Litecoin Whales Buy Over 200,000 LTC Before the Halving

Litecoin holders are increasing their accumulation of the crypto industry’s “silver asset” during the past month as the specter of its halving event looms.

Litecoin’s official Twitter handle tweeted that the halving was less than 2000 blocks away as of July 30. The highly anticipated event would reduce its block rewards to 6.25 LTC from 12.5 LTC.

Litecoin Whales Buy

On-chain data from Santiment reveals that mid-sized Litecoin whales — addresses holding 100 to 10,000 LTC — have purchased 205,400 LTC since June 14. The firm attributed this cohort’s “aggressive accumulation” to the halving event.

As of press time, the combined holdings of these wallets amount to 18.18 million LTC, worth approximately $1.7 billion.

According to Santiment, crypto traders tend to perceive most coin halvings as bullish events for the market.

Meanwhile, a previous BeInCrypto report corroborates the data above. According to the report, Litecoin miners have been stockpiling their reserves, adding 400,000 LTC between July 1 and July 28.

LTC Price Eyes $100

The current positive sentiment surrounding Litecoin has also pushed its price higher. LTC gained 4.34% in the last 24 hours to trade at $95 at the time of writing.

This is a clear divergence from its performance at the start of July when it fell from over $100. Litecoin surged in June when EDX Market listed it as one of the four cryptocurrencies supported by its platform. However, its price started declining in early July after peaking at $113.

With the halving coming up, LTC’s price increased by 3.2% during the last five days, going from a low of $89 recorded on July 25 to its current price.

Additionally, LTC’s trading volume has also increased significantly during the period. For context, the digital asset trading volume soared by nearly 150% during the last 24 hours to over $1 billion, far above the $395 million recorded on July 29, according to BeInCrypto data.