Litecoin has become the star of altcoins once again, beating off yesterday’s falls to reach new all-time highs of over $35 as SegWit activates.
While the majority of altcoins reversed some of Tuesday’s wide declines, Litecoin finished its renaissance bigger than ever, up 38 percent and outperforming all of the top 10.
By contrast, Ethereum gained just 4.5 percent in the 24 hours to press time, Ripple around 12 percent and Dash seven percent.
Litecoin’s huge support, as it activates SegWit on Wednesday, is the culmination of several weeks of investor excitement.
With just five hours to go before the change occurs, the price performance comes as little surprise; SegWit is widely seen as a boon for a coin’s value.
On Monday, Vertcoin became the second cryptocurrency to activate SegWit and the Lightning Network for its transactions, following in the footsteps of SysCoin last month. Both coins experienced considerable price spikes.
Litecoin creator Charlie Lee urged calm, however, tweeting that although SegWit unlocking meant “so much goodness,” there was still the lion’s share of the work remaining.
Yup, you got it right on! So much goodness that SegWit unlocks. Though you need to be patient as there is still a lot of work to be done. https://t.co/qY5gs0h9Aa
— Charlie Lee (@SatoshiLite) May 10, 2017
Bitcoin, meanwhile, has come off yesterday’s highs which saw prices challenge $1800 per coin, dropping just shy of four percent on Wednesday.