Investing in any cryptocurrency often comes down to how long you plan to hold your coins and what is your risk appetite. We cover factors that can influence Litecoin’s price and we look at expert price predictions for the coming years while trying to answer the main question “Should I buy Litecoin?”
Litecoin is designed to be a digital currency. Even the International Monetary Fund believes cryptocurrency technology can improve global payments, which could be used to upgrade current payment infrastructure with safety and efficiency. Considering that Litecoin is a better alternative for daily transactions than Bitcoin as it’s four times faster, it may tick all the boxes of a future digital currency.
But is LTC a good investment? Can it mimic Bitcoin’s staggering success? Let’s find out what Litecoin is and where its potential lies in the coming years.
Should You Buy Litecoin?
As the name suggests, Litecoin was designed to be a “lighter” version of Bitcoin, or “Silver to Bitcoin’s Gold” in the words of its creator. Launched in 2011 by Charlie Lee, a former Google engineer and ex-director of engineering at Coinbase, Litecoin is designed to be used for daily transactions and microtransactions.
Technically, Litecoin is a copy of Bitcoin with a few tweaks:
- Reduced block generation time. Litecoin generates a single block in 2.5 minutes, compared to Bitcoin’s 10 minutes. This makes for faster transaction confirmation.
- Larger coin supply. Bitcoin’s total supply is 21 million coins, which makes it scarce and expensive for everyday use. Litecoin, on the other hand, has 84 million coins, making it more available.
- Different hashing algorithm. Litecoin uses the Scrypt algorithm for mining, which offers a higher degree of parallel processing, while Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 algorithm for mining new coins.
The choice to use a different algorithm was to discourage large miners from gaining control.
These differences have helped Litecoin remain one of the largest cryptocurrencies, with a market cap of over $4 billion.
Being similar to Bitcoin, Litecoin takes all of Bitcoin’s upgrades and implements them first. These upgrades include SegWit, which lowers transaction size and increases throughout, and the Lightning Network, which creates an extra layer on top, making transactions fast and cheap.
So, if you’re contemplating “Should I buy Bitcoin or Litecoin” know that Bitcoin is more widely accepted; This is the number one cryptocurrency by market cap, and it’s used as a hedge against fiat currency inflation. Even companies like Tesla and MicroStrategy own Bitcoin in their portfolios. Between the two, Bitcoin is probably the better investment for the long term.
How Has Litecoin Performed Since its Launch in 2011?
Litecoin was released in 2011 via an open-source client on GitHub at a price of $4.30 by an MIT graduate Charlie Lee. Unlike most cryptocurrencies that had ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) or presales, Litecoin’s release went without fanfare.
Lee joined the crypto exchange Coinbase in 2013 and put his Litecoin project on pause. Despite that, the coin still saw capital inflows. In 2017, Lee left Coinbase to pursue Litecoin’s development. That’s the year when Litecoin reached $375 per coin.
During the same year, Lee sold all his Litecoin holdings to avoid conflict of interest.
In 2021 Litecoin reached its all-time high at $410. If you bought $10,000 worth of Litecoin at the launch price and sold at the top, you would have earned $941,800. Since reaching the top, LTC has continued to trade lower, reaching a bottom of around $40 in 2022.
So, is it good to buy LTC now? Today, Litecoin trades at around $60, which puts it at 84% below all-time highs. If the price manages to get back to $410, you could see over 500% gain.
Here’s what Litecoin history looks like:
- Litecoin launched in 2011 at a $4.3 price
- Reached a top of $375 in 2017
- Bottom in 2022 at $40 apiece
- An all-time high of $410 in November 2021, marking a 9,481% return since the launch
- Trades between $60 and $100 for most of 2023
What Factors Determine the Price of Litecoin & its Potential?
The price of Litecoin can be influenced by a variety of factors including the coin’s fundamentals, its development and adoption, rise of competitor coins as well as global macroeconomic trends.
If you find yourself contemplating “Should I buy Litecoin now or wait”, consider the following:
Litecoin Fundamentals
Litecoin is a simple peer-to-peer cryptocurrency designed to be a digital currency. This means you can’t build applications on top of it like you can on Ethereum or Solana and you can’t use it for anything else but to make transactions.
So, “Should I buy Litecoin or Ethereum,” you may wonder. Ethereum has more use cases, and it has several popular layer 2 blockchains, like Polygon and Arbitrum. If you value coin utility, Ethereum is likely the better option.
But Litecoin has its strengths as well. Its price and potential are determined by supply and demand, just like most cryptocurrencies. Given its supply is capped at 84 million, it makes the coin more scarce than a coin with a 1 billion supply. This makes it more likely to reach a higher price compared to cryptocurrencies with a larger token supply.
However, this also makes it a better payment cryptocurrency compared to Bitcoin. So, is LTC worth it? If you think it can gain traction to become one of the leading cryptocurrencies for global payments, then yes, investing in LTC could be worth it in the long run.
Litecoin’s Potential and Adoption
Litecoin has a stronger potential than Bitcoin to become a peer-to-peer currency with its faster transaction time and lower fees. This could help turn Litecoin into a practical digital currency in the future.
What’s more, the team behind Litecoin continues to develop the code and build upgrades like SegWith, Lightning Network and MimbleWimble. All of these upgrades help Litecoin scale, make it faster or add privacy features.
What’s more, Litecoin’s long-standing presence in the crypto market since 2011 and its consistent ranking among the top 15 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization show its resilience and potential for sustained growth.
Olliv brought Litecoin to over 300 ATMs in Australia, and BitPay supports Litcoin in its wallet app. In case you’re pondering “what can I buy with Litecoin” know your options include computer hardware from Newegg among the many retailers that accept this coin as a payment method.
This shows Litecoin’s potential as a viable digital currency for the future.
Competitor Coins
Litecoin is designed to be a digital currency. However, it’s not the only one. Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which is a fork from Bitcoin, is made to allow more transactions in a single block to lower transaction fees and time similar to Litecoin. BCH was also forked into Bitcoin Cash ABC (later changed to eCash) and Bitcoin Cash SV.
Another popular competitor coin is Monero (XMR), which is also a digital currency but with privacy-enhancing technologies that create anonymity. No one can decipher the addresses that transacted Monero, the amount being transacted or look at transaction histories, which is not the case with Litecoin.
These coins essentially aim to offer the same features as Litecoin. If they manage to gain a large following and increase adoption, it would likely take some of Litecoin’s potential market, and may negatively affect LTC’s price.
Macroeconomic Factors and Centralized Regulations
Macroeconomic factors, such as inflation rates and economic stability, can heavily influence investor behavior and Litecoin’s price. With higher interest rates to combat inflation, borrowing money becomes more expensive. This, in turn, makes investors wary of deploying funds in riskier assets like crypto.
Once interest rates start to drop and macroeconomic conditions improve, all cryptocurrencies should see a boost in their prices.
Regulatory news is another significant factor. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Coinbase and other crypto exchanges because the SEC views most cryptocurrencies as securities and Coinbase and other crypto exchanges aren’t regulated securities brokers.
A lot of Litecoin’s price depends on the future regulation or lack thereof.
Litecoin Price Forecasts for 2023, 2024, 2025, 2030
Litecoin’s price is influenced by multiple factors, such as market sentiment, macroeconomics, as well as LTC’s development and adoption. Crypto altcoins typically trade lower as interest rates go up and then start a bull run when interest rate cuts start.
We could see a move above $100 when interest rates start to go down and money becomes cheaper to borrow. But the Federal Reserve is likely to start cutting interest rates in 2024.
This means we could see another dip to $40 before the bull run starts. The next price that is likely to hold Litecoin is $200 sometime around 2025 and beyond, while by 2030 if macroeconomic conditions are favorable, we could see LTC attempt to break $400 again.
If you’re asking yourself “Should I buy Litecoin before halving”, know that the latest halving already happened in August 2023. The next one is projected sometime in 2027.
For the past Litecoin halvings, there are four phases that LTC’s price goes through. The first phase is price rallying right before the halving, and then stalling or pulling back right after the halving. However, LTC’s price has overall rallied in the long run and it often provided an accumulation cycle of between eight and 15 months before the bull run.
Litecoin’s Utility – How Could it be Used in the Future?
Still wondering “Should I Buy Litecoin?” Its utility and future use could help you answer this question. Here’s what to consider:
As a Digital Currency
Litecoin’s future utility comes from the coin’s design: a digital currency for everyday transactions. Its faster transaction times and lower fees than Bitcoin make it a solid choice for purchasing goods and services online and in physical stores.
Its decentralized nature allows for international transactions without the need for currency conversion or hefty fees, which are typical of traditional banking and money transfers. Technically, it does everything that Bitcoin does, but faster and cheaper.
As more merchants and businesses adopt Litecoin as a payment method, it could become widely accepted globally without relying on traditional banks and services.
As a Store of Value
Bitcoin is considered a store of value, similar to gold as it has a limited supply of 21 million coins. Litecoin is the silver to Bitcoin’s gold according to LTC’s creator, which means Litecoin supplements Bitcoin both as a digital currency and as a store of value.
For anyone asking themselves “Should I buy Litecoin now?”, the answer may lie in how much money you’re willing to invest. If you find Bitcoin to be a more expensive investment for you per coin and you’re looking for the closest cheaper alternative as a store of value, Litecoin could be it.
For Smart Contracts and Decentralized Applications
Litecoin doesn’t support smart contracts and decentralized applications like Ethereum and Solana. This means you can’t program an application for lending, borrowing or yield farming on Litecoin.
However, Litecoin has undergone several crucial updates that help LTC scale and have privacy features. Beyond transactions and payments, Litecoin’s future utility may extend to smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps), although that’s not currently planned for this crypto.
Is Litecoin a Better Short-Term or Long-Term Investment?
Whether Litecoin is a better short-term or long-term investment depends on several factors, including your investment goals, risk tolerance and investment horizon.
If you thinking “how many Litecoin should I buy”, know that the amount directly depends on whether you want to invest in the short term or the long term. That’s because short-term moves are smaller and the reward potential is lower than if you plan to keep your coins for years.
Investment Goals
Short-term investing may suit those comfortable with high risk who know how to navigate the markets. That’s because short term, the price can move by economic news or an Elon Musk Tweet can move the market.
For short-term investing, the biggest cryptocurrencies by market cap typically offer limited rewards in an environment with high inflation and high interest rates. This means the LTC price could trade lower for a prolonged period of time until the macroeconomic factors change, while other cryptocurrencies, such as meme coins — which are known to perform best in short periods of time — are likely to have a higher return on investment.
For long-term investments, Litecoin could be the better option. That’s because the entire crypto market follows Bitcoin. If Bitcoin starts to make new highs, Litecoin is likely to trade at its all-time highs as well. But that is unlikely to happen until central banks start to cut interest rates or a Bitcoin spot ETF is approved by the SEC, which should draw some liquidity into the crypto space.
Risk Tolerance
Cryptocurrency investments are inherently risky either because of no regulations in the space or because of scams and frauds that are consistent in the crypto world.
This means, there are many ways you can lose your cryptocurrency investment, which is why you must do your due diligence and make sure you don’t invest more than you are willing to lose because it’s highly likely to happen at some point.
So, “Should I buy Litecoin if I’m averse to risk?” For short-term investing, you can lower your investment risk by using stop-loss orders. These order types close your position when it reaches a certain price.
However, Litecoin is likely to perform better in the long run, which means you should be ready for months, and maybe even years, of prolonged weakness until the next bull run starts.
How to Identify Short-Term and Long-Term Investments
Although there are millions of cryptocurrencies to buy now with more being launched daily, it’s important to identify which crypto can do better in the short term and which in the long term.
Here are the two main factors to consider when evaluating cryptocurrencies:
- Hype. Cryptocurrencies with meme potential like PEPE when a trader turned $263 into millions, or Wall Street Memes, which was up 87% a few days after launching on exchanges are often best used as short-term trades. You would have to buy them during a period of weakness or a presale and sell them when they pop.
- Use case. A cryptocurrency, typically one that is native to its blockchain, that has a use case is likely to perform better in the long run than a meme coin. For example, Bitcoin, which has a use case as a store of value, traded at $17 in 2013. At its peak in 2021, Bitcoin exchanged hands for $68,000 a piece. That’s a 399,900% gain in 8 years. Coins like Bitcoin and Litecoin are typically viewed as long-term investments and are likely to perform better in the long run.
What Expert Traders Say on Whether You Should Buy Litecoin Coin in 2023
Quant Analyst Ben Cowen recently said on Altcoin Daily that Litecoin is a better short-term investment. Cowen says that Litecoin makes a move higher at the beginning of the year when a halving happens and then drops.
Litecoin already had one halving in August 2023 with the next halving predicted somewhere in 2027. Cowen believes that the best buying opportunity is right after the halving when the price tends to move lower as traders take profit.
The halving event was also covered by ByBit Learn which says Litecoin is known to pump before the halving. However, the halving happened in 2023 and it will take years until the next halving takes place.
Changelly sees Litecoin peaking at $100 in December 2024, which could make buying LTC in 2023 worth. With a price of LTC at $67 apiece, $100 next year would mark close to a 50% gain.
Discover Crypto gave a price prediction in May 2023 that by November 2025 Litecoin could trade at $631, which is one of the most optimistic predictions in the near term.
Want to know “Where can I buy Litecoin?” Read on.
Where to Buy Litecoin – Top Crypto Exchanges Reviewed
Litecoin is a top 15 cryptocurrency by market cap, meaning it’s popular enough to be found on the best crypto exchanges like OKX.
Let’s explore why OKX secures the top place for the best place to buy LTC tokens in 2023:
OKX – Popular Crypto Exchange With an Advanced Trading Platform And a Safe Crypto Wallet for Coins
OKX is a popular crypto exchange known for its low trading fees. Charging a mere 0.1% on buy and sell orders, OKX stands out for its affordability.
The platform incentivizes active traders with even lower commissions based on their 30-day trading volumes, making it an attractive option for casual and serious investors.
The exchange offers over 370 trading pairs, including a mix of established and emerging cryptos, catering to various investment strategies.
It also offers passive income opportunities, offering impressive APYs on cryptos like Bitcoin, Near Protocol, and Elrond, with rates up to 36%.
OKX supports fiat deposits via the Faster Payments service without fees. The platform accommodates various payment methods, including debit/credit cards.
Moreover, OKX’s commitment to users is evident through its non-custodial wallet, ensuring they retain control over their private keys. Coupled with advanced trading tools and a user-friendly mobile app, OKX provides a comprehensive and secure trading environment for a global audience.
Litecoin Uses a PoW Consensus to Secure its Network, But Bitcoin Minetrix’s Stake-to-Mine Protocol is a Better Alternative
Bitcoin Minetrix (BTCMTX) is a cloud mining solution that removes the need for expensive hardware and large amounts of electricity to mine Bitcoin. This means everyone can earn Bitcoin by simply staking BTCMTX tokens and getting Bitcoin mining credits in return. Currently, you can only buy BTCMTX in a presale where it has already raised over $300,000 in just a few days.
Once the presale is over, the token will launch on exchanges where the price could be higher than the presale price. At the moment, each token goes for $0.011 in the presale. You need an Ethereum wallet like MetaMask or a MetaMask alternative to buy BTCMTX with either ETH, BNB or USDT.
What BTCMTX offers is a unique twist in the Bitcoin mining industry. You don’t need expensive Bitcoin mining hardware and you don’t need to be an expert to set up a mining operation. Instead, all you have to do is stake your BTCMTX tokens to get Bitcoin mining credits.
These mining credits are non-transferable ERC-20 tokens, which means you are the only one who can burn the tokens to get mined BTC in return. If you want to trade these tokens or move them between crypto wallets, you won’t be able to. The idea behind this is to prevent scammers from trying to sell you mining credits.
The token’s total supply is 4 billion, 42.5% of which will be used to fund the Bitcoin mining operations. This equals $3,080,000, which is the target amount the team aims to raise in the presale.
In the whitepaper, Bitcoin Minetrix has outlined four phases of this project, where the token listing on major exchanges is planned for phase two, while phase three expects to see the token burning mechanics go live.
Follow BTCMTX on X and on the BTCMTX Telegram channel to get updates regarding the presale, the token launch and everything else you wish to know.
| Cryptocurrency | Bitcoin Minetrix (BTCMTX) |
| Presale price | $0.011 |
| How to buy | ETH, BNB, USDT, Bank Card |
| Total token supply | 4 billion |
| Presale tokens | 1.7 billion |
| Can you stake during presale | Yes |
| When can I claim my presale tokens? | As soon as the presale ends and the token lists on the first exchange |
Is Litecoin Coin a Good Investment? Our Verdict
As a “lightweight” version of Bitcoin, Litecoin is a good option for daily transactions globally. LTC may also be considered as a store-of-value investment, similar to Bitcoin due to its limited supply of 84 million coins once all are minted. However, LTC is unlikely to make a large move before Bitcoin starts leading the bull, which is why it could be a good investment if your investment horizon is long-term.
As an alternative, you could consider other cryptocurrencies that could 10x in 2023, like the Bitcoin Minetrix presale. This is a Bitcoin cloud mining platform where you can stake your tokens to earn Bitcoin mining credits. Check out the link below if you want to learn more.
References
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