Two new reasons why I am feeling very bullish about Litecoin

[mr_random]

1. People are emailing mtgox asking for Litecoin support now it's broken one dollar and are getting this response back:

Hi,
Thank you for your email. Our developer has advised that there are plans to implement other crypto-currencies in the future, however none of these are currently confirmed.
We'll do an official announce a bit later once we're done with testing.
If you have any further enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact Mt.Gox Support.
Thanks,
MtGox.com Team

I see it only as a matter of time before they add Litecoin and that is going to bring a whole new wave of acceptance along with it.

2. When Bitcoin hit $1, within three months it was then at $30. There is something very psychologically powerful about breaking that one dollar barrier. Of course, I don't claim to have a crystal ball and can say Litecoin will hit $30 in three months, but we can certainly expect a nice bull rush in the coming weeks. (graph here: http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg60zczsg2011-04-09zeg2011-06-15ztgSzm1g10zm2g25zv)

[chriswen]

Um okay, do you really want it to reach $30?  That was a bubble.  I don't think you mentioned that it crashed back down after the $30.

[mr_random]

Um okay, do you really want it to reach $30? 

Um yes.

That was a bubble. 

So selling at $30 and buying back at $5 wouldn't have made a lot of money?

I don't think you mentioned that it crashed back down after the $30.

Because it was caused by an anomaly - mtgox getting hacked. Regardless, see my point above.

[superduh]

i still don't get what the improvement of litecoin is over bitcoins (not talking about the mining aspect or the different cap) but, actual, practical improvement ..

[Vuxil]

i still don't get what the improvement of litecoin is over bitcoins (not talking about the mining aspect or the different cap) but, actual, practical improvement ..

It's mostly people who feel they missed out on BTC want to start over on LTC. People say LTC is also ASIC-proof, but it's short-sighted to think no one is going to build machines optimized for LTC mining if LTC sticks. I am skipping the LTC boat and mining PPC myself, I believe it's energy-efficient design is going to be a significant attribute in the future

[jwzguy]

Because it was caused by an anomaly - mtgox getting hacked. Regardless, see my point above.

No, it wasn't. Price was already way down before MtGox got hacked. Furthermore, "because Bitcoin" is not a reason Litecoin will go up.

However, your first point is better than anything else you've posted so far. It doesn't explain -why- the demand is up, but there must be a reason. Hopefully it is a good one.

[mr_random]

Let's face facts. Most people don't want Litecoin to succeed because it is a threat to the market share of Bitcoin. I've read all manner of silly arguments against Litecoin lately and they are becoming more common as Litecoin gains more and more traction.

People say LTC is also ASIC-proof, but it's short-sighted to think no one is going to build machines optimized for LTC mining if LTC sticks.

Of course optimised machines will be built for LTC mining.

What you aren't understanding is there is no known way to efficiently parallel compute the Scrypt algorithm. That's why it was chosen. It will take a computer science breakthrough to build a machine that offers a tremendous advantage that is economically viable. Read the Scrypt paper or go to wikipedia if you don't believe me.

[Luno]

Mined some Litecoins for a week, when Bitcoin Difficulty went above 2.9M! Maybe one should dig out the HDD with the wallet?

I've always wished Mt.Gox would support other Crypto currencies as that would make it less hassle not having a balance in "real money". However thats a moot point now when Fincen have spoken, and all crypto currencies now are considered having value in a monetary sense.

There is the point still about inflation from competing Crypto currencies, i.e. the total market for a P2P currency gets dilluted the more Alt coins we have. Thats great for the idea and security of a P2P Crypto currency, but bad for the value of Bitcoin and merchant adoptation of Bitcoin.

So in all this good news about Litecoin let's not make it a VHS / Betamax debate in the press!

Just before I'm proclaimed a FUD spammer, I hold both currencies, I guess, more Litecoins now than BTC.

[mr_random]

Mined some Litecoins for a week, when Bitcoin Difficulty went above 2.9M! Maybe one should dig out the HDD with the wallet?

I've always wished Mt.Gox would support other Crypto currencies as that would make it less hassle not having a balance in "real money". However thats a moot point now when Fincen have spoken, and all crypto currencies now are considered having value in a monetary sense.

There is the point still about inflation from competing Crypto currencies, i.e. the total market for a P2P currency gets dilluted the more Alt coins we have. Thats great for the idea and security of a P2P Crypto currency, but bad for the value of Bitcoin and merchant adoptation of Bitcoin.

So in all this good news about Litecoin let's not make it a VHS / Betamax debate in the press!

Just before I'm proclaimed a FUD spammer, I hold both currencies, I guess, more Litecoins now than BTC.

