Litecoin halving completes as LTC sees increased payments adoption
The Litecoin halving event has been completed with block rewards now halved at 6.25 Litecoin (LTC) per block.
On Aug. 2, the Litecoin blockchain went through its automated halving procedure at block 2,520,000. LTC miners are now getting half the rewards and the clock has been reset for the next halving in roughly four years’ time.
Litecoin founder Charlie Lee commented on the discrepancies between the different halving countdown timers, suggesting that the NiceHash one was the most accurate. However, all of them agreed on an Aug. 2 date.
This is funny. I googled “Litecoin Block Halving Countdown” and checked the first 4 hits. The ETA for the halving is all over the map!
From my quick calculation, I believe NiceHash’s countdown is the most accurate. I expect the halving to occur in about a 1 day, 2 hours, and 30… pic.twitter.com/7lvOKCtiOh
— Charlie Lee Ⓜ️️ (@SatoshiLite) August 1, 2023
Moreover, LTC prices have been down trending since early July when they topped $110 for the first time since April 2022. The silver to Bitcoin’s gold is currently hovering around the $92 level where it was this time a fortnight ago.
Litecoin’s third HALVING is just hours away. The block reward will automatically adjust from 12.5 to 6.25 $LTC – thus making Litecoin a predictable monetary supply and a deflationary currency.
Litecoin ⚡ Sound Money. pic.twitter.com/9h1rh4f0vi
— Litecoin (@litecoin) August 1, 2023
Speaking on the adoption of Litecoin as a payment method, BitPay CEO Stephen Pair told Cointelegraph that Litecoin and Bitcoin Lightning payments had their best months in recent history on the global payments platform.
Related: Litecoin price poised for 700% gains vs. Bitcoin, says Charlie Lee
As of June, LTC surpassed Bitcoin (BTC) as the crypto of choice for payments on BitPay, accounting for 35%. BitPay claims to have processed 57,949 crypto-related total transactions over the past 30 days.
While North America, Europe and the United Kingdom remain the firm’s largest markets Pair said there was notable growth for crypto payments in Africa.
“We are seeing notable growth in African-based BitPay users, with more merchants and spenders replacing traditional banking systems in favor of cryptocurrency.”
“Latin America is also an area where we expect to see a rise in activity from BitPay merchants and customers over the next few years,” he added.
Litecoin is the 12th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization with $6.8 billion with its daily trading volume around $1.14 billion.
There are currently 73.5 million LTC in circulation out of a maximum supply of 84 million.
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