Litecoin (LTC) Surges 18% as SEC Engagement Sparks Excitement for a Potential ETF

Following the landmark approvals of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, recent activity surrounding Litecoin has sparked excitement among investors and analysts.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently reviewing a filing for a Litecoin ETF. This development was highlighted by Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, ETF analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence, who noted increased regulatory engagement with the filing submitted by Canary Capital Group.

“Canary Funds just filed an amended S-1 for their Litecoin ETF filing. No guarantees—but this might be indicative of SEC engagement on the filing,” Seyffart noted.

Canary Capital, an investment firm focused on digital assets, filed amended paperwork with the SEC—along with Nasdaq—that puts the regulator on the clock for a decision. In this proposed physically held ETF, custodians listed include Coinbase Custody Trust Company and BitGo Trust Company.

“The Litecoin ETF now has all boxes checked. Very real chance this ends up being the first altcoin ETF of 2025,” Balchunas added.

Litecoin is flying on the news of the possible ETF approval. Over the last 24 hours, LTC surged 18% to trade at $136 as its trading volume soared over 250% to $1.83 billion, data from CoinMarketCap indicated. New Litecoin price predictions suggest Litecoin will finally outperform in 2025 after a stagnant three years of sideways trading.

“Litecoin surges 16.1% in market cap within 11 hours, breaking away from other altcoins,” crypto analytics firm Santiment observed, adding that the coin is finally decoupling from the market.

The rally is explained by the sudden and growing interest from institutional and retail investors. According to Santiment, whales and sharks holding at least 10,000 LTC have been on a buying spree since January 9, acquiring more than 250,000 coins.

“Whales Holding 10K+ Litecoin now own a combined 9,075,930 LTC ($1,233,120,000), the highest level since March of 2023. These large addresses last moved a substantial amount of Litecoin on January 09, 2025 (3 months ago),” the firm noted.

Industry experts predict that a Litecoin ETF could attract significant inflows. One report by JPMorgan estimated that should the adoption rates be similar to Bitcoin ETFs, Litecoin could have somewhere between $290 million and $580 million invested into it in its first year.

“The fact that Litecoin uses the proof-of-work consensus mechanism—just like Bitcoin—makes it most likely to be the one to get approved,” said Steven McClurg, the co-founder of Canary Capital.

He emphasized that, although there is not a strong futures market for Litecoin as there is with Bitcoin and Ethereum, the similarities to the latter in technology and structure could be advantageous.

“Litecoin’s Bitcoin-like traits may prove advantageous under the new SEC leadership,” he said. Litecoin is seen as the silver, to Bitcoin’s gold.

While Litecoin is on course to take pole position in the altcoin ETF race, other strong contenders such as XRP and Solana are on the run, too. Analysts see XRP ETFs receiving inflows up to $8 billion, while those tracking Solana will likely see $3 billion to $6 billion. However, regulatory clarity and market demand will ultimately determine the success of these funds.

“The bar for accepting new crypto ETFs will likely be lowered in 2025. While Litecoin is ahead, XRP and Solana ETFs are also strong contenders,” said Edouard Hindi, Chief Investment Officer at Tyr Capital.

A Milestone Year for Crypto ETFs

Should Litecoin secure approval, it would mark a milestone for the cryptocurrency market, expanding the ETF ecosystem beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.

However, as JPMorgan’s Kenneth Worthington cautioned, “Investor demand for additional products remains uncertain. Tokens beyond Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana often capture attention for a limited time.”

Regardless, 2025 appears poised to be a transformative year for the crypto ETF market, with Litecoin at the forefront of this evolution. Whether the SEC’s decision paves the way for new opportunities or highlights existing challenges, the anticipation underscores the growing importance of regulated crypto investment vehicles in the broader financial ecosystem.