Litecoin (LTC) surged by around 10% at one point on Thursday, soaring to the $71 level—its highest price since January. It was shortly after the Litecoin Foundation said that about $1 billion in funds moved through the Litecoin network over the course of a day.
Key point
While the Lightcoin rose by about 8% over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin and the top 10 coins by market capitalization generally saw weakness.
In just a single day, the Lightcoin moved on-chain reached more than 17 million coins, amounting to roughly $1 billion.
Open interest in the futures market has surpassed $500 million, with leveraged positions increasing rapidly.
Litecoin sees a surge in on-chain activity
In a post on its social platform X, the Litecoin Foundation said that the number of Litecoins that changed hands on the network over a 24-hour period exceeded 17 million. The foundation calls this the ‘adjusted economic volume’ metric and uses it as a gauge of real usability.
These figures fall short of the year-to-date peak of $2.51 billion recorded in May this year. Even so, the foundation emphasized that on-chain usage is expanding noticeably.
One standout point is that the rally came as the overall cryptocurrency market underwent a synchronized correction. In the same period, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by about 3%, with this month’s gain capped at around 6%, and other top coins by market capitalization also showed similar weakness.
Spot trading has also regained momentum. Compared with around September 18, spot trading volume has nearly tripled to about $948 million. During this period, the price of LTC fluctuated between $59 and $69 intraday, increasing volatility.
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Halving, derivatives, and bets piling into Litecoin
Leverage bets on Litecoin are also accelerating in the futures market. According to CoinGlass data, the size of Litecoin futures open interest rose from about $370 million in mid-September to over $500 million on September 22. Some market participants view $64 as a key support level and $71 as a short-term upside target, assuming buy-side demand holds.
The exact reason why Litecoin is generating returns that exceed the market is still not clear. However, some analysts have pointed to the ‘halving’ cycle in which the block reward is cut in half every four years. Based on past patterns, Litecoin’s price has tended to form a low in the 6 to 12 months leading up to a halving. The next halving is scheduled for July 2027, when the reward per block will be reduced to 3.125 LTC.
More broadly, the possibility of a Bitcoin correction is also influencing market sentiment. Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market strategist at FxPro, said that if Bitcoin is pushed down toward the $70,000 level, it could cause significant pain for short-term speculative players. However, he added that such a correction would not break the medium- to long-term bullish outlook. He pointed to precedent: even after Bitcoin lost more than half its value at one point since its 2021 peak, it eventually went on to set new all-time highs.
Litecoin volatility throughout September
The recent rally has further extended the strong uptrend that has continued since September. Litecoin rose more than 8% to around $62 on September 21 as trading volume surged to nearly double, marking a new high since June.
So far this month alone, the price of Litecoin has risen by about 37%, marking its strongest monthly performance since November 2024. While the broader market is taking a breather, growing on-chain usage, rising derivatives demand, and expectations for the halving have converged to turn Litecoin into a representative ‘comeback’ altcoin.
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