|

Litecoin price struggling to gain momentum: Developers say Litecoin fork is a reality

  • Litecoin Cash to reduce transaction costs by 90%
  • Everyone holding Litecoin will be given 10 times Litecoin Cash
  • Litecoin Cash to offer more benefits to cryptocurrency users

Litecoin price is trading at $147 down by 0.84% during trading on Friday. LTC/USD price tanked reaching a low of $124 on 2nd February 2018. The currency has been recovering following stability in the cryptocurrency market after the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) hearing that took place on Tuesday this week.

Barely 72 hours after the hearing, a Litecoin fork is in the countdown. The fork will lead to the creation of a new cryptocurrency, Litecoin Cash. This will be the first hard fork of Litecoin (LTC); at Litecoin block 1371111, Litecoin Cash (LCC) will be born to the cryptocurrency market. All current Litecoin holders will be given a 10 to 1 disbursement of LCC, and Litecoin Cash will revert the algorithm to SHA-256 (the same as bitcoin). This means that everyone holding Litecoin will be rewarded with 10 times Litecoin Cash. It is still not clear why Litecoin is forking but the developers argue that Litecoin mining is moving fast towards centralization.

“There is no fast, cheap SHA256 coin with good difficulty adjustment. SHA256 miners have little practical choice of hash power destination, and if they do mine blocks, they’re being paid in a currency with 10 minute block times.” Read a section of the announcement titled “Just Why”.

The quote went further to say, “We believe we can offer an excellent SHA256 coin for general usage. We love Litecoin and wanted to give something to the brave holder community. With everyone else too busy forking Bitcoin, we decided that the Litecoin blockchain was a perfect means of initial (sic) distribution for our coin.”

The developers said that Litecoin Cash will have more benefits to the cryptocurrency holders in comparison to other virtual currencies including Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. Litecoin Cash is expected to have 2.5-minute block target which will enable faster confirmation of transactions. On the other hand, transactions with Litecoin Cash will be 90% less the cost of transactions with Litecoin.

Bitcoin (BTC) went through a hard fork in August 2017 and this marked the beginning of Bitcoin Cash. It is still not clear what this means to the investors of Litecoin. The price of Litecoin has been up and down since the opening of trading on Friday. LTC/USD price long-term support is at $112; below last week’s low of $124. The immediate resistance level on the daily price chart is at $170. If the bulls would continue to buy the Litecoin despite the impending fork. The price could shoot towards the immediate resistance level.  

LTC/USD daily price chart

Author

John Isige

John Isige

FXStreet

John Isige is a seasoned cryptocurrency journalist and markets analyst committed to delivering high-quality, actionable insights tailored to traders, investors, and crypto enthusiasts. He enjoys deep dives into emerging Web3 tren

More from John Isige
Share:

Editor's Picks

XRP slips near key support as geopolitical tensions re-escalate

Ripple (XRP) continues to trim gains on Wednesday, trading around $1.32 at the time of writing. The remittance token came under pressure after a massive 72% rally from $1.00 to $1.70 in August stalled on profit-taking and the need to moderate in search of fresh liquidity.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP edge lower as renewed US-Iran tensions weigh

The cryptocurrency market is pulling back broadly on Wednesday as investors adopt a cautious stance, with Bitcoin consolidating near its short-term support at $77,000. Ethereum remains under pressure, slipping toward $2,400. Ripple is also trending lower.

Bitcoin faces pressure as ETF outflows, Fed rate-hike bets weigh

Bitcoin remains under pressure, trading around $77,600 on Wednesday after slipping 1.45% the previous day. Rising energy prices amid fresh US-Iran tensions alongside growing expectations for Fed interest rate hikes could weigh on BTC.

Shiba Inu Price Forecast: Faces downside risks as whale selling rises

Shiba Inu (SHIB) trades around $0.00000516 on Wednesday following a rebound of nearly 4% earlier this week. Despite the price recovery, Santiment data shows certain whales offloading SHIB tokens.

Bitcoin: Billions in ETF inflows push BTC toward decisive breakout
Bitcoin (BTC) extends gains so far this week, trading near $80,000 after testing the 50-week Simple Moving Average (SMA) at $81,114 earlier. Strong institutional demand is supporting the rally, with spot BTC Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on track to record a second consecutive week of billion-dollar inflows.