Although Litecoin may have seen a price decline totalling 10% over the past 7 trading days, the cryptocurrency has still enjoyed a fruitful 90-day trading period where price action has risen by a total of 121%. Litecoin is now currently trading at a price of $73.97, and it currently holds the 5th ranked position in the top cryptocurrencies by market cap-value.
Litecoin is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies in existence at a whopping 72 months old. The cryptocurrency was created by Charlie Lee, an ex-Google engineer, and was intended to become the digital silver to Bitcoin’s gold. This would mean that, while Bitcoin is as a form of wealth storage, Litecoin was designed with the intent of being used as a transactional cryptocurrency.
In this article, we will take a look at the potential for LTC to reach $100 in Q2 2019.
Litecoin is presently trading at a price of around $73. For the cryptocurrency to rise to the $100 mark, Litecoin will need to overcome some hurdles of resistance at $78, $87 and $97. However, there are a string of partnerships and development updates that may help BNB stand a chance in increasing its value to reach the top 5 ranked projects by 2020.
Positive Drivers
Let us take a look at some of the positive drivers that can potentially allow Litecoin to rise above the $100 level.
Beam Partnership
In February 2019, cryptocurrency Beam announced on their blog that the Litecoin Foundation had approached them for cooperation on how to implement Mimblewimble. After discussions, the 2 projects are now exploring how to implement Mimblewimble on the Litecoin blockchain via Extension Blocks.
This will add a much-needed privacy layer to the Litecoin network. In a day and age where privacy is one of the hottest topics, the addition of a privacy option for Litecoin users will be greatly appreciated.
Mimblewimble will be implemented by allowing on-chain conversion of regular LTC into a Mimblewimble variant of LTC. Users can exchange these 2 coins between each other when privacy is needed within a transaction.
Glory Kickboxing
Litecoin has already had some major success in the UFC after sponsoring them during one of the major PPV cards last year in December 2018. However, the Lightning Network foundation has taken one step further and have now partnered with the Glory Kickboxing League.
Litecoin will now be the official cryptocurrency for Glory’s online merchant platform and international events. Litecoin users can now make purchases through their online marketplace via Litecoin itself. Furthermore, users will also have the option to purchase Litecoin-exclusive event privileges. These privileges include meet and greets with the fighters, backstage tours, and premium seating.
Block Halving
Perhaps the most exciting upcoming development update is the August 2019 block halving. Litecoin miners are rewarded for the effort to secure the network each time a block is found. In August 2019, the mining reward that miners receive will be reduced from 25 LTC per block to 12.5 LTC per block.
The reduction of the block reward will greatly restrict the amount of increasing supply that the Litecoin network experiences. This means that there will be a significantly less influx of fresh LTC entering the market, making it more scarce. Theoretically, when an asset supply is restricted, this should help for the price to increase.
The block halving for Litecoin is set to take place around August 7, 2019. Although the block halving will occur after Q2 has finished, price action can typically rise months before the actual block halving occurs, as users anticipate a price increase on the actual date.
Litecoin Long-Term Price Analysis
Let us take a look at the LTC/USD market and highlight some important areas of support and resistance on the way up to $100 for Litecoin.
LTC/USD – LONG TERM – DAILY CHART
Taking a look at the daily chart above for Litecoin, we can see that the market bottomed out around the $24 level during December 2018. After reaching this level of support, the market reversed and started to climb.
The Litecoin price increase began to gather momentum during February 2019, when Litecoin managed to break above the 100-day moving average level and continue further higher. The break above the 100-day moving average was a very strong bullish signal for buyers within the market.
LTC/USD continued to rise during February and March 2019 until resistance was reached at $63.00. However, as the bull run began for Bitcoin during April 2019, Litecoin also experienced a significant further surge higher. Litecoin managed to break above the resistance at $63.00 and continued further higher into resistance at the $97 level. Price action was unable to reach $100 and also failed to sustain itself around $97, which caused the market to roll over and fall.
Litecoin has now dropped into support at a short-term .618 Fibonacci Retracement level (drawn in green), priced at $73.79.
Moving forward, if the buyers can maintain the current support level and begin to push LTC/USD higher, we can expect immediate resistance above the market to be located at $78.00 and $80.00. Above $80.00, higher resistance is then to be located at the previous 1.414Fibonacci Extension level (drawn in purple), priced at $87.80.
If the bullish pressure can continue to cause LTC/USD to climb further higher above $90.00, the bulls will need to tackle more resistance at the 1.618 Fibonacci Extension level (drawn in purple), priced at $97.18, before being clear to tackle the $100 level.
The RSI recently broke below the 50 level for the first time in 2019, which is a bearish signal for LTC/USD. If we would like to see LTC/USD reach $100, we will need to see the RSI recover and break back above the 50 level once again.
If the sellers to continue to push LTC/USD lower, we can expect immediate support below the market to be located at $67.75 and $63.00 (which is bolstered by the 100 day moving average). Beneath $63.00, more support can then be expected at $60.00 and $56.00.
Conclusion
Despite the recent price drops, Litecoin still has the potential to reach $100 before the end of Q2 2019. Partnerships with Beam to bring privacy, and with Glory to bring exposure, will greatly help Litecoin achieve this aim. However, the greatest driver for Litecoin to reach $100 will be the block halving that will occur during August 2019.
Do you own any Litecoin? Do you think it’s likely to reach $100 by the end of Q2 2019? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!