Now that the Litecoin price is hovering at around $30 - as the Lightning Network, expected to make transactions faster on the network, is set to kick off in about two days - is it time for the digital currency, dubbed as the silver to Bitcoin’s gold, to aim for the $50 goal?
As it stands, its market cap has crossed the $1 bln mark to join the three other major networks - Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple - in the category.
"This is a huge plus for the currency which just got listed on top Korean cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb. This comes in the wake of its addition on the Coinbase platform also last week."
If Litecoin succeeds with the SegWit activation and LN implementation - considering that Bitcoin has not been able to reach this far in terms of its scalability issue - it would definitely reflect in LTC price in the coming days. As such, wallet providers and other major users are expected to deploy SegWit-enabled apps.
"Litecoin’s Charlie Lee also confirms that Bitcoin Core developers have been working with his network on Confidential Transactions (CT) and Merkelized Abstract Syntax Trees (MAST)."
As it is expected to take the first mover advantage as one of the first to activate SegWit, all eyes would be on Litecoin and what it has to offer in terms of making transaction confirmation quicker.
This will continue to be the case for as long as Litecoin serves as a relief to any transaction issues that are usually associated with Bitcoin. This will make it easier to send money from a point to another instantly and for less.
Upgrade important
The current issue of transaction delays on the Bitcoin network and rising transaction fees now seem stuck at the moment and some say it is no longer seen as an incentive to encourage new users to switch from fiat.
Though not the first and only network to be working on activating SegWit, the upgrade is important for Litecoin because it is one of those networks with the oldest Blockchain beside Bitcoin. It also has an identical code to that of Bitcoin.
However, despite the forward-looking consideration of how Litecoin is going to benefit users, we are yet to see it proven that people in the market really need what it has to offer. The debate on whether there is demand for its use continues.