The team behind Litecoin ($LTC), a cryptocurrency that’s often referred to as the silver to Bitcoin’s gold, has thanked its partner project Dogecoin ($DOGE) after its hashrate hit a new all-time high, at a time in which its price rose more than 40% in a month and a half.
On the microblogging platform Twitter, Litecoin’s account revealed to its over 950,000 followers that LTC’s hashrate has “hit an all-time high well over 850 TH/s,” and partly thanked Dogecoin for the new achievement, as they are “mining together with us to secure both networks.”
Dogecoin helps LTC’s hashrate through a process known as merged mining, which allows miners to mine on two blockchain networks simultaneously without the need for additional computational resources.
Through merged mining, one blockchain will provide the proof of work – this is known as the parent blockchain, whilst the blockchain that accepts the work as valid is known as the auxiliary blockchain. For merged mining to be possible, both networks in question must use the same hashing algorithm.
Notably, Litecoin’s hashrate hit a then new high earlier this year of around 680 TH/s as its hashrate kept growing rapidly. Hashrate is a measure of the number of hashes (mathematical problems) that can be solved in a given period of time.
A higher hashrate means that the network is more secure and that more miners are participating in the mining process. A higher hashrate also makes it more difficult for bad actors to manipulate the network.
Litecoin’s rising hashrate comes at a time in which its price is also surging, ahead of its expected halving event. Year-to-date, LTC is up over 42%.
Much like BTC, Litecoin undergoes halving events, in which the coinbase reward for miners who find blocks on the network is halved. Litecoin’s next halving event is expected to occur in August 2023, and will reduce mining rewards from 12.5 LTC to 6.25 LTC. Halving events are seen as bullish, as new supply on the market is halved through them.
As CryptoGlobe reported, historical Litecoin price data suggests that the price of Litecoin could surge months after its halving event to the point it hits a new all-time high next year. The cryptocurrency could, however, endure a correction right after the halving.
According to data analyzed by popular cryptocurrency analyst Rekt Capital, Litecoin “trends to rally quite strongly before its halving,” with the cryptocurrency rising 820% after bottoming out 122 days ahead of its first-ever halving, and rising 550% after bottoming 243 ahead of its second halving.
Historically, the cryptocurrency rallied more after its halving event. After its first halving, LTC surged 12,400%, while after its second halving it rose 1,573%.
It’s important to point out that the effect of halving events on the price of a cryptocurrency is not certain, and opinions on the matter vary among analysts. The past performance of a cryptocurrency does not guarantee future performance.
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