Is Litecoin (LTC) Headed for a Slump? Miners Sell Off, Hitting Lowest Reserves Since 2011

• Litecoin (LTC) miner reserves drop to a multi-year low as it reaches 1.61 million LTC ($120 million), representing a 29% fall according to data. 

• In addition to this, there has been a significant uptick in the network’s hashrate which is currently at its all-time high of 1.07k TH/s.

Litecoin (LTC) has experienced a considerable decline in the last seven and thirty days, losing 16% and 28% of its value within the respective periods to trade at $62. According to our data, its 24-hour trading volume has also declined significantly by 40%, as $389 million changed hands at press time. 

To analysts, the massive liquidation in the past few days is attributed to the intense bearish pressure that forced Bitcoin below the $55k price mark.

Just in line with the price action, Litecoin miners have also been steadily selling off their coin holdings since March 28. At press time, only 1.61 million LTC ($120 million) was held in miner reserves, representing a 29% decline and marking the lowest number of coins held across Litecoin mining pools since December 2011.

According to our research, the Litecoin miner reserves measure the assets held in affiliated miners’ wallets. Mathematically, a decline from the actual amount signifies the distribution of the coins for profit or to cover mining costs. 

Based on our findings, the considerable drop in miner reserves is accompanied by an uptick in the network’s hashrate which is currently at its all-time high of 1.07k TH/s. For education, this represents a global Litecoin network hashrate with a mining difficulty of 35.56 M at a block height of 2,715,496. 

What The Network Activities Mean to the Ecosystem

Historically, an uptick in hashrate alongside a decline in miner reserves is attributed to two main reasons. Firstly, there could be an inflow of new miners who may promote their cash while established miners promote a bigger portion of theirs. Secondly, miners could be expecting a future price increase, and are holding a portion of their mined assets while selling some to cover their mining cost. 

This is expected to put downward pressure on the LTC price in the short term. Prior to this bearish run, analyst World of Charts suggested that LTC could stage a breakout to hit $400 in the coming months. 

Ltc Breakout & Retest Has Already Confirmed Send It Towards 400$ Now…Breakout & Retest Has Almost Completed Seems Like #Ltc Getting Ready For Solid Bullish Rally In Coming Weeks Send It Towards 400$.

At that time, the analyst observed that the on-chain metrics like the MVRV ratio indicated a bullish sentiment, also suggesting that the asset was not yet overvalued. 

Currently, the hourly price chart confirms that bulls are inducing buying pressure to offset the domination by bears, which could lead to a massive bullish reversal. Against the backdrop of the ongoing market sentiment, analysts believe that Litecoin could be a good selection for the long term and could likely hit $1000 in no time if it continues its robust activities and growth.