Litecoin<\/strong> (CCC:LTC-USD<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/span>) is slowly but surely increasing the number of merchants where you can spend Litecoin. As it does so, the value of the LTC crypto is increasing over time as well.<\/p>\n Source: Wit Olszewski \/ Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Litecoin has been around for a good while and its perceived steadiness \u2014 having never had an outage \u2014 increases its reputation as a trustworthy cryptocurrency. That also heightens its appeal for merchants and raises the value of the crypto.<\/p>\n Cryptwerk\u00a0<\/em>does an excellent job<\/a> of keeping track of the merchants that allow customers to spend various cryptocurrencies. For this name, the site shows that Litecoin is now the third-most accepted cryptocurrency among merchants, just after Bitcoin<\/strong> (CCC:BTC-USD<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/span>) and Ethereum<\/strong> (CCC:ETH-USD<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/span>).<\/p>\n Specifically, Litecoin is now accepted<\/a> at 3,151 merchants worldwide. This is up from 3,111<\/a>\u00a0a little over a month ago, when Cointelegraph<\/em> wrote on the subject. At the time, the site said LTC was at an \u201call-time high.\u201d<\/p>\n LTC has recently come off a peak around the $280 level. Now, the crypto is changing hands for around $153 as of Dec. 6. This represents a drop of 45% from its recent peak close on Nov. 14.<\/p>\n However, LTC is still doing quite okay year-to-date (YTD). It ended last year at $124.69, so it\u2019s still up over 20% YTD. That is a solid return for most investors who have held on through the whole year. That said, those who bought in during the last six months (especially from late March to early June) may actually have a loss on their investment.<\/p>\n As a result, they may be now taking tax-related losses in order to offset their short-term losses against other crypto gains. This could be a major reason why Litecoin is well off its highs recently. But that is actually good news \u2014 it implies that, close to the beginning of next year, this crypto will start rising again.<\/p>\n And why not? Litecoin\u2019s rank as the third-most proliferate crypto among merchants should begin to elevate its value. For example, right now the crypto has a market capitalization of $10.6 billion<\/a>, according to CoinMarketCap<\/em>. That ranks it as the 19th largest crypto.<\/p>\n All said, as the coin continues to gain credence over time, its value should rise. In fact, I suspect that it could become much larger<\/em> in value \u2014 two to three times its present value, given its wide acceptance.<\/p>\n As I pointed out in my last article<\/a>, LTC crypto now has its own virtual debit card that helps it gain acceptance with merchants. Litecoin indicated at the time that this will expose it to over 50 million merchants around the world, potentially allowing users to widely transact in its coins.<\/p>\n If that debit card takes off, it\u2019s very possible that Litecoin could move up in rank in terms of merchant acceptance. And if that happens, there\u2019s no way that the coin will stay at its $10.6 billion market value.<\/p>\n For example, if it takes three years for Litecoin to triple in value due to merchant acceptance, this implies a compounded annual return of 44.22% per annum (3 raised to the power of (1\/3) = 1.4422). That is a great return on investment (ROI) for most investors. Moreover, this is close to the YTD gains LTC saw before its recent drop.<\/p>\n The bottom line? As Litecoin gains more merchants and more LTC coins are spent, the price of this crypto should keep rising.<\/p>\n On the date of publication, Mark R. Hake did not hold any position (either directly or indirectly) in the securities mentioned in this article.<\/em>\u00a0The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com\u00a0Publishing Guidelines<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Mark Hake writes about personal finance on\u00a0<\/em>mrhake.medium.com<\/u><\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0and runs the\u00a0<\/em>Total Yield Value Guide<\/u><\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0which you can review\u00a0<\/em>here<\/u><\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/investorplace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ltc1600-300x169.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhere This Leaves Litecoin<\/h3>\n
What to Do with LTC Crypto<\/h3>\n