Why is Litecoin price up today?

Description:

Litecoin is the winner in daily crypto gains as whales appear to be behind the ongoing LTC price rally, on-chain data suggests.

Summary:

Litecoin is the winner in daily crypto gains as whales appear to be behind the ongoing LTC price rally, on-chain data suggests.

As the global crypto market stabilizes following the 2020 bull-run, Litecoin has emerged as one of the leading altcoins in terms of price performance. According to IntoTheBlock's In/Out of the Money Around Price (IOMAP) metric, big holders of the decentralized asset have been accumulating it over the last two weeks, which is likely driving up the price.

Additionally, the volume of LTC transferred on the blockchain is greater than most other cryptocurrencies. This strong network activity could also be signalling that the coin is an attractive asset to investors in the current market environment.

As of Feb. 15, Litecoin's market capitalization sits at $6.58 billion. This figure is lower than the coin's all-time high valuation of $21 billion, a mark that was achieved in 2017. However, if whales continue to accumulate the asset, LTC could soon be heading towards new highs.

As the second-largest altcoin, Litecoin is often seen as a proxy for the entire crypto market. Its recent performance has likely been due to the resurgence of altcoins in the past six months. In the last six months, the altcoin market has appreciated more than 170%, while Bitcoin has remained relatively flat.

Thanks to its low transaction fees, fast transfer speeds and scalability, Litecoin has earned its place among some of the largest crypto projects. In addition to being a store of value and means of payment, Litecoin is also used as a basis for decentralized finance protocols.

Although the market is still in the early stages of adoption, DeFi protocols that use Litecoin as a base asset have managed to bring in considerable funds. For example, at the time of writing, institutional investors were lending 6,972 LTC through the Aave platform with a total of 11,872 LTC being in circulation.

It's too early to know for sure, but whales accumulating Litecoin could be a sign of a new bull cycle for the asset. If its price continues to rally, Litecoin could soon make it to a new all-time high.