Litecoin creator Charlie Lee believes that the price of the digital currency could reach $14 when SegWit is activated on the network.
On Saturday, F2Pool mined Segregated Witness (SegWit) blocks for both Bitcoin and Litecoin.
Charlie Lee tweeted that he sees a 72.34 percent chance of another pool signaling for SegWit in the next seven days. He equates the estimated prices to the level of signaling the network has received thus far: 20 percent => $4, 60 percent => $9, 100 percent => $14.
There are indications the network will activate SegWit soon. It creates excitement - even in the Bitcoin camp - for some users to join the Litecoin train. This angle, as well as the understanding that its activation of SegWit is an experiment for Bitcoin, makes some enthusiasts want to throw their weight behind it.
Litecoin leading
They are hopeful that Litecoin will show the Bitcoin community that SegWit can be good for Bitcoin, though Litecoin price is likely to fall if and after SegWit is activated for Bitcoin. This is because a successful implementation will likely increase the chances of a successful Bitcoin SegWit implementation substantially.
In the meantime, Litecoin price will likely continue to slowly rise until the activation leading through to when SegWit will go live.
Litecoin’s ability to combine both Bitcoin and the Lightning Network for transactions is a major feature that could see it become more valuable than top alternative currencies because it can open new possibilities that the industry hasn’t seen yet. The prospect that SegWit activation on Litecoin may bring in new users to the fold is also a plus.
Deadlock
The development is coming after Lee wrote a letter to Chinese Litecoin miners and pool operators aimed at convincing them on why SegWit is good for the network.
He explained to them that Litecoin is not currently running into a block size problem - it has four times the capacity of Bitcoin - but is bent on activating SegWit because it has a fix for transaction malleability which enables the adding of new technologies like the Lightning Network and Schnorr signatures or Confidential Transactions.
His suggestion that “Litecoin can really shine if we can get SegWit on Litecoin” as Bitcoin keeps stalling due to the block size scaling deadlock could appeal to a section of Chinese investors. He is certain:
“The market is waiting for Litecoin to get SegWit and the price will react positively if SegWit is activated. Seeing all these other altcoins pump is definitely disheartening. So let's give the market what it wants.”