Known by many as the Silver of cryptocurrency with Bitcoin being the Gold, Litecoin continues to gain traction. Interestingly, the mechanics of Litecoin mimics Bitcoin with a max supply of Litecoin at 84,000,000 and the max supply of Bitcoin at 21,000,000. Unlike other cryptocurrency, Litecoin enjoys substantial industry support, trading volume and liquidity making it a proven medium of commerce comparable to the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum. Litecoin has also been given the tag "boring" for its snail-like movement compared to Bitcoin volatility however, things has changed in the last couple weeks with the cryptocurrency going parabolic of late. Here are some of its stats.
From the graph above you can see that Litecoin is trending higher with periods that extends from days to weeks of consolidation, rock-like with very little changes in price. Like Bitcoin, Litecoin enjoys some impressive 1 year statistics. Litecoin has seen a +$84.22 increase in price since last year giving it an impressive growth of +2238.95%. Depending on your investment investment in Litecoin last year, that would leave you with a return of+2238.95% greater. As it approaches a historical and psychological mark of 100USD per coin, I believe the party is just getting started. Three possible catalyst moving forward are
- SegWit and CSV Activation
- Successful Lightning Network transaction
- Organized and supportive team
Today there was much media frenzy celebrating the first Lightning Network transaction and what was highlighted were the fact that it was "fast" and "cheap". This certainly goes well with good media advertising and marketing of the Litecoin brand and I expect this to continue. I came across another interesting proposal from Charlie Lee with regard to SegWit activation on Bitcoin and the benefits it brings to Litecoin. While there is still much to be desired on SegWit activation on Bitcoin, it is a worthy note with regard to Litecoin
It is on this very note, providing that SegWit becomes a success on Bitcoin that I can see Litecoin at 500USD in 2018. As Bitcoin approaches 5000 and beyond, it should give further boost to the likes of Litecoin providing that they can successfully managed channels on both Bitcoin and Litecoin simultaneously. This would greatly impact Litecoin trading volume and liquidity and increase the buying pressure.
Certainly one can entertain another point, "if you are a buyer of Gold, then you must consider Silver". In other words, if you buying Bitcoin base on its mechanics, then you must consider Litecoin with a max supply of 84,000,000. The Mathematician may consider 1/4 and get excited with Bitcoin price of USD5000.00. We must also be reminded that we are within a very competitive space, there are over 900+ cryptocurrencies vying to be number 1. Much of this market isn't fuel by company or project fundamentals but by speculation and sentiment.
The cryptocurrency party continues, its not just Bitcoin breaking and making records, we have the likes of Litecoin that is throwing a great party, breaking and making records.