Litecoin: Can whale activity and network fundamentals drive LTC to $88?
A combination of positive factors, including an increase in high-value transactions and rising social dominance, has placed Litecoin in the spotlight.
High hash rates and minimal fees are enhancing Litecoin’s reputation as a better alternative to Bitcoin.
However, Litecoin’s price action against Bitcoin has weakened, as reflected by the declining LTC/BTC ratio.
Litecoin [LTC] has witnessed a significant increase in high-value transactions on its network over the past four weeks, indicating growing interest from large-scale investors.
Earlier this month, Santiment noted that the network has been “consistently tracking whale activity above normal levels” since the last week of August, amid rising social dominance.
On-chain data from IntoTheBlock shows that transactions exceeding $100,000 in the past seven days have totaled $20.45 billion. This figure is particularly notable compared to Ethereum’s $24.95 billion during the same period.
This data also indicates an increase in the number of large transactions daily, rising from around 830 transactions in the last week of August to over 1,000 transactions in the first week of September. In the past seven days, this figure has remained above 850, reaching 978 on September 17.
The rise in high-value transactions signifies increased activity by large holders, such as institutional investors, which could influence market dynamics. It also points to the potential for greater liquidity in the market, which may stabilize prices and reduce volatility in the short term.
Network Health: Hash Rates and Transactions
On the network side, Litecoin continues to demonstrate strong fundamentals. The hash rate on the network has surpassed 1 quadrillion hashes per second since September 14.
Recent data shows that the Litecoin network’s hash rate reached 41,089,116.87 PH/s at block height 2,759,493.
Source: Coinwarz
This strong growth in the hash rate is a positive sign for the overall health and security of the network and further boosts confidence in the network against attacks.
Additionally, Litecoin has maintained its status as a low-cost transaction network, supporting the narrative of LTC as the “silver” to Bitcoin’s “gold.”
The average daily transaction fee has consistently remained below 0.0001 LTC (less than $0.01) throughout the year.
Source: IntoTheBlock
Such low transaction fees make it an attractive choice for users looking for quick and affordable transfers, especially during congestion phases on other networks.
Litecoin’s high processing rate also significantly helps minimize the risk of double spending, making it ideal for payments. Recent analysis by CoinGate showed that Litecoin accounted for 12.3% of payments in August, following Tron and Bitcoin.
Action and Price Relation of LTC with BTC
Litecoin (LTC) traded at $65.95, reflecting a 4% increase over the past 7 days. Despite strong network and transaction metrics, Litecoin has struggled against Bitcoin.
The LTC/BTC ratio has shown a downward trend, indicating underperformance compared to the leading cryptocurrency.
Source: TradingView
Additionally, the 30-day correlation of Litecoin with Bitcoin has increased from 0.46 on September 6 to 0.51 at the time of writing. This correlation, while typical for many altcoins, indicates that the price movement of LTC is influenced by Bitcoin rather than unique catalysts.
