BCGAME - Free 5BTC Daily Bonus!Altcoin has yet to recoup its losses and hit the all-time high seen in May, but it appears to be on track to regain momentum, rising 79% to $187,32 with the July drop. recent and how much is litecoin worth?
In this article, we will discuss:
What is litecoin and how does it differ from other cryptocurrencies?
Launched in 2011, the cryptocurrency litecoin is the result of a bitcoin fork. It's the brainchild of Charlie Lee, a former Google and Coinbase engineer. The purpose of Litecoin is to improve Bitcoin's transactional performance, making transactions faster and cheaper.
Given its heritage, litecoin shares many functionalities with bitcoin, such as a fixed amount of tokens in circulation. While there is a maximum of 21 million bitcoins that can be mined, the litecoin cap is 86 million. There are currently around 67 million LTC in circulation. An important similarity between the Bitcoin and Litecoin blockchains is that they are both powered by proof-of-work (PoW) consensus.
Despite their shared heritage, Bitcoin and Litecoin use totally different cryptographic algorithms: Bitcoin uses the famous SHA-256 while Litecoin is built on an algorithm called Scrypt.
Litecoin price history in 2021
The currency started the year at $124,67. In line with the broader cryptocurrency markets, litecoin has been fighting a volatile journey with several factors that drive performance.
While cryptocurrency has not yet spread to everyday transactions, two high-profile payment networks have started making it easy to use this year. On March 30, the currency was accepted into PayPal, a move that sent the LTC skyrocketing. It went from $194,47 on March 30 to $310,61 on April 16, almost a 60% increase in 17 days.
The rally was in line with digital asset manager CoinShares Capital Markets, which launched a physically-backed cryptocurrency exchange-traded product (ETP) and a new LTC ETP in early April. At launch, each unit of the ETP was backed with 0,2 LTC.
On May 10th, the currency price broke the $400 barrier, reaching a record intraday high of $413,6. The next crash in the broader cryptocurrency market pulled the LTC down, however. On May 19, it lost nearly 50% of its value after starting the day at $294,61 and dropping to an intraday low of $151,17 in just a few hours. Since then, the currency has traded below the $200 level.
Litecoin got another boost on Aug. 10, when payment app Venmo announced that its 60 million users could now receive litecoin cashback rewards through its new “Cash Back to crypto” feature. The announcement, however, did not have much influence on the currency's price, raising it by a shy 12%, from $165,46 on Aug. 10 to $186,31 on Aug. 22.
litecoin pros
1. Liquidity
Litecoin's market capitalization of $11,44 billion makes it the 16th most valuable cryptocurrency according to the CoinMarketCap 🇧🇷 This translates to strong liquidity, with an average daily trading volume of $1,96 billion. High liquidity means better trading conditions like tighter bid-ask spreads and therefore a higher litecoin value.
2. Performance
Litecoin is faster and cheaper than bitcoin. Bitcoin transactions, on average, take less than nine minutes to verify. By comparison, Litecoin cryptocurrency transactions only take about 2,5 minutes, more than three times faster than its more famous counterparts. In theory, the faster transaction pace should give litecoin a comparative advantage in retail usage, although, as noted earlier, this hasn't happened yet.
Litecoin is also cheaper to use than its big brother. While a typical bitcoin transaction costs at least two dollars and often goes up to $60, an average Litecoin transaction costs just $0,022. Widespread retail adoption of the cryptocurrency could be a positive for Litecoin’s future price.
Litecoin cons
1. Brand awareness
As litecoin is the result of a fork of bitcoin, its name is not well known. Although litecoin is one of the 16 most valuable cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, some investors only see ether as a true alternative to bitcoin. This means that litecoin is often lumped together with other altcoins such as XRP.
2. LTC is losing market share
LTC may be liquid, but the number of people investing in litecoins is decreasing relative to the rest of the market. LTC is losing market share as the digital currency universe expands.
During the 2017 bullrun litecoin ended the year as the fifth largest encryption by market capitalization. According to CoinMarketCap, it now ranks 16th, with a market capitalization of $11,44 billion against $65,47 billion for the fifth-largest currency. Will litecoin increase if its market share continues to decline? The answer is not clear.
3. The creator of Litecoin has sold all of his LTC
On December 20, 2017, LTC founder Charlie Lee announced in a post on Reddit that he is selling and donating all of his possession of litecoin, explaining that the decision was due to a potential conflict of interest because, by owning the encryption and tweet about her, he could accidentally manipulate the market.
“Whenever I tweet about the price of litecoin or even just good news or bad news, I'm accused of doing it for personal benefit,” Lee said in the post. “In a way, it's a conflict of interest for me to hire the LTC and tweet about it because I have a lot of influence,” he added.
On December 19, 2017, just before Lee's announcement, LTC peaked at $370,78, which completed a ten-day streak of near-consecutive daily earnings with encryption enjoying a 281% increase between 10 and December 19th. However, after the announcement, the LTC suffered a series of lower highs and lower lows, losing 65% on February 5, 2018 from its December peak.
In the world of traditional finance, a founder selling all his stake in an asset would be a clear signal of danger to investors. Litecoin has underperformed the big names in cryptography since Lee sold off its holdings – since February 2018, the price of litecoin has risen 57,5%. In comparison, bitcoin increased 545,87% and ether 345% in the same period.
Litecoin Price Forecast: What's Next for the Currency?
Litecoin (LTC/USD) forecast appears to be positive in the short term. The latest data from CoinCodex shows 22 technical indicators giving bullish signals, while ten are pointing to the bearish side. Based on the price data for August 24, Litecoin’s support levels are at $183,82, $180,74, and the strongest at $177,16. Similarly, Litecoin’s resistance levels are at $190,48, $194,06, and $197,14.
Litecoin price forecast: 2021
Product comparison site Finder interviewed 42 fintech experts on the topic of litecoin projections. His consensus prediction was that the LTC would be worth $266,43 in December 2021. But that doesn't mean his prediction would prove correct.
Litecoin price forecast: 2025
The litecoin halving event is expected to take place in August 2023. Typically, these types of events herald increases in cryptographic values, but the medium-term outlook for litecoin appears to be pessimistic. LongForecast sees litecoin trading between $156 and $180 in September 2025.
Litecoin price forecast: 2030
Given the high volatility of the crypto markets, long-term price forecasting can be challenging, however, CoinPriceForecast sees the digital currency trading between $537 and $562 by 2030.
It is important to note that forecasting services can make their predictions wrong. Always use your own judgment and research before making any trading or investment decisions. And never invest more than you can lose.
Frequently asked questions
Is Litecoin a good investment?
Possibly. Litecoin has numerous advantages such as high liquidity, short transaction time and relatively low transaction cost. Brand recognition is still lagging, and its market share is declining.
Will litecoin go up?
In the short term, the Finder research found that an average litecoin price projection based on a survey of 42 fintech experts was for the cryptocurrency to reach $266,43 in December 2021. In the long term, the forecast based service LongForecast's algorithm sees the price reaching between $156 and $180 in September 2025, while CoinPriceForecast predicts that digital currency will rise between $537 and $562 in 2030. Note that cryptocurrencies are volatile instruments and forecasters often get theirs wrong. predictions.
How (and where) to buy litecoin?
To buy litecoin, you must first subscribe to a cryptocurrency platform – a main exchange, a decentralized exchange or a peer-to-peer exchange. Examples of leading exchanges include Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and Currency.com. These platforms allow users to purchase digital currencies with trust money or other encryptions. Common payment methods include credit and debit cards.
