Litecoin At 12: How Has Its 84 Million Supply Been Distributed Over Time?

Litecoin, established in 2011 as the “silver” to Bitcoin’s “gold,” has undergone significant changes over its 12-year lifespan, including a hard cap of 84 million LTC and its third halving event this past August, which cut the miner block reward from 12.5 LTC to 6.25 LTC.

As of now, miners have unearthed 73.76 million LTC, primarily through block rewards for transaction verification. Notably, a substantial portion of this supply is held by a small number of entities. Data from IntoTheBlock reveals that over 49% of the circulating LTC is in the hands of accounts owning more than 0.1% of the total supply. Similarly, BitInfoCharts reports that addresses with over 100,000 LTC control 38.01% of the supply.

Today, the largest Litecoin wallets are a mix of veteran miners and cryptocurrency exchanges, with Litecoin creator Charlie Lee stating he no longer holds any LTC. The most extensive wallet, known as “M8T1B,” holds 2,504,667 LTC, which equates to 3.34% of the circulating supply and is valued at approximately $158 million. Following are “ltc1qr,” “MQd1f,” and “ltc1qn,” each holding substantial amounts of LTC and collectively controlling 8.18% of the total circulating coins.

Other notable Litecoin “whales” include wallets “ltc1q2” and “MQSs1,” holding 927,542 LTC and 745,000 LTC, respectively. Together, the top six addresses hold over 1% of the circulating supply each, totaling 11.88% or 8.84 million LTC. The top ten is rounded out by “MB8nnF,” “MFULdM,” “MESruS,” and “LZEjck.”

Currently, the market exhibits stagnation, with significant holders not making substantial moves, resulting in a 91.07% decrease in inflow to large wallets over the past quarter. With 87% of all possible LTC already mined, the introduction of new coins into the market will continue to decelerate, potentially fostering price stability.

Litecoin trades at $63.07, with predictions of an imminent surge to $84, according to crypto analyst P_S_trade. However, historical trends noted by analyst Tony “The Bull” suggest a typical 70% retracement post-halving, though the recent halving might not follow this pattern.

Despite past volatility, Litecoin’s current trading shows a mild positive gain, indicating potential for future growth.