Litecoin Prices Reach All-Time Highs, but Charlie Lee Has a Warning

Litecoin prices skyrocketed 86% as investors poured money into the alternative coin thanks to a new marketing push from Charlie Lee and the Litecoin Foundation.

Lee, the creator of Litecoin, appeared on CNBC yesterday (Dec. 12, 2017), and he also did an interview with Glenn Beck last week. Litecoin was meant to be the "silver" to Bitcoin's "gold," and it currently offers faster transactions and lower fees.

However, he warned his Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) followers that buying Litecoin is still extremely risky...

In Bitcoin news, the price of Bitcoin pushed back above $17,000 and hit a new all-time high on Coindesk's Bitcoin Price Index (BPI).

The price continued to climb to increased optimism fueled by the Chicago Board of Exchange's (CBOE) recent launch of Bitcoin futures trading.

Many in the Bitcoin community are convinced that CBOE's futures launch will reignite demand for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to the cryptocurrency. The SEC has received multiple recent proposals, including the VanEck Vectors Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the REX Bitcoin Strategy ETF, and the REX Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF.

Below is a recap of the top cryptocurrency prices at 8:30 a.m. EST.

• Bitcoin: $17,425.80, +5.12%
• Ethereum: $585.61, +23.99%
• Bitcoin Cash: $1,561.23, +13.12%
• Litecoin: $335.71, +86.75%
• IOTA: $4.68, +12.13%
• Ripple: $0.27, +10.30%

Now that we know all of today's price movements, here's what has been moving these cryptocurrencies...

Cryptocurrency Markets Today

On Tuesday, the market capitalization of the global cryptocurrency sector hit $466.2 billion, as the entire sector continues on its breakneck pace to top a half trillion dollars, possibly by the end of the year.

Some of the top performers from the largest 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization included TRON (up 43.38%), Populous (up 37.91%), NEM (up 22.88%), Ardor (up 22.74%), Waves (up 19.74%), EOS (up 19.45%), Veritaseum (up 17.70%), and Basic Attention Coin (up 16.56%).

The worst performers from the top 50 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization included Vertcoin (down -9.34%), Einsteinium (down -5.15%), SALT (down -4.63%), Bytecoin (down -2.96%), and MonaCoin (down -2.53%).

Bitcoin Tops $17,300

The Bitcoin market capitalization hit $291 billion Tuesday morning.

The jump came as former Congressman Ron Paul questioned the long-term perspective of Bitcoin.

Must Read: 3 Bold Bitcoin Price Predictions for 2018 and Beyond

Recently, Paul conducted a survey where he asked participants if they would invest $10,000 in Bitcoin, gold, or treasuries. The majority of voters chose Bitcoin.

Paul went on to question why investors would chose the new Bitcoin craze over the time-tested view of gold.

"Of course, Bitcoin is very exciting, and it's booming, but [Bitcoin investors] don't have a long-term perspective. What's it going to be like in 10 years? Nobody knows," Paul said.

Ethereum Hits All-Time Record

The price of Ethereum is climbing near $600, as investors piled into the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Ethereum received a boost from news that major banks around the globe are aiming to streamline their compliance challenges by using the Ethereum network.

According to CoinDesk.com, firms including UBS Group AG (NYSE: UBS), Barclays Plc. (NYSE: BCS), and Credit Suisse will take part in a project known as the Massive Autonomous Distributed Reconciliation platform.

Hong Kong Aims to Curb Crypto Futures

While traders are cheering the launch of Bitcoin futures in the United States, Hong Kong regulators are moving against the tide.

The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong has released a rule stating that only licensed investment firms will be allow to sell futures products like the contracts on CBOE.

In addition to warning investors about unregulated Bitcoin and futures exchanges, the commission also warned about liquidity and volatility issues surrounding the global cryptocurrency markets.

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Garrett Baldwin

About the Author

Browse Garrett's articles | View Garrett's research services

Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.

Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.

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