Meme coins like Solana-based Dogwifhat (WIF) may have stolen the spotlight in recent days, but the silver to Bitcoin’s gold, Litecoin (LTC), has given holders a reason to celebrate today.
Litecoin zoomed past the $100 threshold on Friday, thanks to a 13.1% jump over the last 24 hours. LTC recorded an intraday high of $106.14 before retreating slightly to $105.81 at press time.
This comes as the broader crypto market, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), remained relatively calm for the fifth consecutive day. BTC has shed 1.8% of its value on the day, while ether is down 2.1% over the same period. Today’s total crypto market cap hovers at $2.76 trillion, representing a -1.1% change in a 24-hour time frame.
Litecoin Labeled A Commodity By CFTC
The only catalyst that could be propelling the price of Litecoin is a recent declaration by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
In a lawsuit against crypto exchange KuCoin, the CFTC explicitly named Litecoin, along with Bitcoin and ether, to be a commodity under its jurisdiction. This proclamation is paramount as it potentially saves LTC from further scrutiny by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“KuCoin solicited and accepted orders, accepted property to margin, and operated a facility for the trading of futures, swaps, and leveraged, margined, or financed retail transactions involving digital assets that are commodities including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC),” the complaint says.
The CFTC calling Litecoin a commodity comes at a time when the SEC has avoided taking a position on the legal status of the industry’s second-largest crypto, ether, even after calling over a dozen other popular cryptocurrencies securities. As previously covered by ZyCrypto, the regulator has recently started building a case to classify ETH as a security.
That said, Litecoin’s technicals are teetering into bullish territory amid a dramatic change in sentiment. The next resistance for the crypto lies at $115. LTC being labeled a commodity coupled with the bullish technicals could turbocharge the 22nd-largest crypto to successfully conquer this zone before proceeding higher.
