Why isnt Litcoin worth more?

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As a newby looking at Litcoin it is puzzling why it is not worth more.

Litcoin is based on Bitcoin tech. It can be a store of value but it is not used as much as Bitcoin for this. Bitcoin can be used for transactions but Litcoin is better for this.

Litcoin’s supply is four times that of Bitcoin so should be 25% of the price of Bitcoin. Why is it not? Only because the demand is higher for Bitcoin?

So if people started to demand Litcoin like Bitcoin it could moonshot to 25% of Bitcoin’s price.

Why wont it? Or why could it?

Answers welcomed.

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I’m a newbie too so will be interested to hear people answer this from a historical perspective. I know that there is a formidable ‘layer 4’ element to BTC, e.g. the marketing, fanboys, online troll armies, etc.

Only because the demand is higher for Bitcoin?

Yes and no. They are market-priced, so yes, demand is the cause of price. However a more informative answer takes into account two factors:

  1. The safest harbour in a storm. All ships head for the safest harbour. There is a massive advantage to being the leader. BTC is the winner and will be in the foreseeable future as an absolutely scarce, ultra-secure digital protector against fiat collapse.
  2. Roles. People hoard sats. People stack ‘lits’ only to spend them in the future. That leads to lack of supply for BTC, hence pushing up price.

Btw, I am bullish on LTC.

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I think the “worth” of Litecoin is a combination of adoption, demand and trust.

What I like about Litecoin is that it’s more usable as a currency as opposed to Bitcoin which feels more like a commodity investment at this point. Litecoin has lower fees, and is much faster when doing transactions and less waiting for confirmations, also the privacy option (MWEB) making it similar to cash.

Even though it shouldn’t matter logically what the current LTC rate is in another currency regarding usage (since there are 8 decimal points available) it still does somehow. Looking back at Bitcoin it was used more as a currency for payments around 2011/2012 when the rate was around USD $10 per BTC, as soon as the rate went over USD $1000 that started to change, and moving forward to present time it’s mostly used as an investment. There is the Lightning Network making Bitcoin more usable for small and fast payments (e.g. microtransactions), there is also a Lightning Network for Litecoin even though it currently feels like less of a need there, it’s already fast.

Going forward I think the LTC rate will go up a lot more than BTC percentage wise, in the long run adoption is what matters. Personal observation; as Bitcoin becomes more accepted by governments and banks world wide it also become less useful due to heavy regulations and control. This is where Litecoin comes in strong in my opinion, putting the user first and in control. As an early adopter of cryptocurrencies in general Litecoin now feels closer to the core values of what Bitcoin used to be about back when it all started.

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I suppose it needs someone like Elon Musk to remark too that Litcoin has a lot going for it and that it is undervalued given its attributes are so close to Bitcoins. Once this is realised more widely its price could approach 25% of Bitcoins to refkect its supply difference. .

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Even hyped predictions of Bitcoin valuations only seem to double or treble it in price from this level. People will realise Litcoin with its similar attributes has much better chance of multiple gains from its level. So I am bullish for its prospects. Time will tell.

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Litecoin is kind of a payment coin. But not marketed correctly if you asked me.
Many people use it like when passing on 10 BTC you swap those into Litecoin and re-swap them once they arrive.

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Some say LTC is to BTC as silver is to gold - a store of value but also useful. Gold stores more value by volume in storage so one reason it is favoured. This reason doesnt apply for digital assets.

So I agree if LTC was marketed better it would be more appreciated and appeciate in value. It needs some good PR and a creative Advertising Agency. :slight_smile:

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I’ve been diamond hands on Litecoin for many years. And I’m done watching it sleep. All the reasons you just mentioned are right, but there’s not that much chance of light being shed on LTC in the future. It’s dead.

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New gimicky cryptos tend to get attention but it just needs one sensible celeb to back the solid attributes of LTC to see it moonshot imho.

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The recent global IT outage affected many airlines, shops and banks across the world. Many ATMs didnt work. Did it affect crypto exchanges?

Only those with stashes of gold and silver coins, or cash stashed under mattresses and portable crypto wallets would overcome serious IT outages. Crypto wallets beat all for security and "local’ p2p transactions.

Perhaps promotion of LTC for this purpose with wallet stashes for such emergencies could give a filip to its wider adoption.

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One can always hope!

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Yes, I believe LTC is in a very strong position to cruise in BTC’s slipstream for a few years. I’m a fan of BTC, but when Blackrock and similar start buying up the mining pools, there will be a big backlash.

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Bitcoin holders often change BTC to Litecoin for purchasing, I hear, as cheaper and quicker to transact.

Cryptos are used like casino chips now. If there became a real need to use them, such as dollar collapse due to USA civil unrest reducing confidence, (Trump elected?), or Middle East explodes, this could change.

It’s just a matter of time that there will be a huge demand for Litecoin for this purpose alone imho. Guess what will happen to the Litecoin price. My stash is waiting. :smiley:

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Maybe the word is already getting out…

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Yes. I have noticed LTC doing better than most crypto casino chips in this roulette market turn-around. Maybe its fundamentals are being realised. Main fundamental being it has four times supply limit compared to BTC.

All things being equal (and it is not yet I agree as BTC is the darling of crypto hoddlers), in a market de-coupled from this the LTC price should be 25% of BTC.

That would be about £11k a pop as I look because LTC does all BTC does and better. At currently £51 a pop LTC could be a 215x bagger. I would be happy if it became a 10 bagger. :blush:

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I may have underestimated the situation. It is often said LTC is to BTC as Silver is to Gold. This does not stack up.

Gold has superior properties than silver to justify its price - in use it does not tarnish, its a better electrical conductor, and especially as it takes much less room in vaults than silver for hoddlers.

None of these properties apply to BTC, particularly for the hoddling reason, and LTC is even better than BTC functionally. So it’s only that BTC was the first fashionable kid on the blockchain that gives it celebrity value.

The Silver:Gold ratio is about 86:1. Yet the LTC:BTC ratio is about 880:1

There is a real probability that LTC:BTC ratio could reduce significantly, especially as hoddlers realise the potential gain could be several times that of BTC if crypto fashion changes. How much the ratio will change is anyone’s guess.

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Yes, and historically the ratio settles at about 30:1. I think it was about 15:1 in the Greco-Roman times. Silver is way underpriced these days.

However, I think the analogy does stack up.

That justifies gold’s store of value, but not its value as a medium of exchange. Silver is good enough for functional money.

That’s stepping into dangerous territory, as the Subjective Theory of Value (Menger’s) underpins cryptocurrency.

Again, that’s great for gold’s ‘store of value’. But if silver coins were allowed to be used as money, then silver would have many advantages, as a medium of exchange. Gold tends to be hoarded, and its really hard to use it for small purchases, like a bag of carrots. Silver is easier to mine and mint, but strikes a great balance, because its scarce too.

I love Safedean Amous’s Bitcoin Standard but I think his arguments against silver are not sound. For example, he claims that the British Empire became supreme thanks to its gold standard, but he puts the cart before the horse. The gold standard became supreme thanks to the British Empire.

As a medium of exchange, yes - just like silver. But, if you want to argue from utilitarian grounds (dangerous territory for crypto), then BTC has the security of all that hashpower. It has the most nodes to threaten a hard fork if a mining company became dominant. For a store of value, I would back BTC.

So in summary the gold/silver analogy holds because…

Gold/BTC is a great store of value and a good medium of exchange.
Silver/LTC is a great medium of exchange and a good store of value.

(That is not taking into account the cultural factor, which we really should…)

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Good points.

The cultural aspect is key. Like in ‘art’ the price of a crypto depends on it.

A Van Gogh painting is like BTC - fame gives it value. LTC is like a talented painter trying to make a name.

While a Van Gogh painting price might get a premium each time it’s transacted, a new painter’s work that becomes a collectors’ target, can rise multifold in price.

In art, if a top collector buys a new artist’s ’ painting then all others say “Hey, I better buy one before the artist gets famous,” and the price begins to rocket.

It just needs a well known top BTC whale to convert some stash to LTC to make it moonshot similarly.

LTC is a bargain buy just now. Which well known whale will buy it first, I wonder?

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I was thinking some celeb would be first to start the snowball. Like some business-savvy rapper or EDM dj. “I get paid in litecoin.”

Another idea was that a big retail chain would start accepting litecoin. Some brand known as an innovator. Like Virgin Voyages (Richard Branson), just off the top of my head. This is the kind of thing the Litecoin Foundation marketing team should instigate.

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Bitcoin Whales Tesla, MicroStrategy and Marathon are currently BTC maximalists.

However one could become like the top art collector to boost the fame rocket, and be the first mover to diversify some BTC assets into LTC. They would get huge valuable PR anyway.

LTC as ‘Bitcoin Lite’ ticks all their boxes and has more potential for capital growth than ‘Bitcoin Heavy’ when the LTC ‘fame factor’ eventually catches-on imho.

I agree it would help if the likes of Richard Branson takes the plunge to recognise LTC across VIRGIN ventures as a payment. This would get huge valuable free PR for Virgin anyway.