Litecoin (LTC) Flips Bitcoin Cash (BCH) In Crypto Bear Plunge 10

Litecoin (LTC) Flips Bitcoin Cash (BCH) In Crypto Bear Plunge

The Flappening

During 2018’s earliest months, as Ethereum (ETH) surged above $1,000 in a surprising turn of events, many began to expect for the platform-centric cryptocurrency to overtake Bitcoin (BTC) — crypto’s undoubted leader — in terms of market capitalization. Charlie Lee, creator of Litecoin, a former Coinbase employee, and seeming ETH skeptic, took to his Twitter feed to defend BTC, noting that the aforementioned “will never happen.”

At the same time, Lee added that the cryptocurrency of his own creation, Litecoin (LTC), could overtake Bitcoin Cash (BCH), as many believe that the former accomplishes what the latter has sought to do — a cryptocurrency that closely resembles the “OG” Bitcoin, but with slightly altered characteristics to be classified as “true digital cash.”

In response to Lee’s tweet, the ardent Litecoin community quicked to the industry insider’s side, launching LTC v.s. BCH data aggregator Flappening.watch, whose name is an evident nod to the “flippening” (ETH>BTC) and Lee’s mascot — a chicken clad in armor. For most of the year, the valuation of all BCH stayed far ahead of LTC’s capitalization, moving relatively higher on the back of Bitmain’s stamp of approval and other catalysts.

Yet, with the recent market downturn, coupled with the hard fork of the Bitcoin Cash chain, Charlie Lee’s brainchild has begun to gain on the favorite cryptocurrency of Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver, Bitmain, and Jihan Wu.

Litecoin (LTC) Overtakes Bitcoin Cash (BCH) On Crypto Leaderboard

On Friday afternoon, in the midst of a further BTC sell-off to $3,150, BCH began to capitulate hard, falling below key support levels and underperforming the market at large. At the same time, LTC began to undergo a slight recovery, bouncing off its year-to-date lows at ~$22.5, posting the only positive performance in crypto’s top 20.

And as that happened, to the chagrin of Bitcoin Cash’s diehard proponents, who have clung onto the asset for dear life since November 14th’s contentious network upgrade, Lee, who is a brother to BTCC co-founder Bobby Lee, took to Twitter to give an update.

Through the use of three emojis, the likeness of a chicken, a flying dollar bill, and a rocket ship, coupled with a GIF, Lee accentuated the fact that his prediction had come true, tagging the Flappening Twitter in pure ecstasy.

Litecoin (LTC) Flips Bitcoin Cash (BCH) In Crypto Bear Plunge 11

Per data from Flappening.watch, the market capitalization of LTC is $5 billion higher than its rival in BCH. Not only has coblee’s creation ousted the most prominent Bitcoin fork in terms of standing, but Litecoin also touts 384% more active addresses, 340% higher daily transactions, and 288% more in trading volume.

Data gathered from CoinMarketCap also indicates that this pertinent industry event has occurred, with the price tracker making it more than clear that Litecoin has passed Bitcoin Cash on crypto’s long-standing leaderboards — filled to the brim with every brand of cryptocurrency.

It remains to be seen whether LTC will stay on top of its altcoin brethren, but considering the trajectory that BCH is taking, some believe that Litecoin’s relative surge will be a permanent play.

Title Image Courtesy of Taras Chernus on Unsplash