I was struck by a recent article arguing that litecoin has some advantages over bitcoin.
This was a common enough refrain a few years ago when we weren’t really sure what was going to happen with cryptocurrency, but it’s now a far less fashionable claim. The value discrepancy between the two currencies is simply so great that litecoin has developed something of a “little brother” association that can be difficult to shake (and which doesn’t bode particularly well for an asset aiming at a robust future).
Again, the claim might have been more in tune with public thinking a few years ago. Around that time, one analysis of some of the then-prominent altcoins stated unequivocally that litecoin was the most popular of them all. It was the silver to bitcoin’s gold or the Robin to bitcoin’s Batman depending on which metaphor you prefer, and it seemed as if it would go wherever bitcoin went, if not in actual value then in trends. And to some extent, it has don’t just that. However, litecoin’s regular trading well under $100 looks weaker and weaker the longer bitcoin stays in the thousands. And with other options like bitcoin cash and ethereum far closer to bitcoin’s value than litecoin is, it’s hard to say as definitively that litecoin is the second most popular cryptocurrency anymore.
But is litecoin actually trending up?
Forget about day-to-day movement and instead focus on the bigger developments impacting this long-prominent altcoin. As a September 5, 2018 write-up put it, litecoin was nearing $70 amid multiple positive developments. These developments included:
Potentical Casa Integration – Casa is a bitcoin infrastructure firm that has announced it will be supporting litecoin as of Q4 2018, evidently helping to make the Lightning Network on litecoin available to the public.
Abra Integration – Abra is essentially an alternative to Coinbase and is now allowing fiat-to-cryptocurrency transfers, including support for both bitcoin and litecoin.
A Litecoin Summit – This has been buzzed about for some time. It will take place in San Francisco and focus largely on the aforementioned Lightning Network as well as general scaling of bitcoin and litecoin.
Again, casting aside day-to-day price movements, these developments paint an interesting picture of an altcoin that may be getting a few boosts toward the end of the year. That doesn’t mean the price is going up astronomically or even necessarily going up at all, but it could give litecoin a boost in the increasingly competitive altcoin landscape.
If you’re interested in investing in LTC, check out our guide on how to buy Litecoin online.
