Litecoin’s Long-Term Holders Rank 2nd Only to Bitcoin, Beating Ethereum

• Litecoin is gaining traction as an asset for value preservation in the long term.
• Litecoin ETF hype is helping to fuel the coin’s bullish price outlook.  

Litecoin (LTC) recently outpaced Ethereum (ETH) regarding the longest average holding period. This highlights Litecoin’s sustained appeal among long-term investors. However, Bitcoin (BTC) continues to lead in this metric.

Long-Term Litecoin Investors Soar

According to IntoTheBlock, Bitcoin has the longest “average HODL time” at 4.4 years. This is consistent with its widespread conception as a long-term store of wealth, or “digital gold.”

This chart highlights the typical holding period for different assets.

As expected, Bitcoin leads with an average HODL time of 4.4 years.

Interestingly, top memecoins like Doge and Shiba show similar holding times to ETH.

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— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) October 24, 2024

Notably, the average HODL time refers to how long a token remains on an address before being transferred. This metric reflects a high confidence level in a digital asset’s reliability as a store of value.

Retail and institutional interest in Bitcoin continues to spike as the asset nears its all-time high. Litecoin, however, stands closely behind Bitcoin, with an average holding time of 2.6 years. The increase in Litecoin’s average HODL time indicates that more seasoned and long-term investors are joining the network rather than short-term speculators.

Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Shiba Inu (SHIB) all share an identical average holding period of 2.4 years. This tie is observed despite their different use cases and market perceptions, indicating that memecoins evolve beyond their initial reputation as speculative assets.

Other top digital assets that appeared in the IntoTheBlock list include Chainlink (LINK), Toncoin (TON), Tron (TRX), and Cardano (ADA). LINK and TON have an average holding period of 1.9 years, while Tron and Cardano are 1.2 years each. 

Tether (USDT) and Avalanche (AVAX) have the lowest average HODL times at 8.9 months and 7.7 months, respectively. USDT’s position is understandable, given its primary use as a trading pair and medium of exchange rather than a long-term investment

Litecoin’s Roller-coaster Journey 

The surge in Litecoin’s average HODL time comes amid a positive outlook in the network. After a short period of volatility, LTC is now on a bullish momentum. However, Litecoin’s rise to current levels is marked by a series of obstacles. As CNF reported, crypto whales abandoned Litecoin in 2021, only few tried to repurchase it after the crypto winter of 2022. 

Litecoin lost nearly 25% of its value in August. However, the coin’s price soon picked up, with a massive 30% increase earlier this month. LTC was trading at $72.29 as of this writing, demonstrating a 0.3% increase in the last 24 hours. Litecoin is now above its opening price on New Year’s Day, prompting investigations about other factors behind the growth.

The main driver behind Litecoin’s recent surge is the hype surrounding the potential launch of an Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). Notably, Canary Capital Group has submitted a registration to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its Litecoin ETF.

A potential approval will allow Canary to provide retail and institutional investors with direct exposure to LTC. Commenting on the development, Litecoin Founder Charlie Lee anticipates that the approval of the Litecoin ETF could come as early as 2025.