Litecoin Soars 17% as Whales Stockpile 250K LTC Amid ETF Speculation

Litecoin ( LTC ) has seen an impressive surge, escalating by approximately 17% over just 12 hours, marking an intraday high of $118 in Asian markets on Thursday morning. Despite this upswing, LTC remains 72% below its record high of $410 from May 2021, even though it briefly reached $140 during last December's crypto rally.

The upward momentum has primarily been attributed to significant accumulations by large investors colloquially known as 'whales and sharks', which hold a minimum of 10,000 LTC. Since January 9, these entities have acquired an additional 250,000 coins, as pointed out by Santiment, a market analytics firm.

This substantial growth in Litecoin's market capitalization highlights its decoupling from other altcoins, gaining 16.1% in just 11 hours.

Santiment emphasizes the pivotal role of these large-scale investors in the recent rally, similar to patterns observed in early December. Alongside this, the crypto community's optimism over the potential approval of a spot Litecoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States has fueled further enthusiasm.

Canary Capital has recently submitted an amendment to its S-1 filing with the SEC, raising anticipations, especially with the forthcoming change in SEC leadership.

James Seyffart, a Bloomberg ETF analyst, remarked on the possible SEC engagement with the filing, although the critical 19b-4 filing, which would initiate a formal approval process, remains pending.

His colleague, Eric Balchunas, noted feedback from the SEC suggests a favorable outlook for Litecoin's ETF approval compared to others like Solana. ETF Store President Nate Geraci added that the approval of a Litecoin ETF before those tied to other major cryptocurrencies like XRP or SOL would be noteworthy.

Meanwhile, the overall crypto market experienced a 3% uplift, thanks largely to Bitcoin surpassing the $100,000 mark, reaching $100,700 in Thursday's early Asian trading. This significant milestone for Bitcoin coincides with other notable performers in the crypto sphere. XRP experienced a 13% uptick, topping $3 for the first time since January 2018, while other cryptocurrencies like Solana ( SOL ), Stellar Lumens ( XLM ), and Chainlink ( LINK ) also saw appreciable gains. Nonetheless, Litecoin maintained its position at the forefront of altcoin advancements.