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