- Litecoin (LTC) mining stats have been impressive after taking a hit following the 2023 halving event.
- LTC prices have failed to show equal performance with the “digital silver” failing to inspire confidence among investors.
Litcoin (LTC) mining difficulty has impressed in recent weeks, a clear indication of the network’s health, stability, and security. Analysis reveals that Litecoin difficulty increased by 8.4% over the last week and over 20% YTD. This marks an all-time high for one of the largest proof-of-work (PoW) networks.
The spike coincides with a surge in network hash rate which recently peaked at 1.03 PetaHashes per second (PH/s). The mining difficulty is adjusted to the total network hash rate. The network’s hashrate has been on a steady rise after a dip in mid-December.
The rise in mining difficulty means that it is harder for miners to validate transactions. Given this is how new coins are added into circulation, this means that it is harder for new coins to be added. In theory, this should reduce the circulating supply and drive demand higher.
Unfortunately for LTC investors, the difficulty adjustments have had little effect on the pro-claimed “digital silver.”
At the time of writing, LTC is trading at $70.63, after a 1.5% surge in the last 24 hours. This extends its weekly gains to nearly 3%.
With a market cap of a little over $5.2 billion, the token is ranked 22nd, it is clear that the token regarded as Bitcoin’s little brother has fallen out of favor among cryptocurrency investors.
Despite the adjustment having little effect on prices, the same is a positive for the network and should inspire confidence among users. An increase in hash rate and difficulty bolds well for the security of the network, which speaks to the overall health and stability of the network.
Investors have further been concerned by the coin’s lack of bullish momentum after the 2023 halving. Litecoin halved in early August last year, slashing its block reward from 12.5 LTC to 6.25 LTC. In the leadup to the halving, investors and miners accumulated tokens as the price went on its best run in one and a half years. Data by IntoTheBlock shows that at halving, miners held 2.55 million LTC in reserves. Immediately after, they began to dump and sell most of the new tokens they mined.
As CNF reported, there has been renewed interest in the coins leading to an increase in accumulation by both miners and whales. With participants anticipating a bull run and enforcing it, LTC holders are confident of a breakout.
Additionally, Litecoin (LTC) has demonstrated remarkable activity since December 2023, with daily active users and on-chain transactions reaching unprecedented levels. Beginning in December, Liteocin has outshined Bitcoin in payment usage.
Furthermore, Litecoin recently celebrated a noteworthy accomplishment of its 12-year streak of 100% uptime. This demonstrates its resilience, real-world adoption, and high transaction count.