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In a mere fortnight, the Litecoin network is poised for its third reward halving event, a seismic shift that will slash the $LTC miners’ block rewards from 12.5 $LTC per block down to 6.25 $LTC. Data illustrates an intensified dedication of hashrate to the Litecoin blockchain as the critical halving deadline draws near.
Litecoin Reward Halving Draws Near
Over the last two weeks, litecoin ($LTC) has seen a notable descent, depreciating approximately 17% in value against the U.S. dollar. However, casting the gaze back a full month reveals a contrasting picture, with $LTC capturing a gain of roughly 18%. In just 15 days, the Litecoin network stands on the precipice of its third halving.
History shows us a pattern with the first two reward reductions taking place on August 25, 2015, and August 5, 2019, respectively. This forthcoming third halving is set to shrink the miners’ rewards from a substantial 12.5 $LTC per block to a more modest 6.25 $LTC. In contrast to Bitcoin’s average block interval, which aims to clock in at ten minutes per block, Litecoin operates at a swifter pace, producing a new block every 2.5 minutes.
At the time of writing, factoring in current $LTC exchange rates, a single block rewards miners with $1,161 derived from the freshly minted 12.5 $LTC. If the $LTC’s price manages to maintain the same exchange rate, a block mined post-August 2, 2023, can anticipate a value of around $580. The price upswing of $LTC over the recent 30-day span has sparked substantial interest, luring an abundance of Scrypt hashrate.
Litecoin’s hashrate dramatically peaked on July 4, 2023, reaching a record high of 1.03 petahash per second (PH/s) at block height 2,503,485. This indicates an unprecedented level of activity on the network. At present, $LTC’s total hashrate is coasting along at 804 terahash per second (TH/s).
In the mining industry, Litecoin’s application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining devices are currently staking a claim as some of the market’s most profitable machinery. For instance, a mining rig delivering 8.8 gigahash per second (GH/s) can amass an estimated daily profit of $7.83. Moreover, a machine operating at 9.5 GH/s could garner a slightly higher daily earning of $9.24.
As of July 16, Viabtc reigns supreme as Litecoin’s leading mining pool, dedicating a formidable 268.63 TH/s of hashrate to the $LTC chain. Approximately 27 dedicated mining pools are channeling their hashrate toward the $LTC chain. Viabtc is followed by F2pool, contributing 136.87 TH/s, trailed by Antpool with 117 TH/s. Meanwhile, Litecoinpool adds 90.84 TH/s, Btc.com contributes 42.95 TH/s, and Poolin rounds out the field with a contribution of 30.49 TH/s.