Good points. I also own both currencies btw and also some PPCoin which I think could be another game changer one day. These are exciting times. The cryptocurrency which goes on to be dominant may not even have been designed yet... if there even is a dominant one.

[tgsrge]

i still don't get what the improvement of litecoin is over bitcoins (not talking about the mining aspect or the different cap) but, actual, practical improvement ..

it doesnt need to. we dont need to reinvent the wheel everytime a new car is out... cryptocurrency world is far from reaching saturation and at this point (and this comes down to how you personally define it) i believe every single one of us can still be considered an early adopter (at the broader meaning of the word) of cryptocurrencies. I know people are tired of this comparison/analogy but its the easiet to make: what the hell is the difference between gold and silver if not availability and outside appearences? i mean....noble metals? check. both used as a store of value/investment/hedging for inflation/etc? check. limited availability? check. why isnt silver considered redudant (and hence worthless) when we have the much more valuable gold? Because the real world doesnt work like that, and it never will.

i actually think that we're still at the wright brothers stage of cryptocurrencies...so IMO its foolish to think bitcoin will be the only, or even the biggest kid on the block forever and ever and that it will be an end unto itself. future cryptocurrencies will probably replace bitcoin (but maybe not kill completely) and all "first gen" cryptocurrencies.

dont invest anything more than you can afford to lose but IMO you should not write off opportunities unfolding in front of you just because you have a fixed mindset/tunnel vision.

No, it wasn't. Price was already way down before MtGox got hacked. Furthermore, "because Bitcoin" is not a reason Litecoin will go up.

However, your first point is better than anything else you've posted so far. It doesn't explain -why- the demand is up, but there must be a reason. Hopefully it is a good one.

the mtgox hack (with the db dumps and everything) was-whatever way you chose to look at it-undeniably atleast part of the reason for that specific crash.

Let's face facts. Some people don't want Litecoin to succeed because in their small minds it is a threat to the market share of Bitcoin. I've read all manner of silly arguments against Litecoin lately and they are becoming more common as Litecoin gains more and more traction.

fixed. this is fallacy. A common one, but still a (il)logical fallacy.

[shinkicker]

I am out of the bitcoin v litecoin debate now (apart from I have never been against BTC, more defending LTC).

Its a pointless pursuit as ultimately the markets / general populace will decide and it is up to each of us to make our own informed decisions on where this will go and unfold.

The stats to me show that both BTC and LTC are front runners now and going from strength to strength (as someone who holds both this has been an amazing week).  I now feel amazed BTC has reached $100 and I see LTC as being here to stay and adopted more widely as each of the next few months pass.

I can see a clear place for both, and maybe even a third of forth. If virtual currencies are ever adopted globally, we could even see certain regions or countries adopting different coins. You could then have BTC being mostly used in west and litecoin being used in some asian countries, with russia and the baltics using there own variation. Who knows, there is room for many. We could then have a global currency exchange of many different coins, each not tied to a central bank. You could then easily convert (crytpo) currency without needing to pay some fatcat in the middle like western union etc.

Very exciting times.

[Vuxil]

Yeah I agree with Shin about the debate not mattering -ultimately if there are people trading Litecoin (or any currency) it's worth something to someone and you can gain off of it. The network effect of BTC doesn't really matter, it just means your market size is smaller - but a market is a market.

[jwzguy]

the mtgox hack (with the db dumps and everything) was-whatever way you chose to look at it-undeniably atleast part of the reason for that specific crash.

Except that it happened after the real crash. Lots of news agencies misreported the timeline, so I understand why newer people are misinformed. But I watched it happen, so you're not going to change my mind about the facts by repeating incorrect information.

If you're going to include the slow and gradual price movement from 17 to 2 in "the crash" then you're just calling any downward movement a crash, which is silly.

[tgsrge]

Except that it happened after the real crash. Lots of news agencies misreported the timeline, so I understand why newer people are misinformed. But I watched it happen, so you're not going to change my mind about the facts by repeating incorrect information.

If you're going to include the slow and gradual price movement from 17 to 2 in "the crash" then you're just calling any downward movement a crash, which is silly.

i was around. i'm pretty sure i still have the db dumps (somewhere). I dont remember the exact timeline anymore, but there's no way in hell that the biggest exchange (by far) being completely rolled didnt play any part in the overall trust of the entire bitcoin "ecosystem" at that point. Obviously this doesnt mean i agree it is how things should have went down but misinformed people being misinformed by news outlets looking for sensationalistic headlines will react....in a misinformed way. It would probably be the same way if nasdaq or nyse got breached...except bitcoin transactions are not intended to be reversible.