Litecoin (LTC) Breaks $200, Propelled by Bitcoin (BTC) Surge and Impending Hard Fork

Emerging from a nearly month-long slump, Litecoin rose above the $200 mark today; reasons behind the surge may include Bitcoin breaking back above $9,000 and the Litecoin Cash hard fork looming on the horizon.

After spending the past 3 weeks hovering within the $100 range, and even dropping as low as $105 on February 2, Litecoin appears to have taken an upward turn as it crossed the $200 mark earlier today.

After hitting an all-time high of $370 in December last year, LTC managed to hold its ground in the $200-$300 range during the next few days, even moving back up to $320 on January 6.

However, the wider crypto market crash sent Litecoin spiraling too, and since mid-to-late January, LTC has been ambling along in the $100 range. Today’s price spike marks the first time in around three weeks since Litecoin has broken past the $200 barrier again.

One reason behind the price rise may be Bitcoin’s surge past the $9,000 mark today – LTC often mimics BTC’s price movement, and is likely to have been given a boost by its elder sibling.

Another reason behind the price surge may be the upcoming Litecoin Cash (LCC) hard fork, which is expected to happen around February 18-19. The price was not significantly impacted directly after the announcement of the hard fork – however, as the date draws nearer, investors may be looking for quick profits.

The LCC hard fork is expected at block 1371111, and all LTC holders will get 10 LCC coins for every Litecoin they hold in a wallet where they own the private key.

However, it must be kept in mind that the LCC fork does not carry Litecoin founder Charlie Lee’s seal of approval – the LTC creator has dubbed LCC and any other Litecoin forks a “scam”. In addition, LCC has been met with confusion and disapproval among the LTC community, so its fate and the level of acceptability it receives is yet to be determined.

In addition, any LTC price rise motivated by the impending hard fork is unlikely to be sustainable. Such rises in coin prices are typical of hard forks and airdrops (as was the case with Zclassic, Bitcoin Cash and NXT), and it won’t be surprising to see the numbers drop either right before the designated block height is reached or after it, as quick-profiteers exit the market having secured their free tokens.

There are other, more promising developments which might also be driving the price forward. LitePay, a transaction processor which will allow businesses to accept payment in LTC from anywhere in the world, is expected to be released on February 26.

How LTC reacts after the LCC hard fork is complete remains to be seen; however, keeping developments like LitePay in view and given how Charlie Lee earlier shared his vision to take LTC past its previous all-time-high, things might be looking up for Litecoin in the long term.