Litecoin ($LTC) has hit the $100 mark following a remarkable 20% surge on the daily timeframe. It had relatively stabilised within the $83 and $85 price range prior to the recent pump which has now seen it become a top 10 cryptocurrency again.
As expected, there’s heightened interest from traders as is reflected in the 226% increase in its trading volume in the last 24 hours. At the time of writing, the price is trading at $102.31.
The resurgence is largely due to Litecoin’s upcoming halving event which is just 34 days away. The halving event scheduled for August will reduce the supply of new Litecoins as the block reward given to miners for validating transactions will be cut in half (from 12.5 LTC to 6.25 LTC). Historically, halving events are renowned for positive sentiments and price surges due to the scarcity created by a reduction in supply.
There are already signs of history repeating itself as the third largest Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain processed another million transactions last week.
Litecoin’s mining difficulty has also increased drastically, reaching a new all-time high of 26.38m. This is a reflection of the increased number of miners on the network as the scramble for more coins intensifies in the face of imminent scarcity.
Usually as more miners join the network and computational power (hash rate) increases, blocks are mined more quickly. To maintain the desired block creation rate, the network increases the mining difficulty.
This surging interest from miners reflects in Litecoin’s Hashrate which reached an all-time high of 957.22 TH/s two days ago.
Litecoin halving history
Litecoin‘s first halving occurred on 25 August 2015, at block 840,000. Before the halving, the block reward was 50 LTC, and after the halving, it reduced to 25 LTC. Following the halving, Litecoin’s price continued to climb steadily over the next few months, reaching its peak around November 2015. However, after the peak, the price experienced a correction and entered a period of consolidation.
The second halving occurred on 5 August 2019, at block 1,680,000. Before the halving, the block reward was 25 LTC, and after the halving, it reduced to 12.5 LTC. Similar to the first halving, Litecoin’s price experienced a significant rally in the months leading up to the event. The price surged to reach its peak around the time of the halving.
