The "Sliver" to Bitcoin's "Gold". Once upon a time it was first in line to inherit the market cap throne from BTC. Today it's clawing onto market cap position number six - for now.
Honestly I don't see a particularly bright future for Litecoin (LTC). This is why:
Look at the graphic above. You've seen it everywhere, haven't you? Banks, online stores, fuel stations, peer to peer networks - only you haven't, have you? Because while Litecoin is certainly well known in crypto circles, it's nothing like big brother BTC, and it's starting to become a little pointless...
In a time when there were far fewer cryptocurrencies, things looked good for LTC. Take a look at this CMC snapshot from 28 April 2013:
That's all that appeared on coinmarketcap at the time. Seven cryptos. With LTC firmly in spot number two.
Of course things are a little different now:
Still, sixth place out of 1634 isn't bad at all! But what's the future for LTC?
The reality is that LTC is a one trick pony. It's a currency. That's it. No fancy utility, not a security, no tricks up its sleeves. But it no longer has the low cost currency market cornered. Ripple has passed it, Bitcoin Cash swooped in from nowhere and obliterated it. There is a plethora of faster, newer, cheaper, more advanced coins (such as Nano) and privacy coins (such as ZCash, Monero, DashCoin, PIVX...) waiting to also swoop in and steal what is left of LTC's lunch.
No LTC, you do not. The stillborn infant of LTC was (sadly) not to be. Hype surrounding it generated a brief resurgence in interest for LTC, but that has since faded. This leave LTC with a major problem: NO PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION. That's a disaster from a business marketing point of view.
LTC's strongest remaining card is probably that its relative old age and low fees have resulted in fairly widespread adoption. But how long can that last as a competitive advantage?
Pure currencies are not what they once were. In the early days of crypto, "payments" were the major use case on everyone's mind. That's changed! Blockchain tech has grown rapidly and major uses now include medical records, logistics, exchanges, privacy, decentralised networks and the dreaded platforms.
Platform coins, a firm favourite of mine, are all around LTC in market cap. Slowly, one by one, they will push it lower down the ladder. EOS - already done it; Stellar, Iota, Cardano, Tron, Neo - all just waiting for the next bull run. As their popularity grows, so LTC's will wane. There is no way that a coin that's own founder has sold all of his holdings in it can compete with powerful competitors like that.
And it won't end there. Monero and Dash can play the privacy card, they should eventually pass LTC too, NEM, Ethereum Classic and Qtum are also platforms, less powerful than the top ones, but also going to grow. VeChain is a logistics monster coin that will grow enormous, Binance coin is the coin of one of the largest exchanges (and has some exciting future plans), Tether is the king of stable coins and OmiseGo is an all singing, all dancing finance wizardry coin.
Where does that leave an elderly currency that has run out of aces? - In 20th spot on the market cap chart.
Sorry folks, nothing to see here, let's go home.
I don't hate LTC, not at all. The intention of this post is not to bash LTC, I take no joy in that, it's just to face reality. I like LTC, I used to hold quite a bit of it, but I have not seen a future for it and I have now sold all of mine (just like Charlie Lee did). I still use LTC to move crypto funds around, it's cheap, fairly quick and widely accepted. But does it do anything that I can't do with other cryptos? Not really, no. Does it do anything that I can't do with ETH (which isn't even a currency)? No, it doesn't.
Sorry folks, my prediction for LTC is this: it will slowly slide lower and lower down the market cap ladder until it fades into obscurity. 馃様
I pity you LTC; crypto doesn't need you any longer. You haven't moved with the times and the younger generation are replacing you. Thanks for the years of faithful service, but now it's time to hand you a gold watch, shake your hand, and point you towards the exit.
Farewell my old silver friend.
Yours in crypto,
Bit Brain
P.S. I'm (painfully) aware that the market is not reacting how I said it would at this stage. Experience has taught me to wait a day or two before commenting on unexpected market movements. I aim to do so within the next day or two.
DISCLAIMER:
I am neither a financial advisor nor a professional trader/investor. This is not financial advice, investment advice or trading advice. Unless otherwise stated, all my posts are my opinion and nothing more. Crypto is highly volatile and you can easily lose everything in crypto. You invest at your own risk! Information I post may be erroneous or construed as being misleading. I will not be held responsible for anything which is incorrect, missing, out-of-date or fabricated. Any information you use is done so at your own risk. Always Do Your Own Research (DYOR) and realise that you and you alone are responsible for your crypto portfolio and whatever happens to it.
