Is Litecoin Dead, and What’s Ahead for It?

Nicknamed” The Silver to Bitcoin’s Gold,” Litecoin (LTC)is a fork of Bitcoin. It is also a very popular cryptocurrency and one of the oldest. It was released in 2011, two years after Bitcoin. Litecoin’s use case was to act as a solution to the scalability and transaction speed issues escalating on the Bitcoin network.

Litecoin currently ranks #20 in market capitalization, an impressive feat since the crypto market has thousands of other crypto asset projects. More so, $LTC has an $8 billion market cap, and one LTC is currently selling at $119. 

While all these metrics are quite promising, the LTC price range has been under the $100 mark for at least half of its lifetime. However, in the late 2017 ICO boom era, LTC crossed the $70 range and jumped to $400 in December. 

Since then, the currency hasn’t made any significant growth. Instead, it has only enjoyed mild slight swings hitting a $160 high in mid-2019. Since then, the coin’s price has fluctuated between the $30 to $80 mark. 

Consequently, you cannot compare Litecoin’s growth chart with other notable coins such as bitcoin or Ethereum. This is because LTC does not have the same on-chain metrics or high growth curve. So why are Litecoin prices stuck on the first gear? Is there any growth opportunity in store for this OG asset?

The Litecoin problem

First, there is very little developer interest in the Litecoin development protocol work. As per its Github’s rap sheet, the network’s inactivity has led to stunted capital flows. There is, therefore, a significant decrease in LTC miners.

Then, the launch of Bitcoin’s  Segwit upgrade and the Lightning Network enhanced BTC payment transaction speeds. This development harmed the Litecoin network use case. It was the beginning of its fall. 

To make matters worse, its founder, Charlie Lee, a former Google employee, gave it a massive setback. In December 2017, Charlie sold off all his LTC holdings at the height of Litecoin’s success! 

Is there hope for Litecoin?

Since Litecoin uses the Bitcoin open-source code, it also runs as per BTC protocols. Consequently, the Litecoin network also has halving events. Halvenings lower coin mining supplies, making them rarer and increasing demand. 

Then, clever blockchain-based game developers have found a new Litecoin use case. As an illustration, the RPG video game, LightBringer runs on the Litecoin network. LiteBringer is a MMORPG. However, unlike the video game MMORPGs such as God of War that run on centralized databases, LiteBringer data is stored on the LiteCoin distributed network of nodes. 

You have to purchase God of War keys to enjoy its gameplay. LightBringer is open source and free. Each player can play to earn and make a profit in $LTC. They can also trade their in-game assets and earn more $LTC on its public marketplace. 

God of War fans, on the other hand, can hunt down bargain CD keys on Gamecamp.gg. Additionally,  Litecoin is the official cryptocurrency of the Atari console. Users can buy the box with Litecoin or buy in-game purchases with the coin. 

The Litecoin advantage

$LTC is easy to spend, and its price movement correlates with that of BTC. Consequently, it is offering cheaper alternative $BTC payments. The Litecoin network could come alive once more should more shoppers use it in e-commerce payments. 

Litecoin has partnered with VISA for an LTC debit card that will accelerate adoption. Litecoin is also a popular payment crypto asset in Venezuela’s mainstream international payments system. The Remesas remittance platform supports the international LTC remittances to family members or even friends in Venezuela.

Interestingly, the Litecoin Foundation has a 9.9% share in the German WEG bank. On top of that, Grayscale, an outstanding crypto asset management service that manages more than $250 million worth of crypto assets, bought 6987 Litecoin. 

After all, LTC may not be dead since institutional investors use deep research and data-driven predictions when making their pick in the market. Lastly, Litecoin has a maximum supply of 84 million, making it an excellent investment coin. 

It is deflationary and maybe a great store of value for long-term investors, especially in these raging economic times. $LTC is accessible in all major crypto exchanges. It is also accepted by over 3000 merchants all over the globe.