Litecoin price analysis: LTC/USD bulls desperate to push the price above $60.00

• The Litecoin network processed a solid number of transactions worth $100 billion in 2019.
• LTC/USD needs to break above the psychological barrier of $60.00 to proceed with the recovery.

Litecoin, the 7th largest digital coin with the current market value of $3.6 billion, hit the intraday high at $59.14 and retreated below $58.00 by the time of writing, LTC/USD is changing hands at $57.95, mostly unchanged both on a day-to-day basis and since the beginning of Wednesday.

The coin has been range-bound with bullish bias since it hit $55.34 on January 19.  Litecoin's price movements are affected mostly by speculative sentiments and technical factors. 

Litecoin network has seen sustained usage in 2019 

In 2019, Litetcoin network processed transactions worth over $100 billion, which is a solid figure but still less than the number registered in 2018. For the sake of comparison, the Bitcoin network transacted $2.5 trillion, while Visa processed transactions to the tune of $11 trillion in 2018. 

According to the research performed by Litecoin.com and based on Bitinfocharts statistics, average transaction value settled at $5,000 per transaction. Meanwhile, experts also noted that this figure might have been driven up by a few particularly large transactions, while the median value is closer to $50 per transaction. As a result, the experts came to the conclusion that high net worth investors, funds or companies were responsible for the majority of value.

LTC/USD: technical picture

LTC/USD managed to claw back some ground after a massive sell-off on January 19; however, the upside momentum is limited as the price cannot pass the critical resistance created by $60.00. We will need to see a sustainable move above this barrier for the upside to gain traction with the next focus on the recent high of $63.17 and SMA200 daily at $63.75. LTC/USD has been trading below this MA since August 2019, which makes this barrier all the more important.

A failure to clear $50.00 any time soon will worsen the technical picture and bring bears back to the market. The local support is created by a combination of SMA50 1-hour and the middle line of 1-hour Bollinger Band on approach to $57.00. Once it is out of the way, the downside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on the recent low of $55.35.  The next bearish aim comes at $50.50. This area is created by a combination of SMA100 daily and the middle line of the daily Bollinger Band. If it is broken, the sell-off may be extended towards $50.00 and $46.00 (SMA50 daily). 

LTC/USD daily chart

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