Bitcoin (BTC) is still almost a year away from its next block reward halving, but Litecoin (LTC) miners are already bracing for impact.
In less than two weeks, Litecoin’s block subsidy will drop from 12.5 LTC to 6.25 LTC per block.
Whales stock up on LTC — but BTC value stays weak
Despite its fair share of controversy, Litecoin remains the 12th largest cryptocurrency by market cap at around $6.8 billion.
Its miners currently rake in 7,200 LTC in block rewards daily, equal to a U.S. dollar value of around $670,000.
As the halving nears, major investors appear to be seeking an easy trade, popular trader Mikybull Crypto and others noting “whales” buying up almost $60 million worth of LTC in the past two days.
#Litecoin whales have bought over 590,000 #LTC in the last 48 hours, worth around $59 million!
— Mikybull Crypto (@MikybullCrypto) July 19, 2023
Halving is a few days ahead. pic.twitter.com/L77RB5lLIq
In BTC terms, however, there appears to be little worth celebrating.
Litecoin currently trades near all-time lows against the largest cryptocurrency, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows — a trend which has persisted through the years regardless of previous halvings.
As of July 19, LTC/BTC trades at 0.0031, with its all-time low of 0.0017 coming in June 2022. By contrast, 1 LTC was once worth as much as 0.052 BTC — the equivalent of $1,560 today.
Litecoin's all-time high in USD came in May 2021, when it traded at over $400 per token versus its more modest $93 today.
Little consolation for Bitcoin forks
In terms of weakness against Bitcoin, Litecoin is far from the worst performer.
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A popular comparison through the years has been forks of Bitcoin versus BTC itself, and the results continue to paint a grim picture of the reality of going against the market’s network of choice.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) saw all-time lows in BTC last month, and despite a bounce since, remains at just 0.00817 BTC — 98% below its all-time highs of 0.432 BTC.
For Bitcoin SV (BSV), the picture is even worse, with a copycat bounce from record lows in June already stalling.
At the time of writing, BSV/BTC traded at 0.00124 BTC — likewise 98% below all-time highs.
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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.