Litecoin surges 10% on ETF hopes and merchant activity amid quiet rotation

Litecoin (LTC) rose by more than 11% in the past 24 hours, edging above $123, marking one of the sharpest large-cap rallies this week as traders rotated into legacy altcoins amid improving sentiment and fresh ETF chatter.

The move, which made LTC as the largest weekly gainer among the top hundred tokens, comes as a mix of structural adoption and regulatory tailwinds.

In July, Litecoin accounted for 14.5% of all crypto payments on CoinGate, the firm said in an X post, leapfrogging stablecoins like USDT and USDC and second only to bitcoin (BTC).

As such, speculation over a spot ETF continues to build despite the SEC delaying its decision on Grayscale’s application until October.

Bloomberg analysts pegged the odds of eventual approval at 90% in early July, citing LTC’s commodity classification by the CFTC — a distinction that reduces legal risk and places it alongside bitcoin and ether (ETH) in regulatory clarity.

Elsewhere, MEI Pharma disclosed a $100 million litecoin allocation last month, echoing early bitcoin treasury moves and giving LTC a new angle as a low-beta treasury asset. While the buy hasn’t moved markets materially, the optics help.

Meanwhile, data from CoinDesk Analytics shows LTC broke above its 7-day simple moving average and faces a key pivot level at $117.61. Relative strength index (RSI) sits at 69.5 — elevated, but not yet signaling exhaustion. However, early MACD divergence suggests momentum may be cooling if inflows don’t sustain.

Traders are watching $124–$131 as a resistance zone, per analytics, and a close above could signal a structural breakout.