The Legend Lives On

Before this year draws to a close Litecoin would have celebrated its 12th birthday. That’s right, very few of the early altcoins are still around, let alone ranked at number 15 according to market cap. Many have often dismissed Litecoin due to its lack of development. However, LTC is advancing in its own unique way, and remaining in the Top 20 is a clear indication of that. A coin that truly has no value doesn’t last long.

There has also been a lot of criticism regarding Charlie Lee selling his bags at the top of the 2017 bull market. However, as a decentralized blockchain, that shouldn’t be an issue, and furthermore, it’s mostly just jealousy. People tend to hate those “smarter” than them. Face it… it was an excellent execution, almost perfect. I have always enjoyed Lee’s manner… cool, calm, and unfazed by criticism.

I remember watching a debate between him and Roger Ver of Bitcoin Cash. The way in which he dealt with Ver was rather commendable. For many in Crypto, it’s solely about the money. They forget that certain qualities destroy wealth and opportunity, while others encourage and nurture it. Litecoin continues to display an extremely healthy level of volume. In many instances, significantly higher than coins ranked above it.

Upcoming Halving

Litecoin is one of the few PoW coins that actually benefits from its halving. The previous BCH halving had little to no effect. However, the last LTC halving had a rather significant effect on the price. Litecoin does seem to operate rather differently in terms of its halving in that it appears to be much more of a psychological event, in that the previous two halvings saw the price beginning to appreciate a few months prior to the halving.

Looking at the previous halving, Litecoin rallied for months going into the halving. According to an article by CoinDesk, LTC saw significant appreciation during the first four months of 2019. Remember, this was still bear market terrain.

• January – 3.8%
• February – 46.3%
• March – 31.15%
• April – 22.00%

Those are significant gains for a top-tier altcoin. Furthermore, if you think that LTC is unable to produce gains, think again. From the last cycle bottom to cycle peak, LTC managed to muster up a return of 1800%… not bad for a dinosaur. The screenshot below clearly displays how LTC begins rallying a few months prior to the halving.

I expect this halving to be no different. Judging by past performance, LTC is on the cusp of a fresh rally leading into its next halving, which is approximately 3 months away. Too bad it’s kicking off in May. You know the old saying, “Sell in May and go away”. Anyway, I am still expecting a relatively good performance from LTC over the course of the next few months.

Wallet Growth

The network continues to experience a steady increase in the creation of new wallet addresses. Taking a look at the second largest blockchain network, Ethereum, in relation to Litecoin reveals just how strong Litecoin’s demand actually is.

The creation of new wallets on Ethereum has been ranging between 100K to 120K, while in the case of Litecoin, it’s more in the region of 120K to 220K.

It’s also important to remember that ETH has smart contracts and DeFi as significant drawcards. While, at this stage, LTC is solely being used as a payment and privacy coin.

Massive Adoption

At the tail-end of 2021, LTC was accepted by more than 50 million merchants. Litecoin is also the second most transacted Cryptocurrency on BitPay, the world’s largest Crypto payment processor. In actual fact, 25% of all transactions on BitPay are performed with LTC. Getting things done is a lot more important than “hype”. Remember, this is exactly how ChainLink went from nowhere to a top-tier altcoin.

LINK was one of the top performers of 2020 and in many ways a forerunner in the 2021 bull market. Litecoin continues to grow in real-term metrics, as well as adoption. The fact that it is not reflected in the price yet is actually a good thing. However, I don’t believe that will be the case for long, expect anticipation of the halving to kick in soon. All the best, see you next time!