The wild ride continues for Litecoin, as the popular alternative cryptocurrency topped the US$50 mark for the time in a while. This upward trend appears to be a repeat of the 2013 LTC price surge, albeit without a trading bot on the Mt. Gox exchange inflating the prices right now. The impending addition to Bitstamp certainly has a lot of people excited, that much is evident.
LITECOIN TOPS US$50 AFTER NEARLY FOUR YEARS
The history of Litecoin is a bit of a hit-and-miss. At the end of 2013, the currency saw a sudden price jump, which ultimately peaked around US$50.27. At that time, that was an enormously high value for Litecoin, considering Bitcoin was worth less than that not too long prior. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear the price movement was not natural by any means. Instead, it was sheer manipulation by the Willy bot, which also impacted the Bitcoin price.
Earlier today, the LTC price surpassed US$50 again, although it was only for a very brief period. It is good to see this popular currency get some of the positive attention it deserves. The Litecoin rice has been hovering around the US$4 mark for quite some time until it finally bucked the trend in March of 2017.The sudden activation of SegWit on the network has brought a lot of positive attention to Litecoin, that much is evident.
The bigger question is whether or not this upward momentum can be sustained. Getting listed on Bitstamp is a major feat, but it may not necessarily increase the price. Seeing the BCoin developers port Litecoin to their own creation in the form of LCoin, on the other hand, is the type of news that can move the markets with relative ease. The only thing needed right now are merchants and service providers willing to integrate this new solution.
So far, the bullish LTC price momentum can mainly be attributed to Chinese and Korean traders. This situation has not changed at all compared to a few days ago. It is evident cryptocurrency is booming in both of those countries right now, and demand for Litecoin is increasing steadily. OKCoin and Huobi combine for nearly US$400m in 24-hour trading volume, which is quite spectacular. No other exchange is even coming close. The first exchange trading LTC against the US Dollar is GDAX, with US$41.45m in trading volume.
Litecoin enthusiasts are very excited right now, which is only to be expected. Things are finally falling into place for this particular ecosystem, which has been long overdue. It will be interesting to see how LTC fares once we get closer to August 1st. With the UASF and UAHF getting closer to activation, Bitcoin could see some major changes, including a potential chain split.Should that happen, it is not unlikely more people will flock to Litecoin as a safer alternative.