Litecoin's price rallied 7% in the past 24 hours, trading between $56 and $58, despite remaining down 55% year-over-year. The surge is attributed to two major catalysts: an impending SEC decision on a T. Rowe Price crypto ETF that includes Litecoin and the announcement of a new Layer-2 solution, LitVM, for the network.
Whale activity preceded the public news. Large wallet holders (addresses holding 1-10 million LTC) began accumulating Litecoin on February 8, 2026, increasing their collective holdings from 6.13 million to 7.15 million tokens—an addition of 1.02 million LTC. This accumulation started nine days before T. Rowe Price filed its ETF paperwork on February 17. The filing lists Litecoin among approximately 15 eligible digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Cardano. T. Rowe Price manages $1.8 trillion in assets, lending significant institutional credibility.
The SEC decision deadline for the T. Rowe Price crypto ETF is February 26, 2026. Approval could open the door for institutional inflows, allowing traditional finance investors to gain regulated exposure to Litecoin.
Concurrently, network activity shows healthy growth. Active addresses on Litecoin jumped approximately 6.5% in three days to 342,000, indicating organic user participation. The rally appears to be spot-driven, as open interest in Litecoin futures remained relatively cool, avoiding the risks associated with excessive leverage and sharp reversals.
A second catalyst emerged with the announcement of LitVM on February 25. This Layer-2 solution aims to add smart contract capabilities to Litecoin, expanding its use cases beyond payments into DeFi yield markets, real-world assets (RWA), and AI ecosystems.
Technical analysis reveals a bullish divergence. Between January 31 and February 24, LTC price made a lower low while the RSI made a higher low, signaling weakening selling pressure. Critical resistance sits at $58.98, just 4% above current prices. A break above this level could open targets near $70, while a failure of support at $49 could lead to a reversal back toward $45.
