Litecoin (LTC) moves up, but can it really become a meme coin?

Litecoin (LTC), which was once considered closely tied to Bitcoin (BTC) finally reawakened, rallying above $82. The coin has been lagging for months, far from its all-time peak above $420. 

Litecoin (LTC) remained the forgotten coin during the 2024 bull cycle, trading in a range between $50 and $70 for months. Even after a series of records from Bitcoin (BTC), LTC remained largely unmoved.

At this point, LTC has waited for years to break out similar to other blue chip coins. However, LTC has been on a constant downward channel against BTC for years, and has not benefitted from the early idea of serving like silver to Bitcoin’s gold. Former predictions of LTC with a four-digit price have also not materialized. 

LTC is one of the widely traded and transacted coins, represented on most exchanges, brokerages, and apps. LTC even had prepaid cards issued and is available for EU buyers for small voucher sums.

In the past few years, LTC failed to spark a feeding frenzy, as liquidity flowed to other markets. Not even the fact that Litecoin essentially supports Dogecoin (DOGE) has helped lift the asset. Yet with growing attention, LTC may at least expect a short-term rally.

Can Litecoin become a meme?

LTC rose modestly to $81.84 after the latest series of BTC records. The coin gained ground after its X account renewed its content. The Litecoin X account started posting in ways similar to meme gimmick accounts. 

Due to current market conditions I now identify as a memecoin.

— Litecoin (@litecoin) November 14, 2024

LTC has suffered from an outflow of funds, which went to chase Solana meme tokens, DeFi and other narratives. Yet the meme frenzy may spill over, especially if LTC is picked up for irrational pumps. 

The Litecoin project is no stranger to outsized attention. During the 2017 bull run, the coin’s creator Charlie Lee was a prominent figure in the crypto space, often influencing the price with his tweets. However, he also publicly sold all his holdings during the bull run, stating it was a way to leave the coin to the community. 

In 2021, LTC had another all-time high above $420, and has been sliding ever since, falling to a baseline of $60. The coin also barely broke above $100 during the Q2 rally in 2024. LTC has all the necessary elements of liquidity and adoption, including a Grayscale fund and the potential for an ETF. The asset’s biggest flaw is that it has been forgotten and displaced by hotter trends. 

In the past few years, Litecoin focused on technical developments, especially its veiled transaction technology. However, LTC did not manage to break out as a privacy coin. 

Miners return to Litecoin

The Litecoin hashrate rallied to a new all-time high of 1.35 PH/s, after a gradual rise of around 30% in 2024. The coin is mostly influenced by F2Pool and ViaBTC, which together produce more than 51% of blocks. 

Litecoin mining benefits from the overall growth of the Scrypt ecosystem, now with access to bigger mining facilities capable of adding multiple new machines. For newcomers, LTC is still more easily accessible for direct buying instead of mining, but the coin has a long history of accumulation and long-term miners are tapping the recent price trend.

The latest expansion of mining comes from Binance Pool, the fourth-largest mining entity. Binance Pool is not a constant presence, but switches on when mining conditions are profitable. Binance Pool had a significant spike in Litecoin mining activity, tapping the more profitable period. 

Additionally, Binance Pool profits from the side mining of DOGE and Bellscoin (BELLS), another early meme that was revived in 2024. Bellscoin also joined the promotion of Litecoin as the next hot meme with a new inflow of content.

Litecoin is widely distributed and whales have a relatively small influence. The top 100 addresses hold only 41% of the supply. LTC is also widely used every day, with more than 75% of the supply actively moved. LTC still has relatively low fees and is used to transfer funds between exchanges. So far, the Litecoin network handles around 200K transactions per day. Whales are also moving in with LTC, with a $800K transaction in the past 24 hours.