GDAX, the cryptocurrency exchange used by Coinbase, has added Litecoin for dollar trading, causing a surge in its price. The new integration means that customers will be able trade Litcoin, both for Bitcoin and directly for US dollars. GDAX announced the implementation in a blog post:

“Litecoin trading is now available on GDAX. We’re excited to continue supporting more digital assets to meet the demands of our growing customer base. Charlie Lee, Director of Engineering at Coinbase, developed Litecoin in 2011. Since then, Litecoin has become one of the most widely traded digital assets and continues to attract strong trader and investor interest worldwide.”

Charlie Lee announced the development with enthusiasm via Twitter:

Litecoin experienced a significant spike following the news, breaking with Bitcoin

The addition to LTC/USD trading on GDAX has led to Litcoin’s price experiencing a significant increase. In less than 24 hours, the price per coin jumped from around $3.68 to $3.95 USD. Notably, the currency, whose price famously mirrored that of Bitcoin over the years, rose sharply against its great competitor. This is likely due to the fact that Litecoin no longer depends as heavily on Bitcoin for trading.

Growing infrastructural gains for altcoins

As the cryptocurrency ecosystem matures, more alternative currencies gain functionality which allows them to act more independently of Bitcoin.

Ethereum made adoption gains worldwide in exchanges and wallets before the DAO and Ethereum Classic debacle. Now, in addition to Litecoin, Dash has made several important gains, including integration into the Jaxx multiplatform wallet, as well as support in the BlockPay point-of-sale system.

In addition to Bitwala’s debit card, which accepts a variety of cryptocurrencies through ShapeShift integration, two other Bitcoin debit card providers, SpectroCoin and ShakePay, have announced plans to release Dash debit cards.