Litecoin to the Moon: The Chicken Rises
Litecoin prices have taken off, suddenly reaching as high as $190 on some markets. This comes after recently returning to its previous all-time high of $90 and then passing it to hit $100. What is causing Litecoin to suddenly launch in price?
Has there been any major event or announcement? In this article, we're going to look into recent developments in Litecoin to see if they may have had some influence on the recent price swings upward.
Arise, Chicken!
"Arise, chicken" (or chikun) is a common meme used by Litecoin fans to describe upward price action
Before we get into the current price swing, we have to look at Litecoin's performance this year. At the start of the year Litecoin was priced at only around four dollars per unit. After a few important announcements including the addition of Segwit and the listing of Litecoin on Coinbase, the price suddenly jumped to around $40 each.
For the next few months, Litecoin then bounced between $40 and $50 each before eventually hitting $60. During a buying frenzy mostly from Asia, Litecoin suddenly hit a new all-time high of $90 but only for a very brief time before returning back to $50 and even hitting as low as $38 during a panic period.
Recent developments
In the Litecoin world, the currency is often guided by the words of Charlie Lee. Charlie is the creator of Litecoin, and often acts as an unofficial spokesperson for the cryptocurrency. Charlie recently appeared on CNBC earlier this summer to talk about crypto currency's and mentioned Litecoin several times.
Word got out early that Charlie would be appearing on another news program to once again discuss and or promote Litecoin once more. The first of these programs was with Glenn Beck last week. He will also be on CNBC's Squawk Alley tomorrow.
Another possibility, is that with the recent and very sudden price jump in Bitcoin price, many investors have been looking to diversify their newly found gains in order to protect against a sudden downswing in bitcoin price. A number of investors on Reddit commented that they made this move exactly just before the prices took off. This information, however, is anecdotal at best.
Finally, a likely contributer to the LTC price launch has been the recent Bitcoin futures contracts that went live not long ago. It is entirely possible that talk of cryptocurrency gains has entered into the main stream financial media once more, and Litecoin's low entry price has made it become an attractive investment vehicle.
While there doesn't appear to be one single impetus for the sudden surge in price, fans and supporters of Litecoin could not be happier.
Featured Image via Fotolia
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.