What's Driving Litecoin's Unusual Moves

Investing.com - Litecoin appears to be in a world of its own.While Litecoin fell just as sharply as Bitcoin and other currencies in late January and early February, it recovered faster than the others.Its recovery was also stronger. Unlike the other top five currencies, Litecoin regained its late January high. It then surged another 35%, breaking above the $250 level.Then in the week that followed, Litecoin lost almost 20%, falling back below the $200 level. That move was also more pronounced than those of other currencies.What's driving Litecoin is not totally clear, but market watchers say it is at least partially related to two events.Litecoin recently experienced a hard fork, with Litecoin Cash spinning off on February 18th. The fork occurred without any problems, but Litecoin's founder Charlie Lee was critical of the move. Anther contributing factor may be the Feb. 26th launch of Litecoin's LitePay payment processor. LitePay will combine a digital wallet and Visa-compatible card, allowing businesses to accept Litecoin payments instantly.