Bank-Linked Altcoins: Does Bank Money Ever Reach the Token?
Quant, Hedera, Algorand, Ondo and Chainlink rallied on bank news in late September. Bullrunners asks which tokens actually capture any of that bank money.
Key takeaways
- According to the video, none of the five late-September bank announcements required a bank to buy the related token.
- A partnership headline without a path for money to reach the token tends to fade, and most of these coins pulled back after September 28.
- The video ranks Chainlink first because the Chainlink Reserve uses company revenue to buy LINK on the open market.
- Ondo faces an unlock of about 1.94 billion tokens on January 18, 2027, which the video says adds almost 40% to circulating supply.
- Before buying on a bank headline, check whether the deal needs the token, how much supply is still locked, and how far the price has already run.
Between September 21 and 28, 2026, almost every crypto tied to bank news rallied. Quant more than tripled after America’s largest banks picked its technology. Hedera, Algorand, Ondo and Chainlink followed, each attached to a familiar name: NVIDIA, IBM, the New York Stock Exchange, BlackRock and a payments company that serves hundreds of banks. XRP, the coin many holders were told the banks would come for, ended the week roughly where it started.
In a Bullrunners video, host Ryan Huggins argues that the useful question is not which coin got the biggest headline. It is whether any of the bank money has a way back to the token. According to the video, none of the five announcements says a bank must buy the coin, and that changes how each one should be judged.
Why didn’t XRP move with the bank coins?
The video’s answer is that banks can use the XRP Ledger without ever buying XRP. It points to May 7, when JPMorgan, Mastercard and Ondo used the XRP Ledger to settle a tokenized treasury trade in under five seconds. XRP fell that day to around $1.40 and, almost five months later, was still near that level.
The host adds some balance: XRP was up almost 50% from about $1 in August. But next to Quant’s move and Hedera’s single-day jump, it lagged. The same logic, the video argues, applies to every coin on the list. Using a network is not the same as buying its token.
The one question behind the ranking
The video ranks five non-XRP coins by a single test: does the bank money have a way back to the coin? Its reasoning is that a token that rises on a headline, with no mechanism linking usage to demand, usually gives the move back once the news gets old. The host notes that almost every coin on the list had already pulled back after September 28.
| Coin | Late-September catalyst (per the video) | Do users need the token? | Supply note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hedera (HBAR) | NVIDIA AI agent system, IBM ID badge for AI agents | No | About 43.8B of 50B circulating |
| Algorand (ALGO) | New CEO’s NYSE TV interview | No | Over 9B of 10B circulating |
| Ondo (ONDO) | BlackRock-built Intelligent Portfolios | No | 1.94B unlock on Jan 18, 2027 |
| Quant (QNT) | The Clearing House tokenized deposit deal | No | About 14.6M, almost all circulating |
| Chainlink (LINK) | Bottomline route to 600+ banks, Sibos launch | No, but revenue buys LINK | About 748M of 1B circulating |
Number 5: Hedera (HBAR)
Hedera had the loudest run but, per the video, the weakest link to bank money. HBAR rose 30% on September 28 when NVIDIA unveiled a system for keeping AI agents in line, and four companies from Hedera’s governing council appeared on its partner list. A few days earlier, IBM put a Hedera-based ID badge for AI agents in its cloud store.
The video’s caveats: NVIDIA’s announcement never names Hedera, and neither deal requires anyone to buy HBAR. With about 43.8 billion of 50 billion HBAR already circulating, there is no scarcity story either. Buyers at the 13-cent top were down more than 20% the next day. HBAR was around 10 cents at recording, and the video says it would need to rise more than five times to reach its 2021 peak.
Number 4: Algorand (ALGO)
Algorand’s own CEO has said the money may not reach the token for years, according to the video. Algorand hired its new CEO away from Chainlink at the end of August, and he gave a live TV interview at the New York Stock Exchange on September 29. ALGO rose about 10% the day the appearance was announced.
In a community AMA (ask-me-anything session) on September 26, he said the goal is for the Algorand Foundation to become a net buyer of ALGO within five years through paid services. That implies the foundation is not a net buyer today. One of his 2027 goals is bringing large companies onto Algorand without them needing to hold ALGO at all.
Over 9 billion of 10 billion ALGO circulate. The video put the price around 12.4 cents, about 96% below its 2019 all-time high of $3.50, and already about 10% off its September 29 high.
Number 3: Ondo (ONDO)
Ondo has the biggest name attached but, per the video, the biggest supply problem. On September 24, Ondo launched Intelligent Portfolios: three investment portfolios built by BlackRock for Ondo, letting investors outside the US hold a whole BlackRock strategy as a single token. ONDO jumped more than 25% that day and reached almost 61 cents on September 28.
Buying those portfolios does not require the ONDO token. And on January 18, 2027, about 1.94 billion ONDO unlock, which the video says adds almost 40% to the circulating supply on a single day. A token unlock is when previously locked tokens become free to trade, which can add selling pressure. ONDO was around 49 cents at recording, roughly 20% below its high.
Number 2: Quant (QNT)
Quant has the strongest deal on the list, according to the video, but no requirement that anyone buy QNT. The Clearing House, owned by America’s biggest banks and settling more than $2 trillion a day, picked Quant on September 24 to run the technology that moves tokenized deposits between banks. A tokenized deposit is an ordinary bank dollar represented on a blockchain. The network is planned to launch in the first half of 2027.
The press release never mentions the QNT token. Quant prices licenses in QNT, but clients can pay in stablecoin, and Quant then locks QNT from its own treasury. So a bank can sign up without anyone buying QNT on the market.
With only about 14.6 million QNT, almost all circulating, one press release pushed the price from about $67 to $373. The host notes that small supply cuts both ways: buyers at the top were down almost half the next day. QNT bounced to $329 on September 30 and was trading around $250 to $260 at recording.
Number 1: Chainlink (LINK)
Chainlink ranks first because, per the video, it is the only coin of the five with a system that turns company revenue into buying the token. In early September, Bottomline, a payments company serving more than 600 banks and moving over $16 trillion a year, gave those banks a way to settle cross-border payments on Chainlink’s network. On September 28, at Sibos, SWIFT’s main annual banking conference, Chainlink launched a new version of its system for moving tokenized money between blockchains.
Banks still do not need LINK to use any of it. The difference is the Chainlink Reserve, which uses fees large companies pay to buy LINK on the open market, much like a company buying back its own shares. The Reserve held just over 6 million LINK, almost double its end-of-March balance.
The video is clear about the risk. About 748 million of 1 billion LINK circulate, with the rest in Chainlink’s own wallets. In June, one of those wallets sent 18.4 million LINK to Binance, about three times everything the Reserve had bought. The buying is real, the host says, but it is still smaller than the selling it has to outrun. LINK was around $14 at recording, about 73% below its 2021 high of $52.70.
A checklist for judging the next bank headline
The video’s framework can be applied to any coin that rallies on partnership news:
- Read the actual announcement. Does it name the token, or only the company or technology?
- Ask whether a bank or client must buy the token to use the service.
- Look for a mechanism that sends usage revenue back into token demand, such as a buyback reserve.
- Check circulating versus total supply, and find the dates of any large unlocks.
- Check how far the price has already moved from before the news and from its recent high.
- Note that, per the video, the people who profited from these moves were already holding before the headline, not chasing after it.
What to watch next
The host calls September only “round one,” since The Clearing House network is not planned to switch on until the first half of 2027. Holders following these coins can watch for more named bank deals, the Chainlink Reserve’s balance against any further transfers from Chainlink wallets, and the ONDO unlock on January 18, 2027. For XRP holders, the same test applies: watch whether bank use of the XRP Ledger ever comes with a reason to hold XRP itself.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Quant (QNT) rise so much in September 2026?
According to the video, The Clearing House, which is owned by America's biggest banks, picked Quant on September 24 to run the technology that moves tokenized deposits between banks. QNT went from about $67 on September 21 to a high of $373 on September 27, then fell almost half the next day.
Do banks have to buy QNT, LINK, HBAR, ALGO or ONDO to use these networks?
No, according to the video. In each of the five announcements, a bank or company can use the technology without holding the token. Quant, for example, lets clients pay licenses in stablecoin.
What is the Chainlink Reserve?
The video describes it as a system that takes money large companies pay to use Chainlink and uses it to buy LINK on the open market, similar to a share buyback. It held just over 6 million LINK at the time of the video, almost double its end-of-March balance.
When is the Ondo token unlock?
The video says about 1.94 billion ONDO unlock on January 18, 2027, adding almost 40% more to the supply in circulation on a single day.
Why didn't XRP rise with the other bank coins?
The video argues it is the same reason as the others: banks can use the XRP Ledger without buying XRP. XRP sat around $1.40, though the video notes it was still up almost 50% from about $1 in August.
Education and commentary only, not financial advice. Crypto is volatile and you can lose money. Do your own research and speak to a qualified advisor before making investment decisions. Figures and quotes are as reported in the video on October 11, 2026 and may have changed since.
