2022 was a year in which Litecoin proved to be the one coin that stands on its own. Breaking away from the bear market, FUD and the fallout. This year for LTC was one for the history books. From the activation of the monumental MWEB upgrade, to record-breaking adoption, to the third global gathering at the Litecoin Summit. There's a lot that happened in 2022 to look back on and celebrate.
Litecoin set records, on and off-chain!
Since the beginning of 2022, the number of Litecoin addresses jumped from 52 million* the second most of any cryptocurrency. This isn't the only marker of increased use and adoption, but an example of the ever increasing expansion of the Litecoin ecosystem.
Coupled with new all time highs for both Difficulty and Hashrate, the Litecoin network also processed well over 39 million transactions** in 2022! For some perspective, there were 100 million total as on Jan 1st in Litecoin’s entire history. As with last year, use of the Litecoin Network is accelerating.
‘Litecoin' was one of the most searched cryptocurrencies, with ‘LTC’ ranking even higher, in Google search results. With the Litecoin community racking in more than 5 billion engagements*** across all socials and an average 45% increase in the number of voices (contributors) who are asking, posting and discussing Litecoin.
Opting-in to confidential transactions with MWEB.
The largest update to the Litecoin network in 11 years — or at least since the implementation of Segwit in 2017 - MWEB was officially activated on ~20th May 2022. Offering users opt-in confidential transaction capability, MWEB's took years of development and months of miner signaling. But it’s now fully activated on Litecoin Core v0.21.2 - which includes Taproot. The Foundation is working on the next steps, with Lead developer David Burkett, working in ‘Light Clients’ for wallets.
The fastest growing digital currency for payments.
Litecoin (or $LTC) is being used for payments more than ever. With the ability to be sent almost instantaneously anywhere in the world, and a median transaction fee of only $0.001, Litecoin is increasingly used as a payments replacement for traditional financial institutions, payment rails and fiat currencies. Representing more than 27% of the transaction volume on Bitpay — the world's leading crypto payment processor — Litecoin is the fastest growing crypto payment method and finding its place as the faster, easier to use, send and spend digital currency.
New companies in the Litecoin Ecosystem.
In April, the Litecoin Foundation joined forces with AntPool to form 'LTC Labs'. One of the leading research and development labs for digital currency. LTC Labs is focused on innovation and decentralization. A distributed autonomous organization (DAO), LTC Labs has and continues to research, develop and promote digital currency, opt-in, 'private' transactions, digital asset wallets and other emerging technologies. This DAO's primary focus is on the prosperity, stability and longevity of the Litecoin ecosystem.
A few months later, LTC Esports - with support from the Litecoin Foundation - signed its first sponsorship deal with Glytch Energy and released 'LitecoinADE', a co-branded energy drink. LitecoinADE is fast-becoming a gamer-favorite, giving a boost of energy to help them stay focused and perform at their best. All year LTC eSports have been crushing it in Apex Legends and COD, with one notable team who turned professional!
Two new NFT marketplaces found their footing. Both Kalakar and Liteverse, taking on the OmniLite second layer technology, allowing creators to mint Litecoin NFTs and buy, sell and trade them on their respective platforms.
New Partnerships and more!
Leading cash exchange, Coinme, recently announced that Litecoin is now available to purchase instantly using cash at 10000 additional Coinstar kiosks across the USA; Moneygram selected Litecoin to be one of the three cryptocurrencies it offers for overseas remittance payments; Indian giant, Blockbank, added support for LTC; and, notably, PayPal rolled out support for Litecoin (and only three other cryptos) into Luxembourg, which could lead to opening us 26 European countries! Recognition of its distinct attributes - namely speed, low fees and ease-of-use - has come flooding in for Litecoin. Hardly surprising that - along with Litecoin's increased awareness, accessibility, adoption and use - the currency became the talk of the internet. Racking up 100 million social engagements in a single day on 23rd November - HUGE.
Litecoin also had some very special cameos in 2022. Making its silver screen debut in MGM's "Last Light" - streaming on Amazon Prime - and featured again in popular HBOmax drama, "Industry". And, in case you missed them, The League of Litecoin Superheroes were roaming the halls of Comic-Con in San Diego, with many a selfie taken.
The Summit will set the tone for 2023.
Only two months ago, Las Vegas played host to the third Litecoin Summit! With hundreds of in-person attendees, and thousands tuning in daily for the livestream, the buzz at the Summit set the stage giving every indication that 2023 was going to be another monumental year. You can watch all the action from the Summit on our YouTube Channel.
What's on the horizon? Another massive milestone, with the next (and third) Litecoin halving on track for August 2023, one couldn't be blamed for feeling a little excited!
* Source: Glassnode
**Source: Blockchair
***Source: Lunarcrush
