Who are the “LINK Marines”? Unveiling the fan base of Chainlink

LINK Marines: The most dedicated supporters and defenders of Chainlink tokens.

LINK Marines are the most loyal holders and supporters of Chainlink LINK tokens. This community began to form around 2017 on the /biz/ forum of 4chan. They became known for using the Pepe the Frog avatar, adhering to the principle of “Didn’t Read, Not Selling,” and loudly defending Chainlink against critics. Today, this community focuses primarily on the progress of Chainlink’s collaboration with banks and market infrastructure. As of October 14, 2026, the price of LINK was $12.87.

Where did LINK Marines come from?

This community originated from the anonymous business and finance section /biz/ on 4chan. According to Decrypt and Cointelegraph, in 2017, a person named “Assblaster” claimed to have internal information about Chainlink and issued warnings, after which he disappeared without a trace.

Since then, Chainlink has become closely associated with the Pepe the Frog meme. “Many people discussing Chainlink include images of Pepe the Frog,” said Tyler Ward, CEO of Sanctum, to Cointelegraph. He noted that the rise of Chainlink has become “a kind of cult-like phenomenon on 4chan.” Chainlink is a sensor network that inputs external data such as asset prices into the blockchain, allowing smart contracts to utilize these data. Members of LINK Marines early on believed that this technology would become a core infrastructure.

How can one be identified as a LINK Marine?

Membership is informal, but the culture has its own distinct traditions.

Cultural characteristics

In the description of this group in 2020, the following characteristics were mentioned:

• Pepi’s avatar: The members use frog avatars as a common identifier.
• “Unread, no sale”: This is an unofficial slogan used to respond to any criticism of LINK.
• Rank system: The ranks range from private soldier to sergeant, and are tied to the number of LINK tokens held by each member.
• Spirit of research: Members delve into code and metadata in Telegram groups, looking for signs of potential partnerships.

Co-founder Sergey Nazarov has the nickname “Five-star General”.

The most famous Marine:

The most famous Marine user’s name is ChainLinkGod. In 2020, he referred to himself as “the link between Chainlink and the Marines”, saying, “Anyone who says they aren’t motivated by money is lying.”

Later, he revealed his true identity—Zach Rynes. According to his X profile, he currently works on Chainlink’s strategic initiatives team.

Why did the Marines make headlines in 2020?

LINK’s strong performance in 2020 made this community a focus of attention. The token price rose from $1.80 at the beginning of the year to $16.64 on August 12, 2020.

That summer, the hedge fund company Zeus Capital released a report titled “Exposing Chainlink’s Fraud”, referring to Chainlink as “Wirecard of the cryptocurrency world”. The report revealed that Zeus Capital was shorting LINK. On August 6, 2020, Zeus released its second report, claiming that Marines were hired supporters who coordinated attacks against critics.

Marines responded strongly, accusing Zeus of colluding with Nexo, Chainlink’s partner at the time. Nexo denied this claim. Decrypt also reported that critics, including researchers from Nexo, suffered from online harassment. This incident left Marines with a reputation that was both loyal and aggressive.

What are Marines currently focusing on?

Recent news about Chainlink mainly relates to the traditional financial sector:

CCIP 2.0

On September 28, Chainlink updated its cross-chain interoperability protocol (CCIP). New additional verification layers were added, along with tools for filtering transactions based on sanctions lists.

Swift Collaboration

On the same day, Chainlink released a framework that allows banks to connect to Swift’s blockchain ledger. Swift launched this ledger in July, enabling pilot projects involving tokenized deposits with 17 banks, including HSBC, Citigroup, UBS, and Wells Fargo.

Fulcrum

On September 30, Chainlink introduced a cross-chain repurchase tool called Fulcrum, allowing institutions to use tokenized assets for lending purposes.

DTCC Collaboration

At the Sibos 2026 conference, Dan Doney and Nazarov from DTCC introduced DTCC's Collateral AppChain platform. This platform will utilize the Chainlink Runtime Environment. DTCC announced this initiative in May, with the goal of launching it by the fourth quarter of 2026.

Conclusion:

LINK Marines has evolved from a subreddit on 4chan to becoming one of the most recognizable fan communities in the cryptocurrency world. They are known for their “frog memes,” staying committed despite criticism, and their deep research into Chainlink’s partnerships. Currently, their projects are implementing cross-chain messaging systems, connecting banks with Swift accounts, and providing tools support for DTCC’s collateral platform.