Although this has been brewing for quite some time, the Litecoin price finally broke through the US$60 ceiling yesterday. After a few weeks of seemingly trading sideways, LTC has finally picked up the pace and started moving in the right direction. With Litecoin currently sitting at US$62.52, things are looking quite good for this particular altcoin. Moreover, the Litecoin market cap has grown substantially as well and is knocking on the door of US$3.3 billion.
Litecoin Price Surge is Pretty Exciting
Many cryptocurrency traders may recall the last time we saw some major Litecoin price momentum. After all, this particular trend took place back in 2013 during the first major Bitcoin price explosion. Similar to when Mt.Gox was artificially pumping the Bitcoin price, Litecoin experienced a bubble. At its peak, one Litecoin could be traded for just under US$34, which was considered a very high value at that time. Granted, Litecoin had virtually zero use cases and not too much in the way of technological advancements in 2013.
Since that time, we have seen a massive Litecoin price decline. Back in late 2014 and early 2015, the price hovered around the US$2 mark for a very long time. It took until early 2017 before things finally picked up again. People who purchased Litecoin at US$2 and still have it today have increased their portfolio value by 3,000%. It was not as profitable as holding Bitcoin over that time, but it still goes to show Litecoin is a solid investment regardless of what some people may claim.
That being said, we are now in the midst of a major Litecoin price surge. No one can deny good things are happening to Litecoin as we speak. Ever since the network successfully activated Segregated Witness, things have shifted into high gear. The activation of SegWit has elevated the Litecoin price to US$40 in recent months, which was considered to be a major price jump. However, it is also evident this is only just the beginning of what the future may hold moving forward. Some people expect LTC might go as high as US$100, although that may be a bit too optimistic.
Then again, the current trend toward US$60 is quite significant as well. With nearly US$1 million in 24-hour trading volume, Litecoin is certainly getting a lot of attention from global traders and speculators as we speak. The majority of trading volume comes from Korean and Chinese exchanges, which is pretty interesting. Bithumb is leading the charge, of course, but OKCoin and Huobi are also contributing their fair share of trading volume. No Western exchange even comes close to these markets; that much is evident.
That being said, it is unclear why these markets are the ones currently driving up the Litecoin price. There haven’t been any major developments related to this altcoin, other than the LND client update that will make cross-chain atomic swaps a lot more convenient in the future. Do keep in mind this technology is still in the very early stages and a lot of work has to be done before it can be turned into a viable project. It does indicate Litecoin is of keen interest to a few developers and even other alternative cryptocurrencies right now.
Speculators would like nothing more than to see the Litecoin price maintain its current momentum. One has to admit, however, that will not be easy by any stretch of the imagination. So far, there is no reason to think the Litecoin price will drop again, but cryptocurrency markets have an unusual way of correcting themselves every now and then. It will be interesting to see how things evolve over the coming hours and days. Right now, the momentum is clearly in favor of Litecoin, but there are other cryptocurrencies to take into account as well.
