Litecoin (LTC) was one of the first cryptocurrencies ever created and while it has performed quite well since its early days, it has a lot of untapped potential, especially judging by the latest bull market. Its other counterparts namely Ethereum and Bitcoin saw prices reach impressive levels this year, but unfortunately, LTC did not secure maximum potential gains from that rally.

Litecoin is currently trading at$136.84 after tanking by 3.38% in the last 24 hours although it is still up by 1.73% for the week. Its trading volume has reduced significantly during the June bear market, but there has lately been a boost in buying pressure thanks to Bitcoin’s latest recovery. In other words, Litecoin is still in dire need of some organic growth.

 Source- Binance

LTC’s current circulating supply is 66.75 million coins and it has a market cap of $9 billion. In comparison, Ethereum which is currently worth $2,123 per coin has a higher circulating supply at 116.51 million ETH, but there is more market cap circulating within it thanks to its widespread adoption and network utility. Litecoin thus needs a higher flow of capital within its network for LTC to gain a substantial amount of value.

Notable Litecoin catalysts you should know about

Litecoin is still determined to become one of the most popular digital currencies and while it can be argued that it has already achieved this goal, LTC is still a long way from mass adoption. Fortunately, it has been making efforts to get there and one of its most notable efforts is an advertising campaign through NASCAR.

Litecoin announced in mid-June that famous NASCAR driver Landon Cassil will be paid in LTC. A few days after the NASCAR announcement, the project announced the introduction of new Litecoin ASIC miners that are 17 times more powerful than their predecessor the L3 miner. Another recent development is the rollout of Wanchain’s cross-chain bridges that made LTC compatible with the DeFi world.

Cross-chain compatibility is a key milestone for LTC because it allows the cryptocurrency to be traded on multiple other blockchains other than its native network. A fiat currency is stronger if it has strong demand outside its native country and the same applies to cryptocurrencies. They experience more demand if they can be traded on other blockchains. LTC accessibility on other blockchains might boost its appeal.

Litecoin recently announced the launch of its MWEB testnet which will focus on improving network security, thus highlighting the efforts towards transforming LTC into sound money. Previous changes such as the Litecoin Core upgrade in 2018 drastically reduced fees on the network, making it significantly cheaper to move LTC than other major coins such as BTC and ETH.

LTC Institutional involvement

Institutional buying is often one of the major catalysts for impressive price action in the crypto world. It is thus exciting news that Grayscale is now involved with Litecoin through a Litecoin Trust that facilitates passive trading of the cryptocurrency. Grayscale has earned a solid reputation for its crypto appetite.

Grayscale’s involvement with LTC will likely encourage more institutional buyers to also jump on board. This could open the flood gates for more institutional dollars to be invested into Litecoin, a move that might fuel a price rally by boosting its market cap.

Summary

Litecoin aims to become attractive as a means of exchanging value across the internet and also becoming a store of value, just like Bitcoin. It, therefore, does not have many other use cases but it remains attractive as a cheaper alternative to BTC and ETH, not only in its price but also in transaction fees. LTC’s organic growth will only depend on adoption, which is why the network has been advertising heavily to attract more users.