Litecoin struggles with the dark side of halving: Miners down tools amid dropping hashrate

Litecoin network has started feeling the heat as miners capitulate weeks after the reward halving event that took place on August 5. According to the data by BTC.com, miners within the network are downing their tools. There has been a significant drop in the hashrate from 472.66 TH/s recorded mid-July to 296.54^TH/s some hours before writing this piece.

The drop in the hashrate is likely to be due to the slash in the mining reward per block. Prior to the event, Litecoin miners earned 25 LTC per mined block. This was cut in half to 12.5 LTC per mined block.

Besides the reward being cut in half, Litecoin has been performing relatively bad in the last two months. Around August 5, LTC exchanged hands roughly at $100 but has since dropped to $62 before resuming the uptrend to the current pivotal level at $70.

With Litecoin hashrate dwindling the security of the network is at high risk. The network could easily fall due to attacks and according to Weiss Crypto Ratings, LTC is experiencing the bad side of halving. It is now apparent that halving does not always result in price rallies but at times, miners abandon the network.

“Litecoin hashrate has dropped 40%, suggesting that miners are leaving the network, which could render it vulnerable to attacks. This is the dark side of halving – it does not always lead to price increases. Sometimes, miners just pack up and leave,” Weiss Crypto Ratings wrote on Twitter.