Altcoins Planning Segwit Integration Experience Price Pumps

Over the course of the past few months, a bunch of altcoins are jumping on the Segregated Witness (Segwit) bandwagon. Currently, cryptocurrency enthusiasts are focusing in on Litecoin (LTC) markets because the price is pumping as Segwit nears activation on the LTC network.

Also read: The Great Price Divide Widens During Bitcoin’s 2017 Rise

Litecoin Segwit Activation Draws Near

The scaling debate has been ongoing for years, and some bitcoin proponents believe one protocol change called Segwit may help bitcoin scale. However, Bitcoin signaling for Segwit is still low as only 30-34 percent of explicit mining pool support at any given time is dedicated to the Segwit protocol. Since support for Segwit’s Bitcoin network integration has stalled, some altcoin communities and developers have decided to implement Segwit into a few alternative cryptocurrencies.

This past February, members of the Litecoin network started signaling support for the Segwit protocol with a lower activation threshold of 75 percent, compared to the 95% treshold proposed for Bitcoin Segwit activation. Now the network is nearing the activation lock-in point, and Litecoin may see Segwit integration very soon. Moreover, over the past few weeks, Litecoin’s price has spiked significantly from $4 per LTC to above $14 at the time of writing. Furthermore, Litecoin’s market capitalization is drawing close to reaching the $1 billion mark as LTC’s market share currently captures roughly $731 million.

It’s safe to say that many people believe the Litecoin price rise is due to Segwit support reaching the 75 percent threshold. One Litecoin supporter expressed his enthusiasm stating;   

75% hit with massive support. 1801 blocks left to maintain and get locked into the moon!

Altcoins Jumping on the Segwit Protocol Bandwagon and Subsequent Price Pumps

Litecoin is not the only altcoin on the block that wants to try and implement the Segwit protocol. Other digital asset communities have also added Segwit to their development roadmaps. The list of tokens implementing Segwit include altcoins such as Viacoin, Vertcoin, Syscoin, Groestlcoin, and Digibyte. Just like Litecoin all of these digital currency markets have seen price spikes that many are attributing to upcoming Segwit integration.

Since these coins have jumped on the Segwit bandwagon, many believe these communities have opted to integrate the protocol just to get a price pump. Many of the tokens have been very low on the market capitalization totem poll for quite some time. However, since opting to implement the scaling protocol originally proposed for Bitcoin, alternative currencies such as Vertcoin, Viacoin, Syscoin, Groestlcoin, and Digibyte market shares have increased by 15-35 percent across the board since planning for Segwit. Adding Segwit to these altcoin roadmaps has temporarily revived these low volume markets for the time being, giving them a second chance at life. 

Testing Segwit in a Real World Setting, and Becoming a ‘Positive Force in the Cryptocurrency Space’

As Litecoin Segwit activation approaches, many will be watching to see what happens during the change and after the fact. As far as some cryptocurrency proponents are concerned, the LTC network Segwit integration could be a good test bed for the protocol in a real world setting. Moreover, Litecoin supporters are already speculating implementing the Lightning Network to LTC’s infrastructure as well. Litecoin creator Charlie Lee has been rallying for the LTC network to adopt Segwit for a while now and it looks like he just might get his wish.

“With Segwit and Bitcoin’s current block scaling deadlock, I see a potential for Litecoin to help Bitcoin break through this deadlock,” explains Lee. “Litecoin can take a lead and be a positive force in the cryptocurrency space.”

What do you think about Litecoin and other altcoin’s joining the Segwit bandwagon? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Pixabay, r/litecoin, and Bitcoin.com.

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