Litecoin (LTC) price surge 243% in 5 months amid ETF hype

Market intelligence platform Santiment revealed that Litecoin’s  (LTC) price has increased by 243% in the past five months. The firm believes that Litecoin’s current surge is due to recent ETF hype from Canary Capital’s Litecoin ETF and CoinShares spot Litecoin ETF.

Santiment revealed that the LTC’s ETF rumors caused Litecoin’s market cap to surge by 46% from February 2 to February 19, 2025. The firm argued that the recent big jump in Litecoin price showed increased investor interest.

Litecoin (LTC) surges in price amid ETF listing hype

Litecoin isn’t typically as hyped on social media as other high-cap altcoins like XRP, Solana, Chainlink, or Cardano, but lately, it’s been quietly surging. From February 2-19, 2025, its market value skyrocketed by +46%, showing increased investor interest. 🚀

This growth is… pic.twitter.com/2XTXqRdzXU

— Solix Trading (@Solix_Trade) February 21, 2025

Litecoin is currently trading at $133.21 at the time of publication, representing a 28.5% surge in the past two weeks. LTC has outperformed Bitcoin in the same time period, which has remained tightly range-bound since it fell back into five figures early this month. The digital asset had nearly $2.8B in daily transaction volume in late August 2024, so current levels represent an increase of 243% in five months.

“There is clear growing excitement around a potential Litecoin ETF, 13 months after Bitcoin’s first ETFs were approved by the SEC.”

– Santiment

The market intelligence company also noted that part of Litecoin’s growth came from its strong rise in network utility. The digital asset had been processing $9.6B in daily transaction volume over the past 7 days.

Santiment believes that the new U.S. government, which is pro-crypto, will allow Litecoin’s ETF approval to open doors for more ETFs based on other altcoins like XRP and Solana. The firm said that more ETFs would make it easier for mainstream investors to gain exposure to the crypto market without the need to buy on-chain tokens.

Expected Litecoin ETFs drive LTC’s price higher

The Securities and Exchange Commission released a filing on February 19 that proposed a rule change to list and trade shares of the CoinShares Litecoin ETF under Nasdaq. CoinShares’ move to list a Litecoin ETF will allow investors to buy Litecoin in a regulated stock market setting without the need to store the actual coin themselves. According to Santiment, several analysts have estimated a 90% probability that the CoinShares Litecoin ETF will be approved by the end of 2025.

Canary Capital’s Litecoin ETF listing was also spotted on the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) system under the ticker LTCC on February 20. In response to the DTCC listing, Litecoin’s prices spiked 8.5%. LTC climbed from an intraday low of $127 to $138 before a slight pullback on February 21. The firm also filed its spot Litecoin ETF application in October 2024, followed by similar filings from asset managers, including Grayscale and CoinShares. 

The Litecoin Foundation also highlighted that the DTCC was a key part of global financial markets and processes trillions of dollars in securities transactions each day. The foundation suggested that the DTCC listing established the necessary trading infrastructure for Canary Capital’s spot Litecoin ETF, but SEC approval remained pending.

Canary Capital’s recently filed amended S-1 registration form for its Litecoin fund could make Litecoin the next cryptocurrency in the U.S. to get the crypto ETF treatment like Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2024. Eric Balchunas suggested that the Litecoin S-1’s approval from the SEC confirmed his prediction that Litecoin was most likely the next coin to get approved.

James Seyffart also argued that the company’s S-1 had to be accompanied by a 19b-4 filing to begin the potential approval or denial “clock.” ETF issuers Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary filed 19b-4s for a spot Solana ETF in November 2024. Once the SEC approves the Litecoin funds, it could be the third spot crypto ETF approved in the United States after Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Bloomberg ETF experts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas estimated a 90% approval likelihood for a spot Litecoin ETF in 2025. Both analysts also view the outlook for Litecoin-based ETFs as more favorable compared to other crypto asset funds like XRP, SOL, and DOGE ETFs. The Bloomberg experts also noted that the ETFs meet the SEC approval requirements, and the CFTC already classified Litecoin as a commodity.