Litecoin – one of the oldest blockchain protocols – completed the third halving in its history on August 2. The event, which occurs every four years, cut the miners’ awards in half: from 12.5 LTC to 6.25 LTC.
Halvings are usually seen as catalysts that could propel price increases for the native token of the network in the long term. However, LTC headed in the opposite direction hours after the event, currently trading at approximately $86.80 (6% less than yesterday’s valuation).
- The team behind the protocol announced the news on Twitter. The event took place when the network reached block height 2,520,000.
LITECOIN HAS SUCCESSFULLY HALVED ITS BLOCK REWARD!
? $LTC ? pic.twitter.com/iemCnkPsdu
— Litecoin (@litecoin) August 2, 2023
- Created by Charlie Lee in 2011, Litecoin is among the first blockchain protocols. In technical details, its main characteristics are akin to Bitcoin. The leading blockchain protocol is often compared to “digital gold,” whereas Litecoin has earned the nickname “digital silver” due to its underlying similarities with the former.
- As a result of the latest halving, the award for miners that process transactions and secure the network of Litecoin was cut in half to 6.25 LTC.
- The blockchain protocol has a fixed supply cap of 84 million coins ever to exist.
- Despite those long-term expectations, the price of the native asset of the network slumped in the hours after the disclosure.
- Currently, it trades at almost $87 (a 6% decrease from yesterday’s valuation and 5% less than the figures one week ago).
- This might as well be a temporary sell-the-news phenomenon.
