Litecoin was always nicknamed the silver to Bitcoin's gold.
In the early days, Litecoin used to be the 2nd largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin - this was before Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies were even around.
At the end of 2013, during the first "Bitcoin Bubble", Litecoin hit a record value of $42.
For the last 2 and a half years, the price was then floating below $10, sometimes even as low as $2.
But now, it seems like Litecoin is back, and booming after its Lightning Network Integration!
After Litecoins continuous rise from about $4 in spring this year to about $44 in July, it managed to rise far beyond its previous all-time high, and set a new record of $86 !
For everyone following the cryptocurrency prices, you will know that this is spectacular.
I still remember Litecoin around $2 for absolutely ages, and now seeing it so close to $100 is crazy!
Litecoin has risen 22.87% in the last 24 hours, 69.56% in the last 7 days, and almost 2000% since the beginning of the year!
Three Reasons for Litecoin's sudden rise
1) SegWit & Lightning Network
Litecoin was actually the very first cryptocurrency (before Bitcoin!) to adapt SegregatedWitness and the Lightning Network. These are technologies to essentially improve and speed up the network.
The main factor that led to Litecoin's sudden meteoric rise in the last 24 hours was a tweet from yesterday from Litecoin creator Charlie Lee.
He stated that Lightning was functional on Litecoin, by posting a screenshot of a Lightning network-enabled Zap wallet.
These are major news for Litecoin, as users have been eagerly awaiting the implementation of the Lightning Network which will enable almost instant transactions.
Today, Lee actually posted another update, confirming the first successful Litecoin transaction on the Lightning Network.
Again, these are MAJOR news, and another reason why the price has spiked so much even in the last 12 hours alone.
2) Traffic on Asian markets
After this promising tweet by Litecoin's creator, the LTC trading volume rose significantly.
But especially the Asian markets suddenly boomed on Litecoin trading, which had a direct impact on the price development.
South Korean exchange Bithumb LTC/KRW pair hosted almost 22% of worldwide litecoin trading volume, while other Asian exchanges like Chinese OKCoin and Huobi were also handling impressive amounts of 16% and 13%.
These three markets alone were accountable for trade volumes of over $779 million.
GDAX on the other hand, the largest LTC/USD pair, experienced 11,5% traffic and $174 million in volume.
3) Litecoin ATM's
In addition to all this positive press, the company Bluegrass Bitcoin has now added Litecoin to their ATM's (or should I say, BTM's).
These local machines enable users to quickly buy cryptocurrency right there on the spot.
The number of cryptocurrency ATMs that feature Litecoin has more than doubled in July 17 only.
Countless firms like Bitcoin of America, Rockitcoin and Athena Bitcoin added Litecoin to their almost 100 machines across the US and Canada.
Currently, the US markets account for more than half of the world’s litecoin integrated cryptocurrency ATMs.
Conclusion / Outlook
So in conclusion, Litecoin -the silver to bitcoin's gold- has had a meteoric rise in the last few days.
It surpassed $85, more than doubling its former all-time high from 2013 and almost showing a 2000% rise year to date.
The main factor for this sudden rise is the implementation of the Lightning Network, which allows for instant transactions with barely any fees.
This is a game-changer and an event users have been waiting for for months!
So where will Litecoin go in the next few weeks, or until the end of the year?
No one can say for sure.
Even Litecoin creator Charlie Lee himself was surprised that Litecoin surpassed $75 this quickly:
In my opinion, Litecoin will always remain superior to other altcoins simply due to its history and standing as the "silver" of cryptocurrencies. The meteoric rise will probably end at some point once the buzz about lightning has calmed down, but I still believe Litecoin will be a very valuable asset for the future.
What do you think about the Lightning Network and Litecoin's sudden rise? Do you hold any LTC ?
© Sirwinchester
This is great news and you presented it well! Next up...Atomic Swaps combined with Lightning Network. That would be huge for cryptos. I'm one of the long term holders that watched my LTC drop from $20 to around $2.00 and sit there for YEARS. I can't believe how quickly things changed this year alone. Exciting times...finally!
I knew litecoin should be about $150 -$300 per each right now and felt it was under valued for a long time. But even I am surprised at how quickly we have moved. Its quickly becoming the silver standard to bitcoin again where it belongs.
yeah... I think in that case Doge equals the copper and ETH equals the steel.... what do you think?
You're right. This articles lays out nicely the reason why liyecoin is a solid crypto. Most of the others are just hyped up, really offering nothing new.
Great. Thanks for sharing. I vote for you and begin to follow you. And Resteemed...
Thank you for the support, much appreciated !
thanks for sharing
you're welcome, glad you enjoyed it :)
Great post!
The sub-caption will be: Don't wait to be buy Litecoin; rather, buy Litecoin and wait
Exactly ;) that's a good one!
It is about time that cryptos become instantaneous!
They are moving in the right direction. Sure wish I had already picked some up.
Better late than never!
True! I think Litecoin still has a lot of potential and probably a great future ahead.
I think so!
I was hoping for a bit of a pull back, but definitely great things in store for Litecoin!
Ltc will reach 200$ very soon
$1,505,070,000 in Volume (24h) its num pump/dump it is a serious move to the Moon
wow, LTC on $200 would be amazing! Yes it's really going to the moon!
Great post as always. Its a pleasure reading and following u .
Thank you so much! Happy to hear that, I appreciate it!
Thanks for this :)
very informative and the first i heard of litecoin ATM's will see much more development im sure.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! Yes I think cryptocurrency ATM's in general will become a LOT more popular in the future.
I was lucky enough to buy some LTC at 4$ - I think it's a reliable Bitcoin alternative and I'm hodling for sure ;-)
Nice, I think I have to get into litecoin now before I miss out, this was how bitcoin started
thanks for sharing it. Litecoin is a excellent coin.
I wish I could have even 1 LTC on my wallet. I dream of bitcoin before but never achieve now the LTC. I dont know if I could buy 1
No one expected the rise of this currency so quickly at the beginning of the year was a dollar and today is trying to rise to 70 dollars
Great post! Now I know even more about Litecoin. Thank you for this. :)
September is for Litecoin and ethereum ....go go go
Great post, very informative..!!!
In Charlie we trust
Really good analysis sirwinchester!
Bright days are coming :D
I moved (some of) my BTC to ETH so I can top-up my crypto card without paying the higher BTC transaction fees.... this post made me wish I moved to LTC instead... haha!!
Like @bitcoinflood LTC is becoming the silver of Bitcoin...
sollte ich mir noch mal in ruhe betrachten.....
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