Why is Litecoin price up today?

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Litecoin (LTC) emerged as one of the best performing cryptocurrencies on March 23, beating out top rivals Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

Litecoin Attracts Bitcoin and Ethereum Investors

LTC prices rose 5.5% to reach an intraday high of around $92.50. By comparison, cryptocurrency market capitalization (TOTAL) rose 2.25% to $1.14 trillion, while BTC and ETH rose 1.79% and 1.42%, respectively.

The 25 basis points (bps) rate hike by the Federal Reserve on March 22 appears to be the main factor in Litecoin beating its crypto rivals in the last 24 hours.

Notably, the price of LTC has risen by more than 15% against BTC and around 14.5% against ETH since the Fed’s announcement.

One of the reasons is that Litecoin has relatively underperformed the crypto market in March, dropping more than 6.5% month-to-date (MTD) against the crypto market’s 9.35% rise.

Therefore, traders saw this as an opportunity to “buy a drop” in Litecoin, with a likely upside, especially since there was little to no other catalyst to watch.

Whale Accumulation Ahead of Litecoin Halving?

Meanwhile, on-chain data shows an increase in Litecoin supply held by addresses with balances between 1 million and 10 million LTC in March. In addition, the share of supply held by addresses with a balance of 100,000 LTC to 1 million LTC is declining.

This suggests that whales with 10-1 million LTC will accumulate Litecoin in March and join the cohort of 1-10 million LTC holders.

Litecoin Halving Euphoria

A halving event occurs when the reward for mining a new block is halved.

Previous halvings in the Bitcoin and Litecoin markets preceded an extended bull market. Therefore, the next Litecoin halving, scheduled for August 2023, could bring similarly bullish results.

Independent market analyst Rekt Capital noted that the euphoria surrounding Litecoin’s halving may have influenced traders to buy LTC in the face of a “whole market decline.”

$LTC Most of the market shows strength while suffering from this overall market dip

important to remember #LTC Halved by August 2023#bitcoin #Crypt #Litecoin https://t.co/otWMSUAYV9

— Rekto Capital (@rektcapital) March 22, 2023

What’s Next for LTC Prices?

From a technical standpoint, Litecoin looks poised to undergo a price correction in the coming weeks.

Related: Ethereum Faces Six-Month Low Against Bitcoin — Will ETH Price Recover?

In particular, LTC/USD is testing months-long downtrend line resistance for a potential pullback, similar to what happened in May and November 2021.

A decisive bearish reversal could see LTC test the previous support line near $47.50, down about 45% from current price levels.

Conversely, a breakout of the downtrend line resistance could propel the LTC price to the $105-$140 price range.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. All investment and trading moves involve risk and readers should conduct their own research when making decisions.