Litecoin price signals breakout amid whale accumulation

Litecoin price advanced more than 5% to above $118 as momentum was catalyzed by aggressive whale accumulation and exchange-traded fund buzz.

The price of Litecoin jumped to above $118 for the first time since bulls gave up gains amid broader market sell-off on Aug.25. 

After repeatedly finding robust resistance around the $113–$115 area, Litecoin advanced to an intraday high of $118.73 at the time of writing. It’s a performance that saw Litecoin ( LTC ) rank among the top gainers in the crypto market’s mega-cap coins, a feat that aligned with increased buy-side pressure.

Why is Litecoin price up?

Crypto market intelligence and onchain metrics platform Santiment pointed out that Litecoin’s price gain came amid an aggressive shift by whales. For instance, wallets holding 1,000 LTC or more accumulated 181,000 additional coins on Sept. 9.

The buying pressure alluded to the market’s reaction to bullish news, analysts at Santiment noted.

One of the potential drivers appears to be Grayscale’s latest exchange-traded fund filings, which saw the crypto asset manager submit ETF applications for LTC as well as Bitcoin Cash and Hedera. Grayscale is seeking to list shares of the Litecoin ETF on NYSE Arca, joining multiple other applications before the SEC.

“While an investment in the shares is not a direct investment in LTC, the shares are designed to provide investors with a cost-effective and convenient way to gain investment exposure to LTC,” Grayscale noted in its S-3 statement.

Anticipation is that the SEC will soon approve new crypto ETFs, and Litecoin stands as one of those with the highest chance of a nod.

The other bullish catalyst is increased interest in LTC on Wall Street. Recently, MEI Pharma, rebranded as Lite Strategy, became the first company listed in the U.S. to adopt LTC as a primary reserve asset. Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin, is a board member of Lite Strategy, the company that has committed $100 million toward a Litecoin treasury strategy.

Santiment says the move has ignited huge interest in LTC.