Litecoin has seen explosive growth over the last three days, with the price rising from $30 USD to an all-time high of $53.
Many cryptocurrencies have experienced massive gains already this year although Litecoin has not seen the same type of price action.
I can point to four major developments contributing to the upward price momentum.
Litecoin was released via an open-source client on GitHub on October 7, 2011 by Charlie Lee, a former Google employee. Charlie Lee, also known as coblee or SatoshiLite is the managing director of the Litecoin Foundation, however Lee had also been working as the Director of Engineering at Coinbase, a popular digital asset exchange. Lee announced on June 9 that he would be leaving Coinbase in order to focus on the development of Litecoin. Lee is leaving Coinbase during a time of rapid growth as the company is reportedly adding thousands of new users weekly. This is a good sign for the Litecoin community as Lee clearly sees a bright future for the popular cryptocurrency with this move solidifying his commitment to the project.
When a cryptocurrency is added to a new exchange it often precipitates a bump up in price as new markets are opened up to the coin. This past week there were two major announcements about LTC being integrated into popular exchanges.
Japanese and South Korean investors were credited with being a major factor in the dramatic price rise in Ripple earlier this year. Now it appears that these same investors are warming up to Litecoin as volume is beginning to pick up on Asian exchanges. The Asian markets are proving themselves to be increasingly important in the FinTech sector. Keep an eye on how Litecoin is viewed in these markets, it could have a big impact on the future of LTC.
As I mentioned previously the entire cryptocurrency sector has seen amazing growth as new investors flood into the space and excitement abounds. Speculators are searching for the next big thing and many of the alts have benefited, although Litecoin has been noticeably absent from the crypto hysteria. Expect to see price volatility as speculators try and capitalize on Litecoins most recent gains. It appears it is Litecoin's turn for a price surge.
Although some of these gains are being fueled by hype and speculation, remember that after successfully implementing SegWit and currently working to integrate Lightning Network, LTC's fundamentals remain strong.
If you want to learn more about Litecoin, read my article Litecoin: What You Need To Know (This is not financial advice)
