cLINK wallet

What is cLINK (CLINK)?

Supplying LINK to Compound v2 returns cLINK. LINK is Chainlink's ERC-20 token, the one node operators are paid in for delivering data on chain; cLINK is a lending receipt over it and does nothing of the sort. It cannot pay for an oracle service, cannot be handled by contracts that expect LINK, and turns back into LINK only through a redeem call against the cLINK contract, paid for in ETH.

As with the other receipts of that generation, the balance itself is inert: the token count does not change, the contract's exchange rate against LINK does, and the receipt uses 8 decimals where LINK uses 18. Sending cLINK moves the underlying position to the recipient.

One point about geography. LINK exists on many networks, in bridged form and in Chainlink's own cross-chain form, and holders are used to seeing it in several places. cLINK is not like that: it exists only as an Ethereum contract, so any balance labelled cLINK belongs on Ethereum and nowhere else. Tangem keeps balances listed per network and states the network of an outgoing transfer on screen before the card signs, which is the moment to read it and be sure the destination is an Ethereum one. Knowing exactly which chain a token is sitting on is a small thing that argues for keeping cLINK here.

Supported networks in Tangem (1): Ethereum.