Wrapped Chainlink (Universal) wallet

What is Wrapped Chainlink (Universal) (ULINK)?

uLINK is a claim on LINK rather than LINK itself. The Universal protocol issues it as a plain ERC-20 on Base, backed one to one by LINK sitting in institutional custody, and holders can mint it by delivering the underlying collateral or burn it to take the collateral back.

The distinction matters more here than with most wrapped assets. Native LINK is an ERC-677 token: the transferAndCall behaviour is what lets Chainlink services be paid in a single transaction, and it is what oracle contracts expect. uLINK has none of that. It will not pay for a data feed, VRF request or any other Chainlink service, and a contract written for LINK will not accept it. Treat it as a Base-native representation of LINK's value that plugs into lending markets and swaps, nothing more.

The ticker is also a trap on a price screen. LINK, uLINK and the various bridged LINK tokens on other chains all quote against the same underlying, but they are different contracts with different redemption paths, and a transfer address for one is meaningless for another.

A wrapped position like this is often opened once and then left alone for a long stretch. Tangem generates and stores the private key inside the card's secure element, where it stays even while signing, and a second identical card kept somewhere else restores the same wallet if the first is lost; writing down a seed phrase remains your choice rather than a requirement. For a holding you intend to forget about for months, that is a comfortable arrangement.

Supported networks in Tangem (1): Base.