Litecoin [LTC] is gradually gaining momentum but remains stuck in a bearish market structure. Meanwhile, LTC’s network activity continues to grow steadily, yet the altcoin’s price is lagging on a broader scale.
What’s behind Litecoin’s network activity growth?
Litecoin’s Adjusted Economic Value (AEV) has more than tripled over the last year and continues to grow steadily. According to data from FORCEX, payments rose from 8.81 million LTC to 30.95 million LTC in the same period.
The AEV shows the actual amount of LTC tokens sent, excluding the unspent transaction output (UTXO). As such, it shows there is real ledger usage growth, which is bullish for the whole ecosystem.
The gross value moved, including UTXO, has almost doubled from 38.21 million LTC to 58.43 million LTC tokens. This shows the AEV is growing more than the entire transaction volume, indicating usage is up.
However, some users have criticized the metric, arguing SegWit transactions send the entire balance of LTC even for small transactions. The thing is, AEV addresses that issue and hence becomes a true measure of network activity.
Additionally, the number of LTC holders has grown by 2,483% in 24 hours and stood at 8.86 million as of press time. This reinforces network activity growth.
One factor driving this network’s growth is exposure to traditional institutional capital. For example, Swiss bank BancaStato now allows customers to buy, sell, and hold LTC directly within their normal accounts.
Can LTC price recover?
On the charts, Litecoin was attempting a recovery as the price moved above a slanting support after the 9-day SMA crossed above the 21-day SMA.
This followed six weeks of consolidation between $41 and $45, beneath the $50 resistance. However, LTC has now broken out of that consolidation and appears headed toward $50, a former support zone that has turned into resistance.
On the contrary, failure to reclaim $50 as support might extend the bearish market structure.
Moreover, the altcoin is slowing down after retesting the slanting support level. This bearish trend persists despite a commendable average transaction volume of 862.5K LTC per day.
Final Summary
- Litecoin’s AEV spikes by 3x in just a year, confirming sustained growth in network activity.
- LTC’s price is rising and respecting a slanting support, but it faces a key test at the $50 zone.