CNBC analyst and Fast Money trader Brian Kelly has officially added Litecoin to his portfolio of cryptocurrencies, given its recent surge in value, technological developments, and increasing adoption rate.
Litecoin Solidifies Itself as Leading Cryptocurrency
Created by Charlie Lee, the former Coinbase director of engineering, Litecoin has served the market as a complementary cryptocurrency to bitcoin. With lower fees and faster confirmation times, Litecoin operates better as a currency for smaller payments than bitcoin.
Recently, Steam, the US-based digital distribution platform, removed bitcoin from its platform and integrated Litecoin, due to the complaints from its users and customers about bitcoin’s increasing fees. As such, Steam added Litecoin, that have less than $0.5 transaction fees on average.
In consideration of Litecoin’s Segregated Witness (SegWit) integration, rgw willingness of the community to integrate second-layer solutions, adoption by Steam, and lower fees, Kelly stated that he has included Litecoin to his portfolio of cryptocurrencies.
“There are three reasons why [I bought Litecoin]. First of all, it has a technical lead over bitcoin. That’s not a knock on bitcoin but Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin, has been ahead of the curve on a lot of the additions and upgrades to the network. Litecoin has been able to add a lot of stuff bitcoin has not yet,” said Kelly.
He further emphasized that because of its 2.5 minute confirmation time, Litecoin is able to process payments at a faster rate than bitcoin, providing a more favorable and efficient payment method for merchants like Steam.
“Litecoin is now accepted at Steam. Steam is one of these online gaming communities that used to be able to accept bitcoin. But it was too slow. Now you can accept it at Steam.”
Brian Kelly added that in the short-term, he believes the price of Litecoin can surge to $500, placing the market valuation of the cryptocurrency at $27 billion, closer to that of Ripple’s $30 billion market cap.
Can Litecoin Surpass $500?
Currently, in the global cryptocurrency market, there exists many cryptocurrencies and tokens with no real world purpose. The majority of cryptocurrencies have struggled to demonstrate potential and commercial success.
However, leading cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Monero have continuously been utilized as stores of value and currencies.
In the mid-term, as billions of dollars from the traditional finance sector flow into the bitcoin market through bitcoin futures on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) and CME, an increasing number of institutional investors and retail traders will explore alternative cryptocurrencies in the market.
Cryptocurrencies like Litecoin that are widely recognized, acknowledged, and accepted as a currency will likely surge in value as a result. If more merchants and online platforms such as Steam continue to integrate Litecoin, and casual users in the cryptocurrency market begin using the cryptocurrency for smaller payments, Litecoin could compete against Bitcoin Cash in the short-term to evolve into an alternative to bitcoin.
