Litecoin (LTC) exchange rate: how the price of one of the first altcoins changed

Litecoin's early period (2013 — 2014)

Although the Litecoin cryptocurrency appeared in October 2011, crypto exchanges were not developed then, so altcoins were traded on specialized platforms. Everything changed with the emergence of the then leading crypto exchange Mt. Gox, followed by the emergence of other trading platforms.

The first listing of Litecoin cryptocurrency on the crypto exchange occurred at the end of April 2013, and at that time, the altcoin rate had reached $4.36, which is quite a high indicator for newly placed digital assets. Almost immediately after the listing, the LTC cryptocurrency rate began to decline and, at times, fell below $2 and recovered to the previous mark only in November 2013.

After that, the cryptocurrency rate began to grow rapidly, and Litecoin set its first historical maximum at $34.47 in December of the same year; its price rose almost 8 times in less than a month. As experts note, the reasons for such a sharp jump can be ambiguous:

• On the one hand, this could be due to a sharp rise in the Bitcoin exchange rate;
• On the other hand, the growth could have been caused by the statement of Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve System (FRS) of the United States, who spoke about the prospects of virtual currencies, including Bitcoin and Litecoin.

However, the rapid growth was quickly followed by a correction, resulting in the LTC cryptocurrency rate falling to its historic low of $1.11 already in January 2015 — a drop of more than 30 times. In other words, the Litecoin price has been declining for a year. Such a strong correction could have been influenced by the theft of digital assets from the Mt. Gox crypto exchange and the subsequent closure of the site.

Until June 2015, the LTC rate fluctuated between $1.11 and $2, but then there was a new price spike, and the altcoin's value rose to $6.35, followed by another pullback. By September, the price of Litecoin had dropped to $2.81. The LTC cryptocurrency rate gradually rose until March 2017, when the altcoin price reached $4.06.

In March, there was a new sharp jump amid the general growth of the crypto market, and the cost of Litecoin already in June updated its historical maximum (ATH) at $46.16 and continued to grow, time after time setting new price records:

• $51.10 in July;
• $65.25 in September;

Finally, in December 2017, the new ATH was already in place. LTC altcoin reached the level of $301.78, after which the crypto market entered a new phase of prolonged correction.

Crypto winter and the DeFi boom (2018 — 2021)

In just one month after reaching the last absolute maximum, the price of Litecoin collapsed more than twice — to $131.40. The exchange rate quickly recovered to $230.95 by the end of February before rolling back to $115.21. After another recovery, the exchange rate fell gradually until it hit a yearly low of $24.53 by the end of 2018.

In 2019, the price of the Litecoin cryptocurrency resumed its growth: by June, the altcoin's rate rose 5.7 times to $141.95. The reason could be the increase in user activity on the eve of halving in the Litecoin network: according to analytical data, the number of transactions per day reached 21,000, and the total volume — $200-$300 million, which is quite a significant indicator for cryptocurrencies.

However, by the end of 2019, the Litecoin exchange rate had already dropped to $40.26, followed by a new spike, and the LTC price more than doubled (to $81.23) in just over a month but then quickly rolled back to $37.54 again.

By November 2020, the price of Litecoin cryptocurrency rose to $59.37. Then, the crypto market experienced a boom in decentralized finance (DeFi), and quotes of many major altcoins began to increase. In May 2021, the Litecoin cryptocurrency rate reached a new all-time high of $412.96.

New global correction and resumption of growth in the crypto market (2021 — 2024)

After reaching the absolute maximum, which, as of 2024, Litecoin has not yet been able to surpass, the quotes of the altcoin again began to fall rapidly, and by July 2021, LTC cost $107.33; that is, its price dropped almost 4 times relative to the level of ATH.

Then, by November of the same year, Litecoin's value more than doubled to $251.19 against the background of the general growth of the crypto market, but, unlike bitcoin and a number of some major altcoins, Litecoin failed to update its ATH.

The crypto market then began a correction, which was exacerbated in early May 2022 amid the collapse of blockchain platform Terra, as a result of which investors started selling their crypto assets en masse.

By May 2022, the price of LTC cryptocurrency dropped to $96.91, and after the news of Terra's collapse, the altcoin price plummeted to $66.41 and continued to fall until it reached a two-year low of $44.71. Then, the growth of Litecoin resumed: the LTC rate gradually increased until July 2023, when it reached $107.23. The development may have occurred against the backdrop of another upcoming halving, which took place on August 2, 2023.

After this, Litecoin cryptocurrency quotes began to fall again until they dropped to $58.84 in September 2023, as the crypto market was still being corrected.

However, in the same month, despite the ongoing general correction, Litecoin quotes resumed their growth, and by April, they had reached $98.57. After that, the price of LTC began to fall again against the background of the general correction that started in the spring of 2024, and later — the news about payments to the affected investors of the bankrupt crypto exchange Mt. Gox and cryptocurrency lender Genesis Global. In August, the value of LTC dropped to $55.98.

Soon, the Litecoin cryptocurrency returned to growth amid news about the plans of a prominent investment company, Canary Capital Group LLC, which applied with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue its own Litecoin spot ETF in October 2024.

Another positive factor could be Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential race, as the crypto community is widely aware of his plans to make the country a global center for cryptocurrencies. In November 2024, LTC quotes reached $76.23.