Litecoin prices are up nearly 30% in a 24-hour period with price pushing beyond $10 per coin amid anticipation of the protocol upgrade, Segregated Witness or SegWit.
Over the last 12 months, Litecoin has predominantly settled under $4 per coin before it caught bullish wave in the final days of March. Prices soared, nearly doubling on March 30 to just under $8, setting a 20-month high during the day. Those strong gains continued this week, with prices now doubling over a five-day period after Litecoin’s biggest pool – F2Pool, signaled for SegWit on April 1st.
Speaking to CCN in early Feburary, F2Pool co-founder Wang Chun stated at the time: We’ll do it on Litecoin first and then make an evaluation if it is feasible on bitcoin.
Yesterday, 70% of blocks mined signaled for SegWit. At the time of publishing, that figure has trailed, slipping a little toward 68%. For SegWit to be activated, Litecoin requires 75% of the network’s hashrate to signal for the protocol upgrade. As such, Litecoin prices are at an average high of $11, altogether representing beyond a 250% gain in value since the turn of the year. Data from major European exchange BTC-e shows prices reaching as high as $12.56.
Litecoin creator Charlie Lee referenced record trading volumes of the cryptocurrency in GDAX, where price is currently near $12 per coin, calling for fiat-for-Litecoin swaps. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responded to the affirmative. The cryptocurrency exchange is notably the first trading platform to allow Litecoin buying and selling for users in New York after gaining approval by the state’s financial regulator in mid-March. Meanwhile, the Litecoin Foundation, a non-profit headed by Lee as one of its directors officially registered as a public company limited by guarantee in Singapore on Monday. Pertinently, the foundation works toward supporting Litecoin Core development besides providing financial support to the Core development team. As a result of its marked gains, Litecoin is now #4 on the overall list of cryptocurrencies by market value, with a market cap of $558 million.
Litecoin’s bullish run coincide with other altcoins’ soaring gains in recent times including the likes of Dash, Ripple, and Ethereum, altogether contributing to a thriving overall cryptocurrency market nearly scaling $28 billion in total value. Charts from CoinMarketCap and BitcoinWisdom.
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