It’s impossible to count all cryptocurrencies out there, especially since new projects are launching daily. Many investors prefer to stick to tokens with years of tradition, such as Litecoin. LTC belongs to the pioneer altcoins launched in 2011, so it’s been around for over a decade.
A BTC to LTC swap used to be incredibly popular, but is that the case today? Our experts analyze Litecoin, including its market history and future price predictions, all with the goal of answering this question.
What Is Litecoin?
Charlie Lee, an engineer who used to work at Google, is the person behind Litecoin. He created it in 2011 as a Bitcoin fork, which means that the two currencies share some similarities. Lee never intended to create a coin that would be a BTC competitor, and he even pinpoints that Litecoin is silver, while Bitcoin is gold.
Litecoin is an open-source project that supports P2P internet payments at fast speed and low cost. The network is fully decentralized, and the entire community can suggest LTC improvements on GitHub.
The main similarity Litecoin shares with Bitcoin is the same consensus mechanism — the proof of work. LTC’s initial idea was to make it harder to mine than BTC, especially for large-scale groups and corporations, but they quickly adapted. Today, Litecoin is minable, but it uses a different algorithm than Bitcoin — Scrypt.
Litecoin features four times faster mining times than Bitcoin. Occasional halving events occur to increase LTC scarcity; the last one happened in 2023, and the final one is scheduled for 2042.
It’s interesting that many features that are planned for Bitcoin implementation are first tested on the Litecoin fork. An example is SegWit, which is a way to boost how many transactions per second the network can handle.
LTC Market History
The coin’s history goes back to 2011, when only several markets accepted to list LTC. In 2013, the Bitcoin price and other cryptocurrencies experienced a massive boom, which also boosted Litecoin (LTC). Its value climbed to $44.73, but this surge was followed by a period of volatility, partly triggered by the collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange in 2014.
Litecoin dropped to $1.11 in 2015, but that’s its lowest value until today, which means it successfully avoided the latest crypto market crisis when most currencies crashed. LTC reached a record value in 2021 – the price went up to $412.96. Although it is nowhere close to that today, LTC is among the few currencies that lost less than 90% of its value during the crisis.
As for coin supply, a total of 84 million LTC tokens are available. The circulating supply is around 73.7 million or 87.73%. With the market cap set at around $5 billion, Litecoin is in the top 15 crypto projects. You can check the BQX price details to see if it is anywhere close.
LTC Price Prediction
Litecoin’s current value is around $65, and there are some promising details about its future. For starters, the token’s scarcity, as it gets near the maximum supply, could play in its favor. However, a huge rise won’t happen anytime soon — experts think that LTC value could be anywhere from $40 to $200 by 2023, with most putting Litecoin around its current worth.
During the next year, pundits believe the value would rise steadily. LTC should exceed at least $85, and many wouldn’t be surprised if it reaches or exceeds $150. For 2025, the coin’s value could be anywhere from $111 to $270.
As for long-term prognosis, experts believe that Litecoin could exceed $400 by 2028, but pessimistic pundits think LTC won’t go beyond $200 by then. For 2030, the forecasts are anywhere from $190 to $800.
LTC Is a Diversification Option
Litecoin already has a rich history, and the coin doesn’t plan to go anywhere. The project is here to stay, and most experts agree that it’s in for a great future. The difference is in the profits you might make with LTC.
The certain thing is that LTC can be a great diversification option for investors looking to expand their portfolio. It’s a stable altcoin and a currency with significantly lower risk than many other crypto tokens, which makes Litecoin a smart investment.
