Litecoin Overtakes Bitcoin: Is There a New Sheriff in Town?

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SLD’s share of global payments jumped to 34.9% in June from 28.78% in May. Riding on the positive sentiment, LTC hit a 14-month high earlier in the week.

In a massive boost for Litecoin [LTC] ecosystem, LTC became the most used crypto for payments for the first time in June, outperforming all major assets, including Bitcoin [BTC].

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As tracked by BitPay, the world’s largest payments processor, LTC’s share of global payments jumped to 34.9% in June, a sharp increase from 28.78% in May. In the process, silver slightly overtook gold, with bitcoin’s share dropping from 36.39% to 34.06%.

Source: Bit Pay

Reacting to this significant development, Litecoin creator Charlie Lee remarked,

Tbh, I was not sure to see this day, but it happened! Litecoin payments on BitPay have even surpassed Bitcoin.

LTC muscle flexion

LTC has been building strong momentum as its highly anticipated halving event is fast approaching. It was one of the top gainers last month among assets, with a market valuation of over $2 billion. Riding on the positive sentiment, the coin hit a 14-month high of $113 earlier in the week, according to CoinMarketCap.

It should be noted that the total number of LTC transactions increased significantly in June, reaching levels comparable to the daily Bitcoin count in several cases, according to Glassnode.

Demand for Litecoins to facilitate transactions has risen sharply since May, when users who were bogged down by huge Bitcoin transaction fees opted to turn to cheaper alternatives.

Source: Glassnode

Large addresses are unloading en masse

LTC whales succumbed to the urge to lock in profits and sold off much of their holdings. According to Santiment, the number of addresses containing between 1,000 and 10,000 coins, classified as small whales, has decreased significantly over the past week.

A similar case was encountered for the cohort holding between 100,000 and 1 million BTC.

This was also demonstrated by the declines in the Mean Coin Age indicator. Thus, there has been an increased movement of LTC between addresses.

Source: Santiment

How much is 1, 10,100 LTC worth today?

However, with the next halving event less than a month away, the whales are reportedly looking to rethink their marketing strategies. Historically, LTC prices have skyrocketed before and after the halving.

Therefore, it will come as no surprise if these addresses start accumulating LTC coins as the event nears.

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