Right after Bitcoin’s launch in 2009, a host of other cryptos, including Namecoin, Ixcoin, Tenebrix and Solidcoin, made their debut. However, most of them have vanished out of the space in no time.
Litecoin is, nevertheless, one of the few coins that has successfully survived. In fact, “the silver to Bitcoin’s gold” is on the verge of completing a decade in the space. After overcoming a host of obstacles on its path, Litecoin finally seems to be well-settled in the crypto-verse.
Startling growth
Just like any other “newbie” in the space, Litecoin too struggled to garner traction during its initial years. After remaining under the 10 million mark for more than five years after its inception, the total number of addresses witnessed a notable five-fold increase in the 2018-21 period.
Curiously, the same was just shy of 100 million at the time of writing. The recent steep spike has quite evidently been a testament to Litecoin’s consistent and organic growth.
Source: Glassnode
Further, the coin’s key lifespan metric – the dormancy, highlighted that overall accumulation trend was still in play. The average coin dormancy, as such, describes the average number of days that each coin remained unmoved.
This indicator has been at fairly moderate levels of late, implying that the spent/realized destruction, relative to transactions, is under check.
Litecoin’s profitability aspect has additionally been improving with time. As depicted in ITB’s chart attached, more than 70% of the HODLers were currently “in the money.” Conversely, this meant that the remaining 30% were either in loss or in a break-even position. Given the current state of the market, these numbers seem to be fairly decent.
As far as the broader trend is concerned, during every bullish phase of the market, LTC has fetched its investors substantial returns and during periods of downtrend, it has had valuation haircuts as well. In short, throughout the ten years, the market’s rising tide has more often than not lifted Litecoin’s boat and vice-versa.
Source: IntoTheBlock
The only question-mark
Even though the coin has been able to fare well on the aforementioned fronts, the developmental facet has been undernourished since inception – or at least that’s what a part of the community believes. In effect, constant taunts with respect to non-utility and redundancy have always hovered around the coin. So, are such labels indeed justified?
By and large, no. Firstly, it shouldn’t be forgotten that LTC has successfully been able to sail through all these years with the “expectation baggage” on its shoulder. It has, in fact, seldom complained about the same.
Next, comparatively “old” protocols usually take time to develop and adapt to any changing ecosystem. At this point, Litecoin is just in need of some space. Notably, SegWit on Litecoin took time to become a reality and so did its first cross-chain swap or any other development. Thus, it is no more a question of if, but when Mimblewimble, smart contracts and NFTs fully go live.
Thus, keeping in mind the proposed developments in the pipeline, it wouldn’t be wrong to claim Litecoin is pretty much aging like fine wine. Post the aforementioned upgrades, tweaks and additions, the network would end up becoming more relevant than ever.
If the growth pattern becomes even more consistent in the foreseeable future, then LTC would eventually be able to free itself from the shackles of the broader market trend and surprise its HODLers by initiating independent rallies.