SegWit Locked and Loaded!
It’s now official: Litecoin will be activating the long-awaited Segregated Witness
and will roll out the Lightning Network shortly afterwards, enabling
the payment network to rival the likes of VISA in transaction volume and
speed.
Since the early weeks of 2017, Litecoin has pioneered to go where
Bitcoin simply couldn’t, with the goal being to embrace SegWit and
ultimately test it in order to help Bitcoin resolve its scaling issues.
This crucial step forward has put Litecoin, which was once considered a
boring coin, in the headlines as price spikes and miner SegWit adoption
news slowly enters the Litecoin ecosystem.
At the start of 2017, humble Litecoin was anywhere from the
$3.00–$4.00 range. This created hype for traders, investors, and miners
alike, as many thought the possibility of SegWit on Litecoin before the
flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin was a strong buying opportunity!
Ultimately, they were correct, as Litecoin now trades at around
$14.00, with strong signs of rallying higher! Litecoin shrugged off the
Bitcoin-style politics, drama, and scandals to achieve the required
minimum 75% threshold of miners signalling for SegWit on the network.
For SegWit to be fully implemented into the Litecoin network and its
code, a lock-in period was necessary, which lasted two weeks. Its
requirement was a maintained minimum of 75% of miners signalling over
the period, which has now been completed, and SegWit is activated.
What Will Litecoin’s Price Be Once Activation is Completed?
Although no one truly knows the price of Litecoin once SegWit and the
Lightning Network become fully activated, there are many with bullish
opinions. Litecoin has increased in value almost four times over since
F2Pool and other influential mining pools started signalling for SegWit.
Litecoin is dubbed the “silver” to Bitcoin’s “gold,”
and with good reason. As an enhanced duplicate of Bitcoin with subtle
differences, high trade volume, and status as one of the most mature and
legitimate altcoins, it’s no surprise that people are getting excited.
With increased volume, hype, and more eyes than ever on Litecoin, we
could see a very bullish uptrend for the next twelve months as the
crypto community curiously watches how SegWit and the Lightning Network
run with live transactions and volume.
At first, many thought the price spike was the result of the latest altcoin pump,
however, the Litecoin party doesn’t seem to be stopping just yet,
despite efforts to weaken the SegWit momentum with the ASIC mining
scandal whereby certain miners tried to augment their mining equipment
to create more hash power in efforts to signal for alternate protocols against SegWit, bringing down the much needed 75% target.
This did not work, as vigilant users of the Bitcoin and Litecoin
network spotted the abnormal hashing power boosts and called out any
foul play. This only strengthened the resolve for SegWit to become
activated on Litecoin.
The Litecoin Roundtable Meeting!
Behind closed doors, some of the most influential people in Litecoin
attended an eight-hour meeting via WeChat. This was an invite-only
gathering to discuss the situation of Litecoin and SegWit.
The meeting ended well, with every pool agreeing to signal for
SegWit, pushing the level well above the required 75%, towards 99%. As
part of the agreement, once the block size on Litecoin’s network reaches
50% of its capacity, steps will be taken to increase the size from 1MB
to 2MB either through a soft or hard fork.
With an agreement reached, Litecoin’s hype intensified and the price
reached the $15.00 area. The meeting has helped Litecoin do something
that Bitcoin has yet to do: come to a scaling decision and proceed with
the unified activation of SegWit and the Lightning Network.
What Are the Possible Risks for Litecoin?
Although code flaws wouldn’t destroy the network or compromise
Litecoin, we must keep in mind that there could be setbacks. Although
SegWit has been tested thoroughly, there could possibly be unforeseen
results.
Possible attacks could be attempted to derail or slow down progress,
but again, it’s always productive to consider all scenarios, especially
when investing in this type of industry.
The Litecoin party doesn’t seem to be losing momentum and
only seems to be attracting more people towards it. The next 12 months
will most likely be the most crucial of Litecoin’s existence, and
possibly Bitcoin’s!