Litecoin, strong price movement ── August half-life, congestion of Bitcoin is a factor | coindesk JAPAN | Coindesk Japan

Litecoin (LTC) started the month on the upside, gaining 7% over the past 24 hours. Bulls point to the Lightning Network halving in August and a significant increase in network activity in May.

Increased activity drives prices up

Litecoin is up 7.5% over the past 30 days, continuing a period of good performance compared to other cryptocurrencies. It surpassed Bitcoin (BTC), which fell 6.2%, and Ethereum (ETH), which fell 0.5%, to become the third-highest gainer among all crypto assets.

Litecoin network activity has picked up since the beginning of the year, and has become more active since early April. Nearly 8.5 million addresses currently hold Litecoin, according to data from blockchain analytics site IntoTheBlock.

halving in August

Litecoin is set to halve in August, making it an important event for both the Litecoin network and its price, analysts believe. Similar to the much-hyped Bitcoin halving, the Litecoin halving will cut the block reward in half.

According to Charles Storry, head of growth at crypto index provider Phuture, litecoin is much cheaper per coin compared to bitcoin, so take a position ahead of the halving. It is said that investors who want to do so are emerging.

“Investors I talk to expect the halving to boost Bitcoin and Litecoin prices and the market,” Storey said.

Litecoin is also benefiting from the recent surge in network activity related to the Ordinals protocol, which has caused congestion on the Bitcoin network and soaring transaction costs.

More and more users are looking for alternatives to Bitcoin, with Litecoin being the alternative of choice.

High performance may not last

Brent Xu, CEO and co-founder of Umee, which provides the lending algorithm, said, “Recently, Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens account for the majority of the Bitcoin network’s trading volume, so the network’s Transaction fees are rising as well as transaction processing times.”

“Litecoin is, in a way, a classic clone of Bitcoin, serving a similar role,” he added, citing an increase in Litecoin trading. But it has happened before, and he cautioned that Litecoin’s outperforming other cryptocurrencies may not be sustained in the long term.

Nauman Sheikh, head of protocol and asset management at US investment advisory firm Wave Digital Assets, similarly noted a 30% increase in open interest in litecoin futures and perpetual contracts in the last week of May. He acknowledged that the halving is affecting current price performance.

｜Translation: coindesk JAPAN
｜Editing: Rinan Hayashi
｜Image: CoinDesk
｜Original: Litecoin Starts June Strong as Investors Eye August Halving, Uptick in Activity