Litecoin Price Skyrockets As Its SegWit Consensus Becomes Apparent

The third-largest altcoin, Litecoin, has skyrocketed in value as Segregated Witness (SegWit) activation seems all but inevitable.

Data from CoinMarketCap shows the price per coin to have reached $14.40 in the 24 hours from Sunday to Monday - a new multi-year high. In the previous weeks, prices had surpassed $10 for the first time since 2014.

As of press time, the asset was trading at around $13.50. Other sources saw Litecoin trade closer to $17, leading creator Charlie Lee to repost this celebratory announcement via Twitter on Saturday.

#Litecoin is just on fire today #arisechickun over 150M USD traded @SatoshiLite $17.00 pic.twitter.com/noUNVONXNi — Harry Yeh (@harryyeh) April 23, 2017

“The increased optimism comes off the back of a declaration by various Bitcoin entities on Friday to communally support SegWit on Litecoin, subject to the will of the ecosystem as a whole.”

The news came in the form of a meeting in Beijing of the so-called Litecoin Global Roundtable, members of which included Bitmain, which had previously been a vocal opponent of the technology.

Rumors

While erroneous rumors of SegWit having already deployed are surfacing on social media, opinions are converging on both the future and likely price increase of Litecoin once the technology is released.

By contrast, prior to the SegWit episode beginning, Litecoin had traded at under $4 for an extended period.

The highest ever recorded price came in late 2013 as Bitcoin itself achieved record highs, with Litecoin briefly surpassing the $50 barrier.