:

LINK is the leading oracle to verify data both on and off chain data, and will be necessary to be able to send data across blockchains. It has the most partnerships/integrations by far, and it’s focused on the single goal to solve the oracle problem.

I personally feel that financial institutions, private companies, and even governments will continue to develop their own digital currencies. We’ve just seen an example of that in the private space with PayPal. I believe that LINK is currently sitting in the best position to serve as the central point connecting all the various chains and providing interoperability to legacy financial institutions upgrading to blockchain or connecting the traditional finance world to new or existing blockchains.

WHY LINK?

It’s the market leader as an oracle with thousands of integrations and existing partnerships. The partnership that is most interesting to me is their partnership and recent test with SWIFT. For those who don’t know, SWIFT is a comprehensive messaging network that banks and other financial institutions use to quickly, accurately, and securely send and receive information, such as money transfer instructions. It powers most of the world’s international banking transactions today.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/050515/how-swift-system-works.asp

SWIFT is kind of unique as a business in that it isn’t a private company, but it is a member owned cooperative controlled by its shareholders which are worldwide financial institutions and it’s overseen by G10 countries. Given that G10 countries oversee SWIFT, to me this is a glowing sign that says G10 members may have given an initial green light to explore blockchain tech and already see LINK as a potential trusted partner. For reference G10 countries include: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States

SWIFT is absolutely crucial in global finance and the fact that they are testing a partnership with a blockchain company is an incredible step towards broader adoption with Chainlink at the center of it all. The efficiency that stands to be unlocked with blockchain and a network like Chainlink is probably the most exciting development/use case in crypto to me.

Even recently, Chainlink just announced it will also be partnering with DTCC, the organization that runs the exchange of securities in the US between buyers and sellers, and functions as the central depository for custody of securities.

They are clearly stating their interest in exploring the tokenization of securities and how securities will be traded in the future, also considering Chainlink as a partner in that process.
Source: https://www.dtcc.com/industry-connection/2023/september/11/swift-unlocks-potential-of-tokenisation-with-successful-blockchain-experiments

Why is this a big deal? The DTCC processes QUADRILLIONS of dollars annually:
Source: https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/quadrillion-dollar-corporation-at-the-heart-of-the-financial-system-20150707-gi6w7b

Even just today, as we saw on the front page, CITI bank is launching is own private chain:
Source: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230918024720/en/Citi-Develops-New-Digital-Asset-Capabilities-for-Institutional-Clients

Guess who has already run tests with CITI as part of the SWIFT network partnership? You guessed it, it's LINK.
Source: https://decrypt.co/154434/chainlink-swift-complete-tokenization-tests-with-citi-bank-bny-mellon-others

If LINK can become the trusted blockchain data source for global financial institutions and the securities market, the ongoing need for a supply of LINK would be massive. Additionally, both the SWIFT and DTCC organizations already charge fees for their services, so to me, it would be completely reasonable for Chainlink to enter the picture and charge LINK fees for blockchain interoperability.

Given the fact that I don't see much LINK related news here, I am genuinely curious, what's everyone's opinion? Is everyone else excited about this from a technology stance or am I just being overly speculative?

The common FUD I hear is that until the staking program matures, the token isn't necessary for the network to function. I can understand why this makes LINK a speculation at this point, but to me, it is actually admirable that they're building, testing, growing, and verifying the network before focusing on monetizing the native token. To me it follows a common tech company playbook, which is sort of a build and grow exponentially, and then flip the profitability switch on when you're ready.

Obviously, these are just my own opinions and speculations about the future of crypto. Would love to hear everyone's opinion here, positive or negative, emphasis on the negative, because I like hearing opposing viewpoints